It was the best performance you probably didn’t notice at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday (June 9).
Until power issues ended Australian standout Will Brown’s bid, the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing driver was making things happen. Brown started 24th, out-qualifying RCR regular Kyle Busch. From there he picked his way forward with good speed and smart moves. Unfortunately for Brown, his car lost power just 32 laps into the race and while his team got the car back on track, he finished three laps down.
Brown and fellow Aussie Cam Waters, who finished 35th for RFK Racing after getting caught in a crash, won’t get another shot this year as their Supercars schedules conflict with the remainder of the road courses on the NASCAR docket.
That’s a shame because something tells me they’d only get better with more laps.
One thing we’ve learned in the last year is that the Supercars superstars are the real deal.
Shane van Gisbergen’s win at the Chicago street course last summer brought that series into the consciousness of NASCAR fans, as it should have.
Van Gisbergen’s Chicago victory was exceptional.
Brown’s run on Sunday (Waters’ day ended just past halfway) was a perfect example of just how difficult it is to get into a Cup car and score a top finish in just one race.
Sure, the RCR cars were pretty solid on Sunday. Both Busch and Austin Dillon had decent days going, Dillon wrecked early, but Busch had a top-five run derailed in the final laps. But those are full-time Cup teams. Brown’s No. 33 team is not.
Let’s break down the things that make for a Cup victory.
Yes, the driver is, at the very least the most visible piece of the equation. At the end of the day, he has to wheel the car no matter the circumstances. It’s on him to feel out what he needs, relay it to his team and then take advantage of the adjustments they make.
It’s on his team, specifically the crew chief, to listen to what the driver is telling them and adjust the car accordingly on pit stops. There aren’t a lot of areas for them to make major changes anymore, so what they have, they have to maximize to fractions of inches.
Sometimes, no matter how long a driver and crew chief have worked together and how well they communicate, things can get dicey. Drivers are fierce competitors, and in the heat of battle, they don’t always give the most intelligible, detailed description of how the car is handling. While describing…
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