The door that Shane van Gisbergen opened when he made his Cup Series debut in 2023 keeps making way for new talent to enter the NASCAR world. The latest to come through it is 25-year-old Will Brown, the current points leader in the Australian Supercars Championship. Richard Childress Racing announced on Wednesday that Brown will pilot its #33 open entry in Sonoma next month.
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Brown is an eight-time race winner in Supercars and an Australian Formula 4 Series champion. A native of Queensland, he drives for Triple Eight Race Engineering Red Bull Team in the land down under. Here in the Cup Series, he will be sponsored by MobileX and Motorola. He will join van Gisbergen, Cam Waters, and Brodie Kostecki in the list of Supercars hotshots who debuted in NASCAR last year.
He said in an interview with motorsport.com, “I said the other day it was only four years ago I was trying to get into Supercars. Now I’m with the best team in Australian motorsport. You know, you can’t go higher. And now, I’ve been offered this opportunity to go to NASCAR. For me four years ago, a lot of this wasn’t even on the horizon. I didn’t think I’d ever get the opportunity to race NASCAR.”
Absolutely incredible opportunity to be able to head stateside and race at the highest level in America with @RCRracing!! Can’t wait to get to Sonoma and have been working hard to prep, but first we’ve got Supercars in Perth this weekend! pic.twitter.com/rWfzuIV8d8
— Will Brown (@will_brown87) May 15, 2024
Brown did not fail to credit van Gisbergen for being the one to facilitate the opportunity. At RCR, he will be among the drivers whom he has already competed against. He was on the grid alongside Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch in a World Racing League event in the Circuit of the Americas last December. He will be hoping to work with them and make a mark in this latest turn his career has taken.
Cam Waters to debut in the Cup Series alongside Will Brown
Brown won’t be the only new face in Sonoma on June 9. The 11-time Supercars race winner Waters will fly into the country to be a part of RFK Racing’s Stage 60 program. He is currently a driver for Tickford Racing in the Supercars Championship and stands 15th in the points table. He is under the guidance of Cup Series veteran David Ragan to find success in his debut race.
The influx of drivers from Australia is a welcome understanding between teams in both countries. The budding relationships have got parties visiting each other in their native countries. Notably, Richard Childress was present in Adelaide during last season’s Supercars Championship finale. Quite possibly, the pipeline could soon run in the opposite direction with NASCAR stars competing in Supercars.
