Supercars champion Will Brown plays down talk of full-time NASCAR switch

Reigning Supercars champion Will Brown has downplayed speculation about a full-time switch to the NASCAR Cup Series ahead of his cameo appearance in Chicago in July.

Brown will make just his second Cup Series start at the Chicago street circuit on 6 July, driving a Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing.

It will follow just a year after his maiden outing with Richard Childress Racing at the Sonoma road course last June and continues a growing trend of Supercars stars testing their mettle in American stock car racing.

Brown was only promoted to his current seat at Triple Eight Racing after team stalwart Shane van Gisbergen departed for NASCAR in 2024, first joining the Xfinity Series before moving up to the Cup Series this season. Fellow Supercars stars Cam Waters and Brodie Kostecki also made one-off Cup Series appearances last year.

However, Brown insists that he is committed to Supercars, where he is currently battling teammate Broc Feeney to defend his title.

“I think it’s too soon to say, I’m pretty comfortable here in Australia,” the 26-year-old told Supercars’ official website.

“I actually took Shane’s seat when he left, so I’m very glad that he went Stateside, I was happy to see him go.

“I’ve got a great team here around me at Red Bull Ampol, so you never know until the offer got put in front of you if there ever was the opportunity. 

“But right now for me, it’s kind of scratching an itch, it’s going over there, competing against some of the best in the world, seeing how I fare against them, and trying to do the Aussies proud.” 

Brown’s upcoming appearance comes two years after van Gisbergen shocked the NASCAR world by winning the same Chicago race on his Cup Series debut. Inspired by that performance, Brown had been eager to compete on the 2.2-mile street course, but a scheduling conflict with the Townsville Supercars round kept him sidelined in 2024.

“To be honest, it was very big after Shane won Chicago, a lot of people wanted to get over there and do it, and you saw my old teammate Brodie Kostecki went over, and Cam Waters,” he said.

“I would say this year, it’s probably more myself and Cam that have been pushing really hard to get over here. 

“Just to get support behind you, get sponsors behind you, and make the whole program work logistically and all of that with our events here in Australia, it’s not easy to put it together. 

“I think a lot of guys would want to do it, but putting it together is another thing.” 

Brown is keen on making further starts in NASCAR later this year, should he be able to accrue the necessary funding.

The Queensland native is also open to stepping down to Xfinity or the Truck series if that allows him to get an entry into an oval race.

“I think the biggest thing for us realistically, it comes down to sponsors and support. 

“If I can have a good run at Chicago, potentially my sponsors and hopefully someone else will back me into maybe doing an Xfinity or Truck oval. 

“It’s very hard to get the support and sponsors to go and run an oval straight away, because we probably are going to struggle the first one. 

“Just to get that sponsorship on is the difficult part.”