By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer
The return to Talladega Superspeedway for Brandon Brown hands the defending track winner a boost in motivation to defend his victory.
The 2.66-mile superspeedway is the site of Brown’s only career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory to date. On top of that victory, the track is statistically his best track. The Woodbridge, VA native has an average finish of 8.6 at the biggest oval on the Xfinity Series schedule. Brown has three top-10 finishes and his worst finish at Talladega is 15th.
“There’s one statistic that gives me a huge confidence boost, and that is Talladega is the only track I’ve won at in the Xfinity Series,” explained Brown. “Heading back to the track, I don’t feel like there’s as much pressure as there is motivation because we won the last race there. I do really want to defend that though, and I want to do everything I can to go back-to-back. Even more importantly, a win would lock us into the playoffs. That’s the goal, to get into the playoffs and win before it’s too late.”
Returning as the primary sponsor for Brown is TradeTheChain.com. Talladega marks the first race of the season that the company will have a full wrap. The returning partner is another added motivator for Brown.
Unlike the bulk of the schedule, Talladega is one where the driver of the No. 68 TradeTheChain.com Chevrolet Camaro SS has to work with his competition. The draft is a huge determining factor on Superspeedways. In the Ag-Pro 300, Brown plans to look towards his fellow Chevy Racing drivers for help in the draft.
“I’m going to try to work with other drivers in the Chevy Racing camp to see if we can get some pushes,” admitted Brown. “I hope to get a return on the pushes that we give to everybody on track. The plan is to start with the Chevy camp and build a working relationship with them. I spoke to my spotter, TJ Majors, about working with some of the JRM cars. Drivers and teams always want to go into Talladega with a plan. However, the plan always goes to shambles because of the big one that’s going to happen. You have no idea when or where, but it most likely will happen.”
Though superspeedway races often produce varying strategies, Brown plans to focus on both Stage points and the win. By staying on track inside of pitting under green, it reduces the chances of getting caught in an incident entering pit road. It also provides the opportunity for Brown to score the maximum amount of points.
Brown enters the Ag-Pro 300 14th in the points standings. The 28-year-old is 27-points behind the cutoff for the Xfinity Series playoffs.
The Ag-Pro 300 is scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 23, following the completion of the ARCA Menards Series race.
Featured Photo Credit: Photo by Brandonbilt Motorsports.