NASHVILLE, April 28, 2005 - The Kenny Brown equipped Mustangs of Brian Tone and David Morrison took to the track at Nashville Superspeedway this last weekend and continued to show superiority despite being underpowered. The racing action was intense and the competition is really heating up in AV8SS with new drivers and cars moving from American Iron for a chance to earn prize money.

Kenny Brown Motorsports teams kicked it up another notch in the Aussie style double header race Sunday, capturing second place in both the AV8 category and AV8 Unlimited. The Kenny Brown equipped #29 2004 Mustang Cobra of Brian Tone and Mark Wilson made the trip from Detroit as did the #9 Mustang of David Morrison from nearby Knoxville, TN. The big news and major source of action was the #29 car, driven by Brian Tone, who despite a 70+ horsepower deficit was able to use the superiority of the Kenny Brown Advanced Geometry front suspension and ultra high-tech IRS rear suspension to head the pack in AV8.

Brian Tone in the On-Track Performance sponsored #29 Kenny Brown equipped Mustang qualified with a 1:08.788 and was .277 seconds off the pole set by the #63 car of Scott Whitehead. The beautiful and extremely well prepared azure blue 2004 Mustang Cobra garnered a lot of attention in the paddock and had spectators along with competitors taking notes. The car is built for pro racing and features a host of premium components including Kenny's most advanced Competition front and rear suspensions.

Tone started the race in the outside #2 spot, which unfortunately pushed him back to third after Pete Johns stole the inside position drafting behind Whitehead into turn one. Tone quickly established dominance through the corners and made a statement that horsepower would not prevail on the technical infield where Johns overcooked one of the turns and made contact with Whitehead giving Tone the break he needed to get out front and use his handling advantage to pull out enough and hold the lead position.

Near the end of race one, Tone slowed on the front stretch recognizing a full-course yellow only to be passed by Whitehead creating controversy and much confusion. In the end, the pass was deemed legal, relegating Tone to the second place finishing spot. Race two started off much the same, but Tone, Whitehead and Johns would swap positions several times. Johns pulled out a small lead with Tone and Whitehead battling doorhandle-to-doorhandle for the second position. Tone would win the battle for second after whitehead made contact with the #9 Kenny Brown equipped Mustang driven by David Morrison, who's tires were fading and had gotten loose through turn two and was struck by Whitehead in the process of gathering things up. Race two would finish with Whitehead and Johns swapping finishing positions and the #29 Mustang of Tone finishing a consistent second and second place overall in AV8.

David Morrison in his #9 Kenny Brown equipped Mustang continues to be a dominate force, although car owner, Gary Henkel still has a way to go in sorting out the car's setup and David is still working the reins on the potent and difficult to tame Mustang. David and car owner, Gary Henkel received a lot of help from the Kenny Brown engineering department this weekend, which took the car to a new level very quickly after several adjustments were made to shocks, wing, brakes, alignment and balance. Unfortunately, there was some confusion regarding the track configuration and Henkel had installed a gear set designed for top end speed only to be told upon arrival that they were going to use the "bus stop" at the end of the back straight leaving him with the wrong gears and at a disadvantage to Lester Lesneski, who obviously anticipated the change and had stepped up his gear ratio.

Morrison's weekend started off slow with braking and stability issues in the early rounds of practice and in the qualifying race. David qualified and started in the #2 position behind Lesneski who was on a different plane and about 2 seconds faster than anyone on the race track. The first race was uneventful with David holding a solid second place overall and in class. Near the end of the first race David's tires really started to fall off and the left front had stated to chord itself. Thank goodness for the 20 minute intermission, which allowed car owner, Henkel to fit a used set of rubber and increased hopes for yet another solid second place run in the second race. David's orders were to be smooth and focus on consistency, which he did well in the first race and continued on through the second race.

David once again was nursing worn tires at the end of the race and made a slight error through turn two, getting loose and caught up in the heated battle between Tone and Whitehead, which resulted in contact with the #63 car and leaving a nice dent behind the rear tire. Morrison was able to hang on to second place in class and well in front of the third place Corvette. All in all, another good run for the #9 team.

Kenny Brown Motorsports Group plans to attend several races throughout the Midwest, East-Coast and Southeast regions in 2005 and is looking forward to the great new opportunities that the American V-8 Supercar Series presents for its racing Mustangs and Camaros. Look for Kenny Brown Equipped Mustangs and Camaros, along with the Kenny Brown Support Team, at many of the American V-8 Supercar races in 2005.

Photography courtesy of: Wes Duenkel - AV8SS Staff Photographer