The Cup Series field will shine a bit brighter on June 9th at the Sonoma Raceway for two stars from the land down under, Will Brown and Cam Waters, will make their debuts in NASCAR’s premier tier following in the footsteps of Shane van Gisbergen. As they embarked on this new journey, Brown, 25, couldn’t throw the spotlight on van Gisbergen for being the one to pave the way from Supercars to NASCAR.
Advertisement
The announcement of his debut with Richard Childress Racing came on Wednesday. Currently the points leader for Triple Eight Race Engineering Red Bull Team in the Supercars Championship, he will be driving the #31 open-entry Chevy Camaro at Sonoma. He said in an interview with motorsport.com, “You know, Shane really opened that door for a lot of people and to be honest, for me.”
Just four years earlier, Brown was trying to land a ride in Supercars. He continued to admit that racing in NASCAR wasn’t even on the horizon for him and that he was living the dream with the latest developments. “I’m happy about it. It’s great,” he said. “But yeah, I think Shane’s really allowed this to happen in a way with what he’s done.”
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
In 2023, van Gisbergen became the first driver in over 60 years to win a debut Cup Series race by capturing the victory flag at the Chicago Street Course. Following the successful cameo, he currently races full-time in the Xfinity Series for Kaulig Racing with his eyes set on a Cup Series ride next season. His story serves as an inspiration for many to follow him to stock car racing in the United States.
Brown wants NASCAR stars to participate in the Supercars Championship
Brown believes that not until a driver heads overseas and competes against other races will they get a true look at their caliber. He reiterated in his interview that assessing his standards was one of the purposes for wanting to race in NASCAR. With the same idea as a reason he also hopes that those here will head over to the Supercars Championship to test their skills.
“It would be awesome for us if we could get one or two of the NASCAR guys out here at the end of the year to race our last round in Supercars,” he said. Rest assured, fans will be waiting with bated breath to see if the Supercars points leader can hold his own on the NASCAR battlefield.
