Kellogg native Kyle Brown honored by IMCA

KELLOGG — Although goal-oriented, Kyle Brown didn’t share his expectations with others entering the 2012 season.

The first-year IMCA Modified driver wanted to stay focused on the task at hand and not raise any doubt or added pressure.

“I wasn’t going to go out and tell everyone I was going to run for National Rookie of the Year. You can’t start out with zero races under your belt and say that,” Brown said. “I didn’t know how it was going to go.”

After the season started, Brown brought up the topic to his father, fellow Modified driver David Brown.

“He’s my biggest supporter, but agreed that it was going to be tough to do in the North Central Region,” Brown said. “He also agreed that we could try to do it, knowing we had to put a lot of eggs in one basket.”

It was near the end of June when Brown’s focus dialed in on chasing top rookie honors.

“We were running weekly in April and May and after I won my first race, we started looking at the points,” he said. “We realized we were going to be there at the end if we kept it up. At that point, we decided to really chase this thing.”

That first win in a Modified came on May 27 at Benton County Speedway in Vinton and was Brown’s eighth straight top-10 finish. By season’s end, Brown had 23 top-five finishes in 56 starts and was national and Belleville Motorsports Regional Rookie of the Year.

“Points racing takes a lot of time, money and energy,” said Brown. “It kind of all fell into place. You can’t go racing and expect your points to show up at the end. The way IMCA has points set up, it makes it fun.”

Brown’s season included 56 starts, one win and 22 top-fives. His crew was made up of his father David, mother Kathy, uncle Rick, grandfather Merl, girlfriend Maggie Shroyer and Justin Brown.

His sponsors were Bruce Keith Trucking and Noble All American, both of Newton; Eisele Motorsports of Grinnell; Harris Auto Racing of Boone; Brown Tiling, Brown Farms and ZR Race Parts, all of Kellogg; The Joie of Seating of Kannapolis, N.C.; Jones Racing of Ottsville, Pa.; Monte Motor Parts of Montezuma; Harvey’s Machine of Norwalk; Bus House Gang of Knoxville; Grumpy’s Garage of Marshalltown; and Chase Graphics of Ames.