Blake Brown Edges Jerry Wood for Super Truck Victory
Blake Brown #71 American Ethanol Truck Series
Blake Brown couldn’t have asked for more in his first ever American Ethanol Super Truck race as he edged defending track champion Jerry Wood by .017 seconds to pick up the win in the 40 lap feature. Earlier in the day, Brown set a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 18.513 breaking the previous mark set in 2002 by Todd Norder.
Justin Oertel and Joshua James brought the field of eleven trucks to the green flag. Oertel wasted no time by jumping out to a quick lead. By lap 5 he had built his lead to six truck lengths over James with Kurt Kleven, Brown, and Wood also in pursuit.
While Kleven was trying to find his way past James for second, Brown somehow was able to find room to sneak by Kleven on the inside to take the third spot. On lap 13 Brown moved into second place while Wood was up to third on lap 15.
One lap later Brown was ready to challenge Oertel for the lead and two ran side by side before Brown was able to take the lead on lap 20 with Wood quickly up to second.
The first caution of the race came out on lap 23 when Jacob Van Wazer made contact with the wall in turn four. The restart would find Brown on the inside with Wood electing to start behind the leader. On lap 28, Wood found an opening and took over the lead from Brown.
Brown was not about to let Wood get away. As he closed the gap, the caution flag waved on lap 33 when Mike Corvo spun coming out of turn two.
All the ingredients were in place for a wild start as Wood lined up on the inside and Brown on the outside for the restart. Wood held the lead for one lap before Brown took it back on lap 34 only to see Wood recapture it laps later. On lap 39, Brown found the necessary real estate to pull inside of Wood to grab the lead. The two raced the final lap side by side with Brown edging Wood at the line. Kleven finished in third followed by Oertel and James.
“This was awesome. It was a great race and it was a lot of fun. There are so many people who made this possible today on a pretty short notice,” said Brown.
Jerry Wood was quick to point out how competitive this series will be in 2014. “These trucks are so equal and it showed today.”
Third place finisher Kurt Kleven added, “We’re close and we’re getting this figured out.”
Justin Oertel held off Joshua James in the first eight lap heat race. In the second heat race, Kurt Kleven picked up the win over Jerry Wood and Blake Brown.
American Ethanol Super Trucks 5/4/2014
Feature:1. Blake Brown (Franksville, WI), 2. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 3. Kurt Kleven (Utica, WI), 4. Justin Oertel (Lincolnshire, IL), 5. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 6. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 7. John Beale (Verona, WI), 8. Mike Corvo III (Park Ridge, IL), 9. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL), 10. Chris Sevey (Hiawatha, IA), 11. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI),
Heat 1:1. Justin Oertel (Lincolnshire, IL), 2. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 3. Chris Sevey (Hiawatha, IA), 4. John Beale (Verona, WI), 5. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI),
Heat 2:1. Kurt Kleven (Utica, WI), 2. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 3. Blake Brown (Franksville, WI), 4. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 5. Mike Corvo III (Park Ridge, IL), 6. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL),
Qualifying:1. Blake Brown (Franksville, WI), 2. Jerry Wood (Madison, WI), 3. Mike Corvo III (Park Ridge, IL), 4. Camden Murphy (Itasca, IL), 5. Kurt Kleven (Utica, WI), 6. Jacob Van Wazer (Lombard, IL), 7. John Beale (Verona, WI), 8. Chris Sevey (Hiawatha, IA), 9. Joshua James (Saukville, WI), 10. Justin Oertel (Lincolnshire, IL), 11. Cory Skolaski (Evansville, WI),