RCR crew chief wants another crack with Brown

RCR crew chief wants another chance with Will Brown
Brown made NASCAR Cup Series debut at Sonoma
Supercars star taken out of contention with car issue

Will Brown has left a lasting impression on Richard Childress Racing after his NASCAR debut, with the Aussie star impressing Crew Chief Keith Rodden.

The Supercars championship leader battled to 31st in Monday’s (AEST) race after an electrical issue, but by race’s end, he had already raised eyebrows.

Brown was a stunning third in practice, before fighting to 24th in qualifying despite having only 75 percent throttle in his Camaro.

Come race day, and Brown was working through the field before his efforts were halted due to more mechanical issues, dropping him out of contention.

"I really thought he's just a sponge and really had to absorb all the information we were dumping on him,” Rodden told Supercars.com.

Tough day, was moving forward at the start but our electrical gremlin creeped back in unfortunately that stuck around. Was awesome to run the whole race and drive against the @nascar cup guys, massive thank you to @RCRracing for working hard and getting me back out there! 😁🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/nXGvBLMiug
— Will Brown (@will_brown87) June 10, 2024

“It's more than just like the simulator and driving around the track. It's all the rules and regulations and the way the races are in here. It’s so different than Supercars, but he was right on it the entire time.

“He took great feedback to us about what the car was doing. I felt like he was very receptive to how we raced and everything that was happening.

"So all that, I felt like we were right up to speed to begin with. Unfortunately we had a mechanical gremlin, so we definitely want to do it again.”

Supercars rival Cam Waters was also taken out of contention after picking up damage, but the Ford driver didn’t want to let the result dampen his spirits.

It was the same for Brown, who put the electrical issues on race day down to "racing at the end of the day."

“It was a great experience to make my first NASCAR Cup Series start,” Brown said.

"I really enjoyed the racing and to be honest, it was very similar to our racing back home in Supercars.

"It was a disappointing result for sure. I think we were running quite well at the start and able to make up ground. I started to smell an electrical fire inside the car before the end of Stage 1.

"I wasn’t sure if it was my car and then I started to see fumes behind the dash. I was hoping it would last, but it was obviously something similar to the issue yesterday in qualifying.

"I shut off everything and unfortunately with the way the race played out, there weren’t any cautions at the end to get our laps back. It’s disappointing but that is racing at the end of the day."

Waters and Brown will return to Australia after their Sonoma cameos for Round 5 of the 2024 season in Darwin. Brown leads the championship over teammate Broc Feeney by 136 points, with Waters fourth behind Ford star Chaz Mostert.

The betr Darwin Triple Crown will be held on June 14-16. Tickets for the event are on sale now. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.