WILL Brown is stoked to have the chance to be taken under Shane van Gisbergen’s wing at next weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series showdown at Sonoma Raceway.
Van Gisbergen has come onboard as a secondary spotter for Brown’s #33 Richard Childress Racing Camaro, despite the fact the Kiwi is aligned with rival Chevrolet squads Trackhouse/Kaulig.
The tie-in comes after Brown this year took over from SVG at Supercars juggernaut Triple Eight when the latter moved Stateside.
“To have Shane as a spotter is going to be pretty cool,” Brown told V8 Sleuth.
“The team asked if I would like to have him on the radio and I asked him thinking ‘I wonder if he will say yes’.
“I think I just have to buy him a case of apple ciders to do it!
“It’s great. It will be cool having him on the radio and working with him.”
Brown has also been leaning on close mate Brodie Kostecki, who made a one-off cameo in the #33 last year, and Cam Waters, who’ll also be competing in the Sonoma Cup Series race on June 9.
“I’ve been trying to pick Shane’s brain as much as I can. I’ve also been talking with Cam about his experience over there and also obviously Brodie, I speak to him nearly every day still, so I’m always picking his brain about how he did it when he went over,” he said.
“The biggest thing is the simulators are really good over there and I get a fair bit of time on them.”
Just as had been the case for van Gisbergen last year, Brown will benefit from having engineer Andrew Edwards travel with him to the US.
“That was pretty much straight away when I said I was doing it, I wanted to take him with me,” Brown said of ‘AE’.
“Obviously I’m sure he can help and to have a familiar face will be good.”
The 2024 Repco Supercars Championship leader is racing at The Bend this weekend in GT World Challenge Australia.
