Brandon Brown parts ways with family's Brandonbilt Motorsports

Associated Press Photo/ Chris O'Meara

    Nearly one year after his first NASCAR win, Brandon Brown revealed Monday that Saturday's race at Talladega Superspeedway will be his last, driving for his family's race team. Brown will not return in 2023.

At Talladega Superspeedway, Brown will climb aboard the No. 68 Camaro for what will be the final time. Returning to the fateful track, which delivered him a breakout win, Brown will attempt a career saving performance. 

"It's going to be really emotional. I know it is. I've been in the (No.) 68 since I was nine years old" Brandon Brown told Casey Campbell, a sports reporter known for The Casey Campbell Podcast. "Definitely rough to step away from something you spent your entire life building, but you do it cause it's what's best now. It's what's needed to allow, the (No.) 68, BMS, the organization to continue to grow" he elaborated.

 

The 29 year old driver from Woodbridge, Virginia has long driven for his family's race team, and achieved differing levels of success along the way. Until his eventual NASCAR Xfinity Series win in the fall of 2021, his success went relatively unpublicized. Interestingly enough, that is when his career went awry.

Upon the race win interview, a television reporter, incorrectly interpreted a political chant from the crowd. The reporter told NASCAR fans around the country that the crowd was cheering "Let's Go Brandon", in celebration of Brown's win. Upon further review, that was not the case.

Brandon Brown wins the 2021 "Sparks" 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (Image from NASCAR on NBCSN Broadcast)

In mere hours, Brandon Brown's name was being used in political movements all across the United States.

 

What had once been sponsorship struggles for the race team, became a near impossible sponsorship situation for the No. 68 car and its driver. Brandon Brown scraped together sponsorship money wherever he could, hoping to hang on to his career. 

In August, the race team announced a limited schedule for Brandon Brown, and a (at the time) temporary takeover by Kris Wright. 

Now, as Brown has reached the end of that limited schedule, it appears Brandonbilt Motorsports can no longer afford to field an entry for the man who the team is named after.

For the remainder of the season Brandon Brown will join forces with BJ McLeod Motorsports, likely driving the No. 5 Camaro. The two have partnered at multiple other races this season. Brown says he is looking to do everything he can to help the team be as competitive as possible, and looking to garner results the BJ McLeod Motorsports team deserves.

 

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