You don’t often see 53-year-old debutants in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, with the NASCAR Cup Series making its first trek to Bowman Gray Stadium since the 1971 season, and the legendary 0.250-mile short track being a style of track that NASCAR Cup Series racers aren’t super familiar with, it created unique opportunities for a couple of veteran local track legends.
One of the local legends giving it a shot in the NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out Clash is Tim Brown, who has followed in the footsteps of his grandfather as he’s carved out an impressive racing career at Bowman Gray. In fact, Brown has amassed 12 Modified Championships to go along with 101 race wins at The Madhouse.
That impressive resume led to Brown getting a call from Rick Ware roughly six months ago and that conversation ultimately culminated in the opportunity of a lifetime for Brown as Rick Ware Racing announced the winningest driver in Bowman Gray history would pilot the team’s No. 15 Ford Mustang Dark Horse in this event in December.
For Brown, who made one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start in 2009, knows how special it is to get a call-up to compete at the NASCAR Cup Series, and he’s not taking anything for granted.
“It means everything to me, right? Not just to me, but my family, and all of our partners and sponsors that [have] been with me through this journey for many years. And just to be at this level, to get to shine, is just outstanding, and can’t wait to make the best of it.”
For months, Brown knew that he was going to have this opportunity come to fruition, but the driver says it didn’t really sink in until this past week, when the Rick Ware Racing team surprised him with his finished car for this weekend’s race.
“I’ll tell you, the coolest thing was to walk in, they wrapped the car on Sunday to surprise me when I went to work on Monday,” Brown said emotionally. “And when you walk in, and flip the lights on and you see that thing sitting there, it was like super emotional. And to get to bring my family down and to have the modified there to unveil it, and have my sponsors there and my wife and kids, it is super special, right?”
While he looks to make the best of it, Brown hopes his thousands upon thousands of laps driven around Bowman Gray over the years can help elevate him into the possibility of being in a position to advance to the Main Event of the preseason NASCAR Cup Series exhibition event.
“Being a part of it is super special. As far as racing here for the last 30-something years, knowing the racetrack and every crack and crevice, I think is a little bit of an advantage. But these guys drive these cars all the time,” Brown admitted. “So, I think that you get very limited practice here, so, I think the learning curve for both of us is going to be very short.”
Brown, who finished 10th of 10 drivers in Saturday night’s Heat Race 3, will have a lot of work to do on Sunday evening if he hopes to advance to the Cook Out Clash Main Event. The Virginia native will start from the final starting position in the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier race on Sunday evening.
It’ll take a legendary drive for Brown to advance into the Main Event, but if Heat Race 1 and Heat Race 4 on Saturday night are any indication, there could be some rough driving on track, which, if Brown could steer clear of the mayhem, the driver could find himself in a decent position.
Wrecking is as common as racing at Bowman Gray, and for years the facility has featured numerous fist fights following on-track incidents between drivers. If Brown finds himself in a scuffle, it won’t be anything he hasn’t seen before. Brown estimates that he’s been involved in 10 fights over his 30-plus-year racing career at the 0.250-mile short track.
What is it about The Madhouse that results in so many post-crash fist fight?
“Just the passion,” Brown articulated. “I’m very passionate about what I do, on and off the racetrack. And we take a lot of pride in our equipment and our race cars are immaculate. We don’t make a lot of money to do this at this level, so, if you tear my racecar up, I’m going to come see you. That’s right.”
If he does claw his way to finish inside of the top-two of that event, Brown won’t be content to just be in the Cook Out Clash Main Event. Selfishly, he wants more than that.
“It’s very special just to be here, but I’m a racer, and I want to win this thing, right,” Brown stated. “That’s why we’re here, and we’ve worked really hard to build the best car at RWR that we could build to put on a good show today.”
Bowman Gray Stadium is as much of a part of Brown’s genetic makeup as any other place on Earth, it’s what makes this weekend even more special for him.
“I can remember, I don’t know, [when I was] five or six years old playing right over here where you go onto the racetrack around a fire barrel as a little kid. Like me, Burt Meyers and a bunch of the other kids would hang out in the pits with our families as they were working on racecars. We would run around, there used to be trees over there, and play. So, I’ve kind of grown up here, you know what I mean? So, that’s what makes it even more special to get to make a Cup debut here.”
One difference this weekend for Brown, and the long-time Bowman Gray competitors is the new SAFER Barriers that NASCAR installed to upgrade the facility for use in the NASCAR National Series ranks. Gone are the legendary red Bowman Gray guardrails. While it’s sad to see the traditional guard rails go away, Brown feels the new, more professional look, will lead to bigger things for the NASCAR Weekly Racers that continue to compete at the track year after year.
“Cosmetically, it’s beautiful,” Brown said of the changes NASCAR made to the facility. “And that’s important, too, for the fans to come. For sponsors to spend money to come. If you say, ‘Hey, we’re partners with teams that race here,’ and you show them this racetrack, they’re going to be impressed, right? Now, it did have some history with the old guard rails laid over and painted, and things, and had some character, and great [history]. But it’s just a new chapter, right? So, it’ll still have the same persona, it’ll still have the same passionate fans, it’ll still put on a great race, but it just looks great, now.”
The track looks great, and Brown is doing something he never dreamed he’d have a shot to do over the course of his life — racing a NASCAR Cup Series car at Bowman Gray Stadium. It’s a full-circle moment for Brown, and the legacy of his grandfather Ed Clifton, who passed away in 2018.
“He is smiling today, for sure,” Brown said of his grandfather.