When Tim Brown told his family the news, his wife and 8-year-old son cried.
They were “happy tears,” Megan Brown explained to 3-year-old daughter Marley, confused by the outburst.
Nearly a quarter of a century after Tim Brown gave up on his dream to race in NASCAR’s premier series, the 53-year-old makes his Cup debut in this weekend’s Cook Out Clash.
How to watch the 2025 NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
The prerace exhibition moves to a short track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
He’ll drive for Rick Ware Racing, the team he works for as a suspension and drivetrain specialist. That his debut comes at Bowman Gray Stadium — where Brown has 12 modified championships and 101 victories — makes the moment more special.
“I’m most looking forward to sharing it with my family,” Brown told NBC Sports of his first Cup race. “It’s hard, I mean it really is hard to talk about because it is such a big deal and at my age to get this opportunity … this is big for me. It’s super huge for them (his family).”
Once Cam’s tears dried after hearing the news, he peppered his father with questions.
“Dad, do you think they’ll have your car on iRacing?
“Will there be diecast and Matchbox cars?”
When the news became public, Cam couldn’t stop telling his friends about what his dad will do.
Cam’s sister also understands now.
“Marley,” Brown said, “runs around the house (saying), ‘Dad is going to race a Cup car.’ ”
Grandfatherly advice
Brown was about 5 years old when he knew he wanted to race, but it was almost 15 years later until he did.
His grandfather, Eb Clifton, was a longtime car builder and mechanic who also raced some. Clifton’s home track was Bowman Gray Stadium, which first hosted an auto race in 1939 on a dirt track around the football field.
NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and Alvin Hawkins had the the track in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, paved and Bowman Gray held its first NASCAR-sanctioned race in 1949.
It was at this quarter-mile track that Cup car owner Richard Childress sold peanuts in the grandstands as a youth and later raced. Richard Petty won his 100th Cup race there in 1969. The Cup Series raced there from 1958-71 and the list of winners included David Pearson, Bobby Allison and Junior Johnson.
NASCAR reveals format for Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium
Feb. 2 exhibition race will feature 23 cars in 200-lap main event.
Bowman Gray Stadium is where Brown got his start in racing when he was 19, after years of watching the races from the stands. The first time he drove a modified race car was in a Saturday morning practice there.
Brown so impressed his grandfather in that session that his grandfather took the car back to his place and changed gears in the vehicle so Brown could race that night at a half-mile track in Concord, North Carolina.
That race remains fresh to Brown all these years later.
“It actually scared me, to be honest with you, because that’s a big race track and I had never driven a race car,” he said. “When Jay Hedgecock came by me and lapped me, it was actually like, ‘My gosh, how’s he’s going that fast?’ because I thought I was going fast and he passed me and drove away from us.
“On the way home, I said, ‘Grandpa, I don’t know if I’m cut out of for this. The dudes are flying.’ He’s like, ‘Oh, it was your first race. You’ll be fine.’”
He was right. Clifton’s guidance continues even after his death in 2018 at the age of 91.
NASCAR Clash entry list, practice groups revealed
There are 39 cars seeking 23 spots in the feature race at Bowman Gray Stadium.
When Brown exits his race shop, ending a day that begins before dawn, includes a 90-minute drive to his job at Rick Ware Racing and a similar commute to work on his modified race car, the last thing he sees is a photo of his grandfather.
“If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have any of this,” Brown said. “He taught me how to race, and he basically raised me and my brother. I have a lot more I owe him than just the racing. I have thought about him a lot lately. I wish he was here to see it, but I know he’s up in heaven smiling.”
Champion racer
No driver has won more races or championships at Bowman Gray Stadium than Brown. It’s a tribute to his ability but also a sign of the times.
Brown had won three of his championships by the time he was 30 years old in 2001. But most Cup team owners were not looking for modified drivers then. Few sought drivers in their 30s.
The prized targets were sprint car drivers, as owners searched for the next Jeff Gordon. Kenny Irwin was the Cup rookie of the year in 1998, Tony Stewart won it in 1999, Ryan Newman in 2002 and Kasey Kahne claimed the honor in 2004. They all came from sprint car racing.
As the sport’s popularity soared during those years, so did costs. For some teams, it was about how much money a driver brought to a ride in any of NASCAR’s top three series as opposed to talent.
Brown didn’t have the money and didn’t get his chance.
“He’s had some disappointments over the years where he kind of expected or was hoping something would come through and it didn’t,” Megan said.
Brown kept racing at Bowman Gray and kept winning. That eased the sting of not getting a shot at NASCAR’s upper echelon.
“I still get to race at a high level and I’m proud of that,” he said.
If he advances to Sunday’s 23-car Clash field, Brown would be the oldest driver to make their Cup debut since 2011 when Andy Pilgrim, at 54, competed at Sonoma Raceway.
While some fans may not know Brown, Cup driver Ryan Preece, who has raced against him in modifieds, says not to underestimate Brown’s ability. Or that of Burt Myers, Brown’s longtime rival at Bowman Gray with 11 modified titles and who also is entered in the Clash.
“Those are two of the hometown guys having the opportunity to do it at the highest level and they’re gonna be good,” Preece said.
Absorb the experience
Rick Ware understands the value of even one NASCAR start. A lifelong racer, Ware made a single Cup start in his career. That came in 1990 at Watkins Glen for owner D.K. Ulrich. Ware started 35th and finished 36th after brake issues before the halfway point in the race.
Ware was a late fill-in for that ride. While he admits he was “on cloud nine” with the opportunity, everything happened so quickly that it was hard to be able to enjoy it.
Ware announced six weeks ago that Brown would compete at the Clash, giving Brown time to relish the experience.
“I understand what it’s like to go do something that you’ve dreamed about doing,” Ware said. “Running a Cup car, for anybody that’s grown up around (North Carolina), I mean, it’s like the holy grail of motorsports.
“I’m just glad to be part of being able to give that to him and the fact that he has his kids there. I brought my kids there at a young age when he was still racing and winning championships, and for him to be able to have his son there, his family, and for him to be able to be at a place that’s kind of his house, I hope he can just absorb it.”
Megan looks forward to experiencing this with her family. She hopes to get a picture of them all together with her husband’s car finally on a Cup track.
“That,” she said, “would be really cool to have.”
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