Brown's dash from Tailem Bend to Sonoma
Will Brown makes Sonoma trek via The Bend
Brown won Sunday's GT World Challenge Australia race
Triple Eight driver to make NASCAR debut with Cam Waters
A plane from nearby Murray Bridge has helped Will Brown fast-track his trek to the United States, as the Supercars points leader readies for his NASCAR debut.
Brown will make his NASCAR Cup Series debut at this weekend’s Sonoma race, alongside Supercars rival Cam Waters. The Triple Eight star will steer a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Camaro, while Waters will race an RFK Racing-prepared Ford Mustang.
Waters had a weekend off from racing ahead of his trek to the States, but GT World Challenge Australia commitments made it a bit more tricky for Brown.
Brown won Sunday’s second race at Tailem Bend with Brad Schumacher, with the duo dominating in their Audi to lead home Ferrari teammates and Supercars drivers Chaz Mostert and Jaxon Evans.
There was little time for Brown to celebrate, however, with the 25-year-old jetting off in an aircraft from nearby Murray Bridge to Sydney, a 1300km trip, courtesy of his relationship with Pilatus.
Brown then took off for the United States, where he will link up with RCR and prepare for his Cup debut.
"Yeah, I'm quite lucky, there's a plane at Murray Bridge straight into Sydney and then out to the US,” Brown said on Sunday’s SpeedSeries broadcast.
“So, I'm running it pretty fine to get there, but we'll do the podium, and I'll be straight off. But, pretty excited to get over and have a go at NASCAR.”
Brown and Waters’ cameos will come a week after former Supercars rival Shane van Gisbergen broke through to win his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Portland.
Van Gisbergen, who was replaced at Triple Eight by Brown, will act as spotter for the current championship leader, who has three wins already this season.
Victory at The Bend helped Brown carry on his winning ways, with the victory set up with a daring pass on Audi driver Brendon Leitch as they navigated through traffic.
"I had a big bomb down the outside of Turn 6 and was able to get two of them, and then brought it home in second place and Brad did an awesome job, so stoked to get a win,” said Brown, who will be joined in Sonoma by Triple Eight engineer Andrew Edwards.
"We've been working hard to try and get the win, so really excited about it."
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. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.
