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| Aaron McFarling

aaron.mcfarling@roanoke.com, 981-3124

FAIRLAWN -- One screw-up, and he would be done.

One wreck, and his season would end.

Brandon Dean knew he had the talent and experience to compete at the highest level at Motor Mile Speedway.

But many weeks, he drove his No. 5 Late Model Stock car in fear, aware that the slightest misstep would break the budget he and his father had for racing.

"Oh, it was slim to nothing," Dean said of the team's available cash, which took a weekly hit regardless of performance just from tires and fuel. "We were on a week-to-week basis. We had to finish in the top 10 or top five to get back the next week.

"We knew that when we started, so that's why we tried to run up there, keep the nose clean and keep everything intact."

He did. And Travis Kiker was watching.

Last week, Kiker Tree Service agreed to sponsor Dean's ride for the rest of the season, alleviating the young driver's worries and potentially shaking up the standings in Motor Mile's top series.

"It's a big lift off your shoulders," said Dean, a 21-year-old mechanical engineering student at UNC Charlotte. "It's awesome. You can push a little harder, push the envelope on setups and motors and stuff like that, not worry about it so much.

"I think we'll definitely pick up, and I'll get a little bit better."

Not that Dean was struggling on the track before. When the deal was struck, Dean ranked third in the points standings.

Kiker, who co-owns the North Carolina business with his father, Eddie, was unsatisfied with the performance of his previous driver. So he cut ties with Shaun Mangum and hooked up with Dean.

"We've been racing with him now for two years, and we just had our eye on him the whole time," Travis Kiker said of Dean. "I think he's got what it takes."

Last weekend, in his first race with the new team, Dean finished fifth -- his sixth top-five effort of the season. He enters this week's race fourth in the Late Model standings, only 20 points behind leader Philip Morris.

"Hopefully we can win some races and win a championship," Dean said. "I don't see why we can't. There's no excuses right now."

Dean now has three cars and three engines at his disposal, two more than he had before. He's retained his father as his crew chief but also is receiving in-race assistance from Kiker.

And even though he's given Dean permission to race aggressively, Kiker doesn't expect him to become a sudden wrecking machine.

"He's not like that," Kiker said. "He's not overly aggressive. He ain't one to take nothing off nobody, but he will give it to them if they give it to him. He don't go looking for trouble.

"That's what I like about him, too -- he's a clean driver."

And a contending one, now more than ever.