Wheatland, Missouri (April 28, 2016) - The late, great short-track racing champion Larry Phillips often said there was nothing better than a good-handling race car. Derek Brown can identify.
The Stoutland driver has started the 2016 Lucas Oil Speedway season with three victories in four Carson's Corner NAPA Street Stock features.
The key is simple and one that surely would make old-timers like Phillips nod approval.
"The handling of the car, pretty much, has been perfect," Brown said. "It just drives better than everybody else's."
Brown is this week's Tailgate Guys Radio Show Spotlight Driver of the Week at Lucas Oil Speedway. He takes aim on a fourth feature win on Saturday when the Street Stocks are the featured division on $5 Night, Presented by KOLR Channel 10.
Gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds, Ozark Golf Cars B-Mods and ALPS Food Stores ULMA Late Models also are on the program.
Trips to Andy's Frozen Custard Victory Lane have been frequent for Derek Brown. (Chris Bork photo)
Brown, 26, has been so good in the early going that his rocket-like start is causing him to re-evaluate his goals for the season. He's already opened a 35-point lead over Buckhorn's David Hendrix in the Street Stock chase and, even with one race remaining in April, he's at least thinking track championship.
That wasn't a goal, at least initially, as Brown wanted to keep his Saturday racing options open. He still might travel for some big Street Stock shows later in the summer.
"I still haven't decided if I want to pursue it or not," Brown said. "But if there was one track that I'd want to do it at, that would be at Lucas."
Brown has made an emphatic return to the Street Stock division this season after spending a couple of years driving in the Modified division. Driving a TJR Motorsports mid-1980s Chevrolet Monte Carlo body style, he's had some similar winning stretches before.
"But never starting out a season this good," he said, adding that his confidence level when he pulls into the pits "is pretty high."
Brown said his time driving the Modified have helped him find an extra edge.
"They're way easier to drive than a Modified," Brown said of his Street Stock. "I think the last two years really helped me, mostly how to drive the top of the race track.
"Most guys that I race with still think the middle is the top. If you can get all the way up against the wall and you're not scared of it, you're going a lot faster than them."
One of Brown's main challengers in the Street Stock division is his dad, Timothy Brown. The two have dueled for the lead several times this season and Timothy Brown is third in points in the division.
"I enjoy it," Derek Brown said of racing against his dad. "We've only wrecked each other once. It was just a racing deal pretty much."
Derek Brown said someone in front of him suddenly slowed down and a chain-reaction crash ensued with Timothy Brown plowing into him.
"We had a pretty hard crash, butit wasn't really one of our's faults. It just happened," Derek Brown said.
Derek Brown works splicing fiber-optic cable during the week and is on the road most of the time. He uses Friday nights to prepare his car for another racing Saturday.
Brown's sponsors include Ruble Race Engines, TJR Race Cars, Jim O'Dell Trucking, Double B Cattle Company and AFCO Shocks.
The Tailgate Guys Radio Show Spotlight Driver of the Week, featuring competitors at Lucas Oil Speedway, is a regular feature during the 2016 season.
The Tailgate Guys Radio Show airs on Saturdays from 11-noon on AM 1340 KICK in Springfield and can be heard online at 1340BigTalker.com. For more information on the show, check out its Facebook page at facebook.com/TailgateGuysRadio.
The Budweiser Weekly Championship Series resumes Saturday as gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds, Ozark Golf Cars B-Mods and ALPS Food Stores ULMA Late Models also are on the program.
Presented by KOLR Channel 10, there are $5 ticket prices for all adults, seniors, military and youth are on tap with kids 5-and-under, as always, admitted free.
A limited number of VIP Suites are available for Saturday's event. Contact Anna Harnden at (417) 282-5984 or by email at anna@lucasoilspeedway.com.
For complete event information, archived stories, ticket info and schedule information for the season, visit lucasoilspeedway.com.
Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With it's entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks.
Click www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984.
In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway.
####
CONTACT:
Dan Robinson
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director
Office: (417) 282-5984
Dan@lucasoil.com
About Lucas Oil Speedway
Lucas Oil Speedway is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the top five Race Tracks in the Nation. Located in Wheatland, Missouri, approximately an hour from Springfield, Missouri and just a quick hour and a half from the Kansas City Metro Area, dubbed the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" Lucas Oil Speedway certainly lives up to the title.
Twenty-One VIP Luxury Suites, HD Jumbo-Tron Screen, Stadium Style Musco Sports Lighting, a Bose Sound System, Go-Kart Slick Track, The Diamond Bar, Track Treasures Gift Shop, the best track food in the country and paved pits are a few of the spectacular amenities setting the Diamond of Dirt apart. 2016 marks the 6th season for the Liquid Quarter Mile Drag Racing Lake, Lake Lucas. Two Nationally televised Drag Boat Races featuring the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series will be held in 2016.
Lucas Oil Speedway hosts some of the largest and most popular events in the Midwest! National and regional touring series appear frequently for Special Events on the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, POWRi Midget National Series, Lucas Oil Pro-Pulling League, United States Modified Touring Series, ASCS Sprint Cars and the Lucas Oil MLRA.
The Stoutland driver has started the 2016 Lucas Oil Speedway season with three victories in four Carson's Corner NAPA Street Stock features.
The key is simple and one that surely would make old-timers like Phillips nod approval.
"The handling of the car, pretty much, has been perfect," Brown said. "It just drives better than everybody else's."
