NASCAR team owner makes Will Brown prediction ahead of Supercars switch
Will Brown will be competitive when he starts his second NASCAR race in July, according to Kaulig Racing's Ty Norris, who hopes he can copy Shane van Gisbergen.
Kaulig Racing's Chief Business Officer, Ty Norris, has announced that Supercars champion Will Brown will be handed his second start in the NASCAR Cup Series on July 6, after electrical issues impacted his debut last year.
It's been a statement year for debuts in NASCAR, with fellow Supercars star Jack Perkins set to race in the Xfinity Series for the first time this August. Katherine Legge was also handed her Cup Series debut on March 9, as she became the first woman since Danica Patrick in 2018 to be on the grid.
The Grant Park 165 at Chicago Street Course will see Brown contest in the Cup Series for the second time, after he finished 31st in 2024 at Sonoma Raceway due to a car fault. The Australian won the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship in Adelaide, and Norris believes that Brown could follow in the footsteps of Shane van Gisbergen.
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Van Gisbergen has transitioned from Supercars to NASCAR, after the New Zealand driver famously won on his Cup Series debut in 2023 for Trackhouse Racing. Van Gisbergen's success came at Chicago, where Brown will race on July 6.
Norris worked at Trackhouse when Van Gisbergen defied the odds, and is confident that Brown could also be competitive later this year. "Will came over and raced last year, and I think he was really inspired by what happened with Shane when he came to Chicago and was competitive and then ultimately won the race," Norris said to Supercars.com.
"It inspired a lot of folks from Supercars to believe that they could come here and be competitive, and we know they can because every time one of those world-class drivers show up, they have a lot of speed. I think he got a good taste of it last year in Sonoma, he was very fast in practice.
"Had some mechanical issues very early in the race, so I think he was very disappointed, and didn't want to leave it that way. There had been some conversations about trying to do it again, Richard Childress called us and said they couldn't do it, but we're all technical partners, so we got together with Will.
"I'm excited to see what he can do there in Chicago, because he's only two races behind everybody in the garage. We've been running at Sonoma and Watkins Glen and all these other road courses for a long time.
"We've only run Chicago twice, and both of them in the rain. So it would be really incredible if it was just dry, that would be the first time for everybody, so I think Will could be right there and be competitive."
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Brown enjoyed a stunning season in Supercars for Triple Eight Race Engineering, claiming five wins across the season and a podium in every event. It was the first time that a driver had made a podium in every race since Dick Johnson in 1984, and he went on to secure the championship.
The Australian made it clear after his NASCAR debut last year that he was eager to return, with Chicago his preferred racetrack. Norris made it happen, showing his faith and loyalty in the 26-year-old.
"Chicago is one I want to do but a lot of the guys over there want to do it," Brown said last year. "So it’s [dependent on] if a car is available, a team is available."
