Drew Brannon Wins ASA Challenge Race
05.17.2009 - Milwaukee, WI
Drew Brannon held of a hard charging Landon Cassill to win his first ASA Late Model Series Challenge race by 4/10ths of a second. Steve Carlson finished third and Eddie Hoffman was fourth in the 150-mile event at the Milwaukee Mile. It is Brannon’s fourth ASA Late Model Series win of the young season and his seventh feature victory already in 2009.
Earlier in the day, Brannon qualified second of the thirty-four cars who attempted to make the event behind Chris Eggelston who set a new track record of 29.18 seconds. Following qualifying the six fastest timers ran a six-lap dash for a new Holley Carburetor, which Drew won easily from the outside pole.
The invert for the big race was eight, placing Drew on the inside of the fourth row at the start. A close call almost ended Drew’s day early, when Brent Downey’s engine blew-up right in front of the Florida teen. Drew dropped back to tenth position as the field sorted out and then patently and methodically worked his way towards the front over the next twenty-five laps, breaking into the top-five on lap twenty-six.
Brannon was following Midwest short-track stars Hoffman and Carlson along with Cassill when the two youngsters bolted to the outside of the veterans in a daring double pass on lap forty-seven on the outside leaving the two elders to fight for third place. The two pulled twenty lengths ahead over the next fifteen laps with Drew’s #08 ASI Limited Chevy right on the bumper of Cassill's Port City #61. Drew began to get very tight and fell about fifteen car lengths back at the just before the races 10-minute break at the midway point of the race.
Crew Chief Butch Miller realized that Brannon’s car was not getting down in the corners over the last ten laps and upon looking closely at the car, it was determined one of the front shock absorbers was not working properly. With no time to replace the shock, Miller had the SS Green Light crew make adjustments to compensate for the handling of the car and hoped that the changes would keep his young driver near the front.
The adjustments worked perfectly as Drew blew past Cassill just two laps after the restart and slowly pulled away to an eight-car length lead. Miller cautioned his understudy to take care of his equipment. “Don’t burn the right front off of it Drew!” Miller radioed to his driver. A few laps later he reminded him, “Be smooth, be smooth.” And smooth the sixteen-year old from Miami was; pulling out to a ten length lead with fifty-laps to go.
A caution bunched the field at lap 105 and on the restart Hoffman made a bold charge to Drew’s inside and nearly took the lead, but Drew drove back hard out of turn two and held the point that he would keep to the checkers. With fifteen to go, Drew held a solid two-second lead but once again the car began to tighten-up and Drew was losing time in the center of the corners. Cassill was charging hard, cutting into Brannon’s lead by about one tenth per lap. With five laps to go, Drew narrowly avoided trouble trying to pass two lapped cars that were racing each other hard. Cassill moved within four car lengths and looked poised to make a run at the lead. Brannon cleared the traffic, got back on the gas and cruised to a .48 second advantage at the end of the 150-mile event.
Three-time ASA National Series champion Butch Miller had nothing but positives to say about his young driver. “He's got tons and tons and tons of talent. Every lap is maxed out and you can't ask anything else." Miller said after the victory. “I can’t say enough about the whole SS Green Light team, everyone did a great job today.”
Brannon who won his fourth ASALMS event o the year was equally complementary; “I just can’t believe we won her at the Mile. I was worried when the car got tight, but the SS Green Light guys made some adjustments and really helped the car the second half.” He added, “Can't wait for the next one,"
Earlier in the day, Brannon qualified second of the thirty-four cars who attempted to make the event behind Chris Eggelston who set a new track record of 29.18 seconds. Following qualifying the six fastest timers ran a six-lap dash for a new Holley Carburetor, which Drew won easily from the outside pole.
The invert for the big race was eight, placing Drew on the inside of the fourth row at the start. A close call almost ended Drew’s day early, when Brent Downey’s engine blew-up right in front of the Florida teen. Drew dropped back to tenth position as the field sorted out and then patently and methodically worked his way towards the front over the next twenty-five laps, breaking into the top-five on lap twenty-six.
Brannon was following Midwest short-track stars Hoffman and Carlson along with Cassill when the two youngsters bolted to the outside of the veterans in a daring double pass on lap forty-seven on the outside leaving the two elders to fight for third place. The two pulled twenty lengths ahead over the next fifteen laps with Drew’s #08 ASI Limited Chevy right on the bumper of Cassill's Port City #61. Drew began to get very tight and fell about fifteen car lengths back at the just before the races 10-minute break at the midway point of the race.
Crew Chief Butch Miller realized that Brannon’s car was not getting down in the corners over the last ten laps and upon looking closely at the car, it was determined one of the front shock absorbers was not working properly. With no time to replace the shock, Miller had the SS Green Light crew make adjustments to compensate for the handling of the car and hoped that the changes would keep his young driver near the front.
The adjustments worked perfectly as Drew blew past Cassill just two laps after the restart and slowly pulled away to an eight-car length lead. Miller cautioned his understudy to take care of his equipment. “Don’t burn the right front off of it Drew!” Miller radioed to his driver. A few laps later he reminded him, “Be smooth, be smooth.” And smooth the sixteen-year old from Miami was; pulling out to a ten length lead with fifty-laps to go.
A caution bunched the field at lap 105 and on the restart Hoffman made a bold charge to Drew’s inside and nearly took the lead, but Drew drove back hard out of turn two and held the point that he would keep to the checkers. With fifteen to go, Drew held a solid two-second lead but once again the car began to tighten-up and Drew was losing time in the center of the corners. Cassill was charging hard, cutting into Brannon’s lead by about one tenth per lap. With five laps to go, Drew narrowly avoided trouble trying to pass two lapped cars that were racing each other hard. Cassill moved within four car lengths and looked poised to make a run at the lead. Brannon cleared the traffic, got back on the gas and cruised to a .48 second advantage at the end of the 150-mile event.
Three-time ASA National Series champion Butch Miller had nothing but positives to say about his young driver. “He's got tons and tons and tons of talent. Every lap is maxed out and you can't ask anything else." Miller said after the victory. “I can’t say enough about the whole SS Green Light team, everyone did a great job today.”
Brannon who won his fourth ASALMS event o the year was equally complementary; “I just can’t believe we won her at the Mile. I was worried when the car got tight, but the SS Green Light guys made some adjustments and really helped the car the second half.” He added, “Can't wait for the next one,"
Muskegon, MI 49444