It was Sept. 22, 2007, when Brian Campbell picked up the biggest Outlaw Super Late Model win of his career during the Glass City 200 at Toledo Speedway.
Sixteen years after that win, the Michigan veteran gears up for his ASA STARS National Tour debut in the same event.
That Glass City win marked the first of eight major victories for Campbell at the Ohio half-mile, a win that was big at the time and continues to be a career highlight to this day.
“At the time, it was huge. It was a pristine event for the Outlaw deal as much as the Kalamazoo Klash and the (Summer) Sizzler or the big three that’s at Owosso now,” Campbell said. “It’s a huge event for all of us around here, it was definitely a good win.”
Toledo has been a special place for the entire Campbell family. His father Fred Campbell was a two-time Iceman Super Car Series champion who also won CRA and ARCA Gold Cup races at the facility.
The younger Campbell has a long track record of his own at Toledo. Along with the Glass City 200 win, he has six ASA/CRA Super Series wins at Toledo and picked up the first JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour race ever held in 2011.
“Years and years ago, I learned how to drive a car on the way to Toledo, that’s how long I’ve been going to this place to watch my dad and be a part of his team and his crew. Being able to race and collect wins in various cars, it’s been awesome. It’s been a great track for me,” Campbell said.
Campbell has 29 ASA/CRA Super Series wins to his credit, just two behind Scott Hantz for most all-time. Additionally, he is a former ASA Late Model Series champion and the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour’s winningest driver with 11 wins.
However, Campbell has spent the last three years racing locally at Berlin Raceway, winning the 2021 track championship and closing in on his second in three years to go along with his 2010 track title. Even with competing weekly at Berlin the last few years, he has still made the trip to Toledo every year for the Glass City 200.
“It’s been fun to stick around at home with family and everyone. Berlin’s been hard to leave, this year they’ve had 75 lap races for $4,000 to win. It’s 10 minutes from home, it’s hard to beat that. A lot of it’s financial, a lot of it’s enjoying sticking around home,” Campbell said.
“We still like to get out and about and do some traveling at the end of the year. Last year, we hit the Glass City when it was a 100-lap CRA race and I think we ended up with a flat right rear tire while chasing down the leader and second place. It was going to be a good race that year too.”
While he has won a 200-lap race at Toledo in the Outlaw, he says the Sept. 16 event will be an entirely different undertaking. It will be the first 200-lap Template-bodied late model race held at Toledo since an ASA Late Model Series race in April, 2007.
“It was an Outlaw race for a number of years and then it was a dual threat with Templates and Outlaws. It’s going to be different, it’s been a long time since we’ve run 200 laps at Toledo in a Template car and it should be different. The controlled cautions will come into play and it’ll be a different deal for us,” Campbell said.
Campbell will have a chance to become the first driver to win Outlaw and Template races at the Glass City 200. Harold Fair Jr. and Johnny VanDoorn have come close in recent years, having wins in one car and a runner-up in another, but nobody has been able to visit victory lane in both cars.
“I’m excited to see what the ASA STARS National Tour has to offer. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on it and watching it throughout the year and I’m glad to be a part of it at Toledo, it’s one of my favorite tracks. Who doesn’t love Toledo?” Campbell said.
