Championship-winning driver reveals $500,000 motivation behind NASCAR return

A former championship-winning driver has revealed that there are financial motivations behind his return to NASCAR.

Earlier this year, 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown made only his second-ever appearance in the stock car racing series, taking part at the Chicago Street Race for Kaulig Racing in the No. 13 Chevrolet.

Previously, Brown had made his debut in the No. 33 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing the year prior.

It was not a happy return for the Australian driver, though, finishing 39th in Chicago having been caught up in an early wreck.

It was a disappointing early end to proceedings for Brown and the AU$500,000 worth of sponsors that he had secured for the event, with the 27-year-old confirming they were one of the motivations for him to return to NASCAR action once again this season.

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Brown on NASCAR return

Speaking in a video posted to the Kaulig Racing X account after it was confirmed he would be driving for the team in the Xfinity Series at Portland this season, Brown said: “They emailed me after, they did say at the end of the event, ‘this isn’t the way we want to finish'.

“And it’s not on them, because we funded it, to feel bad for me or that sort of stuff, but they emailed and said, ‘No we’re going to get you back over', so I'm actually going to be running Portland in Xfinity. So they're going to get me back over, run me, put all the same sponsors back on, and give them their coverage.

“It’s great of them because they didn’t have to do it. The guys over there, Ty Norris, Chris [Rice], all those guys were great to deal with, so I was stoked when I got that email, and they said, ‘You can come over and do this’.

“I kind of felt like when I got back, I did all of that and got all the sponsors onboard all for nothing really. I've done all that effort and I've got nothing.

"Now with them saying I’m going over to do Portland, I'm like, well, it’s all for something. It’s brought another opportunity to go over and race, so looking forward to that."

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