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<\/p>\nIn a division full of several top prospects, a potential next big thing will soon arrive in the NASCAR O\u2019Reilly Series with a resume to support the distinction.<\/p>\n
Carson Brown.<\/p>\n
The Richard Childress Racing development driver is the presumptive ASA STARS National Super Late Model Series champion, and championship contender in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, but also an ARCA and Trans-Am winner.<\/p>\n
But as impressive as the resume reads, it\u2019s actually the intangibles that make the 18-year-old from New London, North Carolina such a fascinating prospect. Literally everyone that has fielded cars for him says he\u2019s the model youngster, a racer that does things the right way, while also inspiring crew members to find an extra tenth on race weekends.<\/p>\n
That includes Anthony Campi, a no-nonsense straight-shooter, who fields the Super Late Model that Brown has taken to three wins and two seconds across five ASA STARS appearances this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the cars we\u2019ve given him, I would be irate coming off the hauler in like we have a couple of times,\u201d Campi said. \u201cBut he just comes over the radio, and calmly says \u2018yeah guys, nearly backed it into the fence; need to go a different direction,\u2019 and I have worked with drivers who are completely the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Campi praised Brown for being amongst the first to clock-in when the garage opens on race days while leaving alongside the team once everything shuts down. In TA2, Brown drives for Scott Lagasse, who offered the most robust assessment of his maturity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing that stands out to me with him, and this will help him so much as he climbs the ladder, is that he understands that he’s part of a team,\u201d Lagasse said. \u201cHe really appreciates everyone working alongside him. He supports us in a way that I wish I had understood to do when I was his age.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know that he fully understands yet what he\u2019s doing but he’s gaining a lot of momentum in terms of people who want to fight for him. To win races at any level, it takes people who are willing to stay at the shop after hours. Carson is really good about motivating his team and being appreciative of the work they put in.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t train that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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To wit, when asked about his team-first mentality, Brown didn\u2019t seem to fully understand the question. To him, gratitude and collaboration just came natural. Brown says his job isn\u2019t to just drive the car but to do whatever is asked by those around him.<\/p>\n
Brown mentioned that he grew up playing baseball before first climbing into a Legends car at 10-years-old. Maybe his team-first instincts came from that background.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cEverything in my life has revolved around being on a team,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI think that just comes natural. \u2026 I feel like teamwork is even more important on the racing side and I really do want to be a good teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Again, all the victories are one thing but the poise is quite another.<\/p>\n
His most disappointing defeat this year came in the CARS Tour race at Dominion Raceway in Virginia. He led the most laps but was penalized (a row) by race control for a borderline restart violation and then got pinballed around during the ensuing restart.<\/p>\n
Pulliam and crew chief Teddy Musgrave were incensed over the radio, but Brown stayed even-tempered and was even more composed when asked about it during his post-race interviews.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that he didn\u2019t care but his philosophy was to support whatever decision Lee Pulliam Performance made regarding a conversation with the series director. He didn’t want to undermine that with a public lashing.<\/p>\n
That is not a universal attribute in teenaged prospects.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that had been our first race together, I would have expected him to snap,\u201d said Musgrave. \u201cBut we started working together in January and that\u2019s just how he handles adversity. He isn\u2019t going to start driving over his head and bounce off people. He fell outside of the top five and just got back to work and drove up to fourth.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cIn those situations, it\u2019s hard to balance having a personality while also staying cool. He has a ton of personality. Come into our trailer and it\u2019s a comedy hour on race weekends. He\u2019s hilarious but he just doesn\u2019t get wound-up behind the wheel. That\u2019s going to take him a long way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are drivers that have character and need to throw stuff around in the hauler after a race and he just doesn\u2019t have that in him. If someone eventually pushes him to that point, more power to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
The relationship with Richard Childress Racing gave him access to the Josh Wise Optimization program. At this point, the race craft is undeniable, even if a work-in-progress, and Wise is focused on the intangibles.<\/p>\n
Wise says he\u2019s responsible for drivers \u2018physically, psychologically, technically, and tactically.\u2019 He is focused on \u2018competence\u2019 over \u2018confidence.\u2019 Meanwhile, Musgrave says he sees all the little things Brown is doing beyond driving race cars.<\/p>\n
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Jason Reasin Photography<\/p>\n
\u201cWe raced at Langley earlier this year and my daughter came with me, and as we were pulling into the racetrack, she spots Carson running along the side of the road,\u201d Musgrave said. \u201cShe was like, ‘it is 8 in the morning and it\u2019s hot out, what is he doing?’<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Carson. He\u2019s 110 percent into everything he’s doing. His conditioning is ridiculous. I never have to worry about him falling out of the seat. He climbs out looking the same way he did climbing in.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s just a complete package, man. I feel like he prepares himself in every way possible from his homework, how he handles himself in bad situations, and then his workout regimen and conditioning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even more impressive is maintaining that commitment with a schedule that includes ARCA, CARS Tour, ASA and TA2, virtually racing every weekend and sometimes two different cars on the same weekend.<\/p>\n
Every single team owner and crew chief says Brown never needs to be told when to show up. He makes his own schedule, sends it to each program manager, and is punctual for every stop on his personal world tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe day I turned 18, that\u2019s when I became the bus driver and motorhome driver,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI\u2019ve taken that thing from the ARCA race at Phoenix, after we won, and drove it down to Nashville for the CARS Tour race.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to handle it because my parents are busy or I\u2019m the only one that has to be somewhere. And honestly, because of my age, I can\u2019t rent a car or hotel room so this is the only way to make my schedule work.\u201d<\/p>\n
His various teams appreciate the punctuality but also the focus that has to be challenging with that kind of schedule. Pulliam says Brown has occasionally missed CARS Tour practice days for ARCA or ASA races the day before, races that he frequently wins, and the team wanted to celebrate him but Brown was focused on them instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t want to talk about the last race,\u201d Pulliam said. \u201cWe ask him about it, but he\u2019s not interested in bragging about winning this big race or the other because he’s worried about how to make up for the lost time from missing practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, that just shows you how focused he is on being the absolute best. He reminds me of myself when I was racing every week, because I would win at Motor Mile on Friday and we would be going through tech and I\u2019m already thinking about South Boston the next day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see that in him. He\u2019s not distracted by whatever happened two days ago, good or bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
So now it\u2019s just a matter of whether Brown is ready to make the jump to the highest levels of Stock Car racing.<\/p>\n
On one hand, Wise says \u2018you are never really ready\u2019 but also praised Brown’s support group and expects him to \u2018maximize his opportunities.\u2019 Pulliam recently made his own O\u2019Reilly Series debut at Martinsville and said Brown is more focused than any prospect he has seen since he shepherded Corey Heim several years ago.<\/p>\n
High praise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not making a lot of Carson Browns,\u201d Pulliam added.<\/p>\n
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For his part, Brown is satisfied with his race craft and development but knows national tour racing requires more than just talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese days, it\u2019s simulator work and preparation, fitness training,\u201d Brown said. \u201cOnce you get to that level, you don\u2019t get to spend as much time in the race car, so I think I need to make sure I know how to get the most out of a simulator with my feedback. That\u2019s taking over right now. It\u2019s 90 percent of the battle from what I\u2019ve been told.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s the biggest thing I\u2019m focused on right now. That and just continuing to put the work in at Wise Optimization so that I\u2019m ready to avoid the mental and physical fatigue that comes with these longer races.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stay tuned for the potential next big thing.<\/p>\n
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