(3/10/19)
Keith Brown Jr’s patience has finally paid off. The Pittsburg racer had shown an abundance of speed in his first 11 starts of 2019, but one way or another, Brown had been taken out of contention in almost every race by mechanical gremlins or an incident with another racer. All of that changed this past Saturday night, as Brown led all but one lap en route to a Sherm and Loree Toller Memorial victory.
A total of 18 IMCA Sport Mods checked in for the night’s action, being split into three 6 car heat races. Keith Brown would roll off 4th in his heat race. Despite moving up to 2nd relatively quickly, Brown was unable to move any further forward, settling for 2nd behind Todd Cooper.
A great redraw lined Brown up on the outside of the front row, and at the drop of the green flag he was gone. Even with multiple early cautions, Brown would pull away on each ensuing restart. As the race went on, however, Guy Ahlwardt slowly began making his presence felt. With just 4 to go, Brown had issues with a lapped car, allowing Ahlwardt to get by for the race lead. This only appeared to light a fire under Brown, who drove right back by for the top spot with 2 to go. Brown would lead the final two laps to pick up his first win of 2019.
The race also served as the first race in the Pacific Sport Mods Nor Cal era. PSM Nor Cal is a club of racers who tally points for racing Chico, Marysville, Merced and Quincy to crown a club champion at the end of the season. With Brown’s victory, he now leads the club’s standings.
When Keith was asked about his thoughts on the night, he said: “We decided Saturday morning to go to marysville . Despite the bad weather, we headed out. After hot laps & me stuffing the car in the wall , I was kinda thinking it was a mistake. Thanks to Guy Ahlwardt who loaned me the A frame I needed to fix the car we stayed to race. Went out for our heat and made a good run at it . I felt we had a good car for the main. Just needed a good draw and we pulled the 2. Led most of the main till I made a mistake which gave the lead to Guy. But with 2 to go I saw an opportunity to take back the lead and I did, And finally got this car in to victory lane.”
Keith would like to thank all of his sponsors and supporters, including:
My wife
Ricky Childress jr
My dad
Tim Barlow
Joe Glade
Darrell Hughes
Steel City Motorsports
JGE Motorsports
HRT Shock Service
Little J’s Burgers
Engine Quest
CTA Prints
Performance Bodies
Tire Demon
Competition Carburetors
Interested in having writeups like these done for your race team throughout the season? Contact Daren Ricks of DRC Motorsports Media here on Facebook, at darenricks999@gmail.com or at (530) 828-0112 to discuss a plan that fits your team’s needs.
Daren Ricks
DRC Motorsports Media
DRC Motorsports Media 