Brown is this week's Tailgate Guys Radio Show Spotlight Driver of the Week at Lucas Oil Speedway. He takes aim on a fourth feature win on Saturday when the Street Stocks are the featured division on $5 Night, Presented by KOLR Channel 10.
Gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds, Ozark Golf Cars B-Mods and ALPS Food Stores ULMA Late Models also are on the program.
Trips to Andy's Frozen Custard Victory Lane have been frequent for Derek Brown. (Chris Bork photo)
Brown, 26, has been so good in the early going that his rocket-like start is causing him to re-evaluate his goals for the season. He's already opened a 35-point lead over Buckhorn's David Hendrix in the Street Stock chase and, even with one race remaining in April, he's at least thinking track championship.
That wasn't a goal, at least initially, as Brown wanted to keep his Saturday racing options open. He still might travel for some big Street Stock shows later in the summer.
"I still haven't decided if I want to pursue it or not," Brown said. "But if there was one track that I'd want to do it at, that would be at Lucas."
Brown has made an emphatic return to the Street Stock division this season after spending a couple of years driving in the Modified division. Driving a TJR Motorsports mid-1980s Chevrolet Monte Carlo body style, he's had some similar winning stretches before.
"But never starting out a season this good," he said, adding that his confidence level when he pulls into the pits "is pretty high."
Brown said his time driving the Modified have helped him find an extra edge.
"They're way easier to drive than a Modified," Brown said of his Street Stock. "I think the last two years really helped me, mostly how to drive the top of the race track.
"Most guys that I race with still think the middle is the top. If you can get all the way up against the wall and you're not scared of it, you're going a lot faster than them."
One of Brown's main challengers in the Street Stock division is his dad, Timothy Brown. The two have dueled for the lead several times this season and Timothy Brown is third in points in the division.
"I enjoy it," Derek Brown said of racing against his dad. "We've only wrecked each other once. It was just a racing deal pretty much."
Derek Brown said someone in front of him suddenly slowed down and a chain-reaction crash ensued with Timothy Brown plowing into him.
"We had a pretty hard crash, butit wasn't really one of our's faults. It just happened," Derek Brown said.
Derek Brown works splicing fiber-optic cable during the week and is on the road most of the time. He uses Friday nights to prepare his car for another racing Saturday.
Brown's sponsors include Ruble Race Engines, TJR Race Cars, Jim O'Dell Trucking, Double B Cattle Company and AFCO Shocks.
The Tailgate Guys Radio Show Spotlight Driver of the Week, featuring competitors at Lucas Oil Speedway, is a regular feature during the 2016 season.
The Tailgate Guys Radio Show airs on Saturdays from 11-noon on AM 1340 KICK in Springfield and can be heard online at 1340BigTalker.com. For more information on the show, check out its Facebook page at facebook.com/TailgateGuysRadio.
The Budweiser Weekly Championship Series resumes Saturday as gates open at 5 p.m. with hot laps at 7 and racing at 7:30. Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds, Ozark Golf Cars B-Mods and ALPS Food Stores ULMA Late Models also are on the program.
Presented by KOLR Channel 10, there are $5 ticket prices for all adults, seniors, military and youth are on tap with kids 5-and-under, as always, admitted free.
A limited number of VIP Suites are available for Saturday's event. Contact Anna Harnden at (417) 282-5984 or by email at anna@lucasoilspeedway.com.
For complete event information, archived stories, ticket info and schedule information for the season, visit lucasoilspeedway.com.
Lucas Oil Speedway is located at Highways 83 and 54 in Wheatland, Missouri. A campground with shower and bathroom facilities is also available. With it's entrance located just outside the pit gate this sprawling scenic camping facility will continue to enhance the racing experience at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks.
Click www.LucasOilSpeedway.com for more information and detailed directions to the speedway or call the Track Hotline at (417) 282-5984.
In addition, fans can get social with Lucas Oil Speedway by following @LucasSpeedway on Twitter, clicking "Like" at www.facebook.com/LucasOilSpeedway and on www.youtube.com/LucasOilSpeedway.
####
CONTACT:
Dan Robinson
Lucas Oil Speedway General Manager
Lucas Oil MLRA Series Director
Office: (417) 282-5984
Dan@lucasoil.com
About Lucas Oil Speedway
Lucas Oil Speedway is considered by fans, drivers and industry insiders to be one of the top five Race Tracks in the Nation. Located in Wheatland, Missouri, approximately an hour from Springfield, Missouri and just a quick hour and a half from the Kansas City Metro Area, dubbed the "Diamond of Dirt Tracks" Lucas Oil Speedway certainly lives up to the title.
Twenty-One VIP Luxury Suites, HD Jumbo-Tron Screen, Stadium Style Musco Sports Lighting, a Bose Sound System, Go-Kart Slick Track, The Diamond Bar, Track Treasures Gift Shop, the best track food in the country and paved pits are a few of the spectacular amenities setting the Diamond of Dirt apart. 2016 marks the 6th season for the Liquid Quarter Mile Drag Racing Lake, Lake Lucas. Two Nationally televised Drag Boat Races featuring the Lucas Oil Drag Boat Racing Series will be held in 2016.
Lucas Oil Speedway hosts some of the largest and most popular events in the Midwest! National and regional touring series appear frequently for Special Events on the Diamond of Dirt Tracks. The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, POWRi Midget National Series, Lucas Oil Pro-Pulling League, United States Modified Touring Series, ASCS Sprint Cars and the Lucas Oil MLRA.
