KNOXVILLE, Iowa – Brian Brown notched his 47th career win at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night during the 410 sprint car main event.
The Grain Valley, Mo., driver bested Matt Juhl early in the non-stop event, and pulled away to the $4,000 win in the Brian Brown Racing No. 21.
Juhl shot out from his starting spot outside row one to lead early in the 20-lap 410 feature. Brown, who started fourth, was all over the leader in short order. On lap three, he slid in front of Juhl in turn three and took the point for good.
Lynton Jeffrey was also on the move, and bested Juhl for second on lap five. Terry McCarl was moving forward as well, and claimed fourth from Justin Henderson on the seventh circuit. The leaders entered lapped traffic on lap eight, and by the halfway point, Brown’s lead over Jeffrey was a straightaway.
Though the leader had checked out, the battle for second between Jeffrey, Juhl and McCarl was a showstopper lasting a good 10 laps. McCarl had the momentum late, grabbing third with two to go, and second coming for the white flag. Austin McCarl entered the fray as well, claiming fourth on the last lap.
Brown was 5.7 seconds out front at the checkers, ahead of Terry McCarl, Jeffrey, Austin McCarl and Juhl.
“Our car is just so good,” said Brown, who was using the event to prepare for next week’s World of Outlaws event. “It’s just not much fun running that bottom. But you’re not going to win the bigger races this summer just blasting around the top. I made a conscious effort to watch video and run the bottom when I can. We’re glad to be back here on a Saturday night. This is home. You guys are my fans. We’re not going to put to much pressure on ourselves (next weekend). If we get our car good like it is and I drive smart, we can beat anybody in the country. We just have to do our best. We’re not going to overthink it.”
In other action, Carson McCarl held off Clint Garner in a late restart to record his first 360 sprint car win, and his first since his 305 championship season in 2011 at Knoxville. Matthew Stelzer had a serious challenge from Mike Ayers, but persevered to win his fourth straight main event with the Pro Sprints presented by Pace Performance.