STAFFORD, VA :: Adam Brenner is one of the lesser-known drivers who will be competing in Thursday’s Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown.  Brenner, who won the 2010 Old Dominion Speedway track championship, will be attempting to qualify for the race for the second time after failing to make the race in 2011.

Brenner, who will be racing for Jerry Brown and Brandonbilt Motorsports, tested at Richmond International Raceway last Tuesday and felt confident about his car, saying it’s better than the car he attempted to run two years ago.

“I think the car is going to be pretty good,” Brenner said.  “At least, at the test, I figured out what not to do to the car so I learned something.  I hope we qualify for the race.  I brought my own car a couple years ago, was really good in practice but the carburetor messed up in qualifying and I was the first to be eliminated.  This is the best car I’ve ever been behind the wheel of.”

Brenner hasn’t raced much in recent years.  In 2011, he quit running his own car and started helping Brandon Brown and Brandonbilt Motorsports more.  He’s acted as the crew chief for Brandon Brown.  In 2012, Brandonbilt Motorsports left their home track at Old Dominion Speedway to go race at Southern National Motorsports Park.  After a controversial sequence of events in the Thanksgiving Classic, Brandon Brown quit racing at Southern National, a track his father co-owns and announced his intent to race elsewhere.  That opened the door for Adam Brenner to compete at Southern National, where he scored the pole for the season opener before mechanical issues forced him to retire from the race.

While Brenner feels Richmond will be a race that will require more driver finesse and more handling than speed, he doesn’t feel there’s anything he can take from the Old Dominion Speedway or Southern National Motorsports Park to Richmond.

“You can’t take anything from Southern National or Old Dominion.  Old Dominion was its own animal and Southern National has a lot of speed but a lot sharper turns.  I think it’s going to be more handling because tire wear seems to be big, the tires fall off really fast.  You can have the biggest motor in the world but if you can’t get through the corner, it does no good.  There will be a fine balance but handling will be a big effect.             I think you’ll have some guys with bigger motors that qualify well and fall to the back 30 laps in and guys who don’t have the big horsepower come forward.”

Brenner will be running a Ford Crate motor, saying that the engines are really good and can’t be beat for the price.

After the Showdown, Brenner will continue to work with Brandon Brown who will compete at Langley Speedway and Motor Mile Speedway through the remainder of the season.

“We’re actually working on the car for Motor Mile.  I don’t know when the next the I’ll get to drive the car is but hopefully it won’t be too long.”

Brenner, who scored his first career Late Model Stock Car victory in the season opener of the 2009 Old Dominion Speedway season, began his racing career running in Old Dominion’s “Grand Stock” division.

“My uncle used to take me to races when i was a kid,” Brenner explained.  “As I got older, I got more in to it, going to Richmond and Dover.  The final straw was when I did the ride along thing at Daytona.  After that I was hooked.  I started going to Old Dominion. I started running Grand Stock – it was the same car just a smaller carb.  2009 was first year in Late Models.  I also raced a little bit at Shenandoah, went to races there.”

Brenner intends to compete at Dominion Raceway in 2014 if the track is completed and opened on schedule, citing the short drive from the shop.  Until then he will work with Brown at Langley and Southern National.

“Our goal is to get good runs at all the tracks in the Southeast to show we’re a good team and we don’t need favoritism.  That’s what I’m hoping anyways.”

During his career racing at Old Dominion Speedway, Brenner spent many nights working late on his car while also helping his sister, Amber “Pinky” Abram, race in support classes at Old Dominion.  While teams drove in with supersized rigs, Brenner drove in with a pickup truck hauling an open trailer and his yellow no. 22 Late Model.  But when it came down to race time, Brenner was often one of the cars to beat.

Now, Brenner hopes he can earn some respect at Richmond and he feels he’s driving the best car he’s ever raced in.