With NASCAR race winner Shane van Gisbergen as his spotter, Will Brown had hoped for a high finish in his Cup Series debut. Unfortunately, that was not to be at Sonoma as electrical issues sent him to the back of the pack and he could only manage a P31. Despite that, the Australian Supercars racer had a field day and would love to return to the sport.
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The first stage was not much of an issue for the part-time Richard Childress Racing driver as he had made his way up to the top 10 towards the end of it but it was mostly downhill from there. According to Brown, the restarts were challenging but had he not had weekend-long issues with the electrical elements of the #33, he would have been a lot more comfortable.
“The start of the race was pretty cool. Those restarts were hectic and I felt like I was picking people off each run which was cool and think I got as high as 10th in that first stage which was really cool but overall, it was awesome to come over here, and experience Cup and I’d love to run it back,” he said after the race.
"It was awesome to come over and experience Cup. I'd love to run it back, and hopefully we get the opportunity one day."@will_brown87 explains his power issue that took him out at Sonoma in his first career NASCAR Cup race and his desire to return one day.
📹: @stephen_stumpf pic.twitter.com/jTVmIi73vP
— Frontstretch (@Frontstretch) June 10, 2024
Brown was not the only Australian Supercars racer making his debut at the Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. Over at Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Cam Waters also had his first taste of NASCAR.
Not a day to remember for Cam Waters in NASCAR debut
While Brown struggled with electrical gremlins all weekend, he at least was able to finish the race. Waters was just unlucky to be caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and had a DNF quite early on in the race due to extensive damage sustained to the #60 RFK car.
Brown had to bring his car to a halt due to his electric issues, bringing out the caution. In the subsequent restart on lap 35, Waters was involved in a multi-car wreck at the hairpin which was not his fault at all. In the end, the Aussie will return home believing that he could have done a whole lot better in his NASCAR debut.
