Brown keen to see NASCAR stars in a Supercar

Will Brown says a current NASCAR driver trying their hand at Supercars would be "awesome", as the Triple Eight star and Cam Waters prepare for their Cup Series debuts.

Supercars duo Brown and Cam Waters will make their first NASCAR Cup Series race starts at Sonoma on Monday morning (AEST).

It continues a recent trend of Supercars talent testing the NASCAR waters, with Shane van Gisbergen and Brodie Kostecki making cameos last year.

Van Gisbergen shifted to NASCAR in 2024 and has an eye on a full-time Cup Series drive in 2025, and has done his chances no harm with consecutive Xfinity Series wins.

Brown and Waters have also impressed, Brown going third fastest in Sonoma practice, after Waters scored a top 20 finish in just his second Truck Series race in Kansas.

The influx of Supercars stars have brought the Aussie V8 series to a new fan base, with Brown pulled aside on a flight en route to Sonoma. Given the attention around the ’Supercars invasion’, Brown wants a NASCAR driver to have a go at Supercars.

“I can't believe how many people over here love Supercars. It's crazy,” Brown told Supercars.com in Sonoma.

"I was flying from New York over to Charlotte on my first leg here and a guy goes, ‘Are you Will Brown, who's leading the Supercar Championship?’

"I thought he was taking the piss out of me, but he goes, 'I love it. I watch it every weekend’.

"So hopefully more people can watch us over there, and we can keep supporting NASCAR and keep versing each other. If we could have one of the NASCAR guys come out and race in a Supercar event, that'd be awesome.”

Should it eventuate, a NASCAR wildcard mightn't be a shock to some, with Richard Childress — who owns the team Brown is racing for at Sonoma — floating the idea of a Kyle Busch wildcard last year.

Busch is no stranger to V8 Supercar machinery, steering an ex-Image Racing Holden VF Commodore at Virginia International Raceway last year.

Given the current NASCAR platform was influenced by Supercars, NASCAR stars wouldn't have too steep a hill to climb to adapt to the Aussie tin top.

A NASCAR wildcard would likely come at the season-ending VAILO Adelaide 500, which is the only Supercars round that falls outside the February-to-November NASCAR Cup Series schedule.

Brown added that Supercars drivers performing on the big stage in NASCAR proves the level of the championship and its drivers: “I think it's awesome that all of us can come over here and show how good the Australian drivers are, and what level Supercars is at.

“For us to come over here and even me finish third yesterday, first ever time in the car and seeing the track, it does show the competitiveness in Australia.”

Brown will start the Sonoma race from 24th, and Waters from 31st. Brown suffered a throttle issue in qualifying, masking his true performance.

“Couldn't get it to fire and then wouldn't run down pit lane. I think there was a fault in the ECU and then on our dash it was reading 75 percent power,” he told media after qualifying.

"So, unfortunately we can't look at the data with how NASCAR works and all that sort of stuff compared to Supercars.

"I feel comfortable in the car. It's not a drama. Ready to race it. Just a little bit disappointed with that qualifying and what happened to it."

Brown and Waters will return to the track at Sonoma for the race, the Toyota/Save Mart 350, which will be televised live in Australia on Foxtel and Kayo.

Pre-race coverage will commence on Monday June 10 at 5:00am AEST on Fox Sports 505, with the race itself to start at 5:30am AEST.

Supercars action will resume at the betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 14-16. Tickets for the event are on sale now. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.