Brown touches down ahead of NASCAR debut
Will Brown touches down at RCR headquarters
Brown, Cam Waters to make NASCAR Cup debuts this weekend
Brown first, Waters fourth in Supercars standings
Will Brown has touched down in the United States ahead of his NASCAR debut, acquainting himself with Richard Childress Racing and his Camaro Cup car.
Triple Eight star Brown and Supercars rival Cam Waters will make their NASCAR Cup Series debuts in Sonoma this weekend.
Brown and Waters' Cup debuts will be backed by Supercars, with the former to steer RCR's #33 Camaro, complete with major sponsorship from Peter Adderton's MobileX company.
Waters' #60 RFK Racing Ford Mustang, meanwhile, will sport BuildSubmarines.com and AUKUS colours.
Brown's trip to RCR headquarters wasn't all smooth sailing, with the 25-year-old initially ending up in New York following two cancelled flights and a missed connecting flight.
The Queenslander finally arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina on Monday evening local time, with team owner Childress on site to welcome the eight-time Supercars race winner. There, Brown hopped into his #33 Camaro.
Brown and Waters are two of the strongest circuit racers in Supercars, but will have to grapple with the unusual challenge of sitting on the other side of the car, which includes changing gears with their right hands.
Beyond simulator running, they will also have little track time in their respective cars at Sonoma, with a single practice session on Friday (7:00am AEST Saturday) followed by Qualifying on Saturday (8:00am AEST Sunday).
However, Brown cited the extension of practice from 20 to 50 minutes, due to the recent resurface works at Sonoma, as a key boost ahead of the 220-mile, 350-kilometre long race.
"You can't go there and go, 'I don't have expectations'. We do," Brown recently told the Apex Hunters United podcast.
"Running in the [top] 10 would be a good day, and anything better than that would be a great day.
"For myself, I feel like that extra 30 minutes... the NASCAR guys are driving these cars all the time. Will I find more in that 30 minutes than they will? I would assume so, usually.
"For me, having 50 minutes there will be a bonus."
Supercars CEO Shane Howard said supporting Brown and Waters' Stateside efforts was key to bringing the championship to an international audience, with overseas viewers able to follow all the Supercars action on Superview.
"We’re thrilled to support two of our sports stars this weekend as they make their NASCAR debuts, with the partnership promoting our international viewing platform, SuperView," Howard said in a Supercars statement.
“This initiative highlights our dedication to bringing the exceptional talent within Supercars to a global audience.
“Following the memorable debuts of Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki, which drew millions of views to our website in 2023, we expect a similar surge in interest as Cam Waters and Will Brown embark on this exciting challenge.
“This partnership is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the superior streaming quality and comprehensive coverage that SuperView offers to racing fans worldwide."
This weekend's race, the Toyota/Save Mart 350, will kick off at 12:30pm local time Sunday/5:30am AEST on Monday, and will be broadcast live in Australia on Foxtel and Kayo.
Waters and Brown will return to Australia after their Sonoma cameos for Round 5 of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship in Darwin. The betr Darwin Triple Crown will be held on June 14-16. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
