Tim Brown, a short track great, reaps the rewards of more than thirty years of dedication to NASCAR.
After dedicating his entire adult life to the NASCAR Cup Series, Tim Brown is now returning something positive to one of the good old boys of grassroots motorsports.Few people are aware that the 53-year-old has worked in several Cup Series shops for 35 years, but racing aficionados know him best as the most successful driver in Bowman Gray Stadium’s history, having won 101 races and 12 Tour Type Modified titles.
Throughout the year, Saturdays have been spent racing at the Winston-Salem quarter mile, while Monday through Friday has been dedicated to building Cup Series cars for drivers like Roush Fenway, Michael Waltrip, and Rick Ware. As a high school student, he began working on Cup cars forBrown is aware that it has resulted in a significant sacrifice of a regular family life, but his career will now be honored on the biggest stage in stock car racing, which also happens to be returning to the circuit he has dominated for nearly thirty years.Although this agreement was negotiated during the summer, Brown has enough experience to understand how easily things may go wrong.”When I saw the release, I started crying,” Brown said over the phone to Sportsnaut on Tuesday. “I’ve dedicated my entire life to racing. About 15 to 20 years ago, I gave up on driving in the Cup Series. However, Tommy (director of the Baldwin competition), Rick, and Lisa (Ware) had enough faith in me to make this happen, and I’m
When we arrive, it gives all of the effort I’ve put in a bit more meaning since I get to share this with my wife and children. Without their encouragement and tolerance of my hard work and devotion, I couldn’t have accomplished this, and we will all get to start a Cup together. All I want is to be respected.
Brown claims that as soon as there were reports that NASCAR would be bringing the Clash to the Stadium, Rick called him with the suggestion.
I told him, “Thank you, that’s exciting,” but I also said, “What are the chances?” when he responded, “We’re going to put you in a car,” Brown recounted.
He claimed that he never discussed the notion with his wife, brother, or Jonathan.
Brown has known the Wares for almost 30 years, previously racing in the Truck Series at Martinsville for RWR but also fielding short track cars for them as well. He says their two families would do anything for each other.
“I think that’s why Rick and Lisa wanted to do this for me,” Brown said. “This is a small family team just like our Modified team. Rick and Lisa don’t have any other businesses. They have a race team and one that I’ve gotten to be a part of over the years.
“It makes it extra rewarding to get to do this together and I’m very thankful for them asking me to do it.”
And all told, this is the best possible circumstance for Brown to make his Cup Series debut. It’s not just because it’s a track in which he has almost 30 years of experience but also the fact that the flat bullring doesn’t require a ton of engineering.
“If I were to do this at Kansas or Dover, you need sim time and all the aerodynamics and engineering to make it go fast,” Brown said. “Here, aero does not matter. We have to get the car to turn and it needs drive off the corner.
Despite the reputation of those who race at Bowman Gray, Brown also has a reputation as one of the cleanest racers at the Stadium, one who has won a lot of races even after being inverted to the middle of the pack on twin feature nights.
With that said, this is the ultra-rough and tumble Cup Series, where previous Clashes at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum featured no shortage of bump-and-runs and even dump-and-runs.
Is Brown willing to go there?
“I’m not that kind of racer,” Brown said. “Listen, if it’s the last lap of a heat race and I need a spot to advance, I’m going to move a guy off the bottom. I don’t think there is anyone in the field that wouldn’t feel that way.
“But if it’s the last lap, racing for the win, I’m not going bump someone to win. I want to represent our community with pride. I realize that the eyes of the racing world are going to be on me, a lot of extra media attention because I race here every week, and I don’t want them to think that’s who we are.
“Because we’re not.
“A lot of people just share the clips of guys getting mad at each other but they don’t share the highlights of a 12-lap side-by-side battle for the win. That’s who we are and that’s who I am. There is so much great racing at Bowman Gray Stadium that no one ever talks about and that’s a shame.”
At the same time, Brown says there is nothing wrong with the passion shown by his peers either.
“We’re only racing for hundreds of dollars, really, but we pour everything into our cars, and when you get wronged racing door-to-door, we like to show that too.”
In addition to serving as an ambassador for the weekly racer, Brown will get recognition for his decades of dedication to the sport’s top echelons on February 1-2.
Brown stated, “I just hope to make the show and have a good showing.” “I’m hoping we can prevail. I never race anything if I don’t think I can. Since I was the only person in the field that day who could claim to have built his own car, I know the type of vehicle we will have.
“I came together with our people after we made this announcement to make sure we all gave this car our all, and we are. Simply put, I’m thrilled to be racing alongside
