Bowman Gray ringer Tim Brown opens up on how he gave up on his “lifelong dream” until a text from Rick Ware

Bowman Gray Stadium star Tim Brown recently shared an emotional story about how he gave up on his lifelong dream to race in a NASCAR Cup Series car before getting a maiden opportunity from Rick Ware to race in the 2025 preseason exhibition event.

Brown, who is a veteran short-track driver known for his incredible success at Bowman Gray Stadium, had long aspired to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series. After years of dedication, he had come to terms with the possibility that this dream might remain unfulfilled because of the increasing emphasis on signing younger talent and the financial barriers in motorsports.

However, last month, Rick Ware Racing (RWR) opened a gate for him to compete in the inaugural NASCAR Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in 2025.

In a recent interview with Cup Scene, Tim Brown revealed that by the time he turned 30, he had accepted that his dream of becoming a Cup driver was over, and out of nowhere, he received a text from Rick Ware, who offered him the opportunity because NASCAR Clash was shifting to Bowman track in 2025.

Brown said:

“Once I turned about 30 years old, I kind of gave up on my lifelong dream of being a cup driver. Just because I'd seen that transition to where one either had to be 12 or 13 years old and get signed or two too, you had to have big money to pay an owner to let you drive, so I'd already given up on that dream. But I actually think it was a text that Rick sent me.” [14:40]

“When finally the announcement was made that the Clash was coming to the stadium, I think Rick and Robbie were the first ones to call me that night or text me or something, and they're like, hey, we're gonna make this happen. And I was like, heck, yeah, so naturally,”

Tim Brown will drive the RWR's #15 Ford Mustang in an attempt to qualify for the Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. The preseason non-points event will be held on February 2, 2025.

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Tim Brown hid his Cup debut news from fhis amily until it was made official

After getting a dream opportunity to race in the Cup Series, Tim Brown was excited and wanted to share this news with his family but he couldn’t. He had to keep it a secret from his wife, children, brother, race team, and other close people in his life until it was made official.

Expressing how difficult it was to hide this news even from the people closest to him, Brown said:

“I've known about it for a while, right, Rick and Robbie and everybody's been working so hard behind the scenes to put this together for me. And we've had a bunch of conversations, but to even keep it from my wife and my kids and my brother and my race team and influential people in my life that I really care about. That's the hardest part of it, right, cuz you love these people so much and you wanna be able to share everything with them.”

Tim Brown previously worked as a suspension and drivetrain specialist for Rick Ware. He had made only one NASCAR Truck Series start which came in 2009 at Martinsville Speedway.