For most of the Cup drivers heading to Bowman Gray Stadium this Saturday, the Cookout Clash will be a mark in history. For the driver of #15 Dairi-O/Jerry Hunt Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing, it’s just another weekend at the Madhouse, with a bit of grandeur this time. 

Tim Brown makes a living working on the various race cars that find themselves in the RWR shop as a full-time transmission and suspension specialist for the team. However, this isn’t just a crew guy getting to live out his dream, the name Tim Brown will ring true to any long term visitor of Bowman Gray. 

The 53-year-old holds the record for most all time wins in the featured Modified series at 101, with 146 pole positions and 12 series championships. 

You could double the resume of the other drivers in the field at the Madhouse and still not touch Brown’s accolades at the venue. It’s safe to say that while the pedigree of the field may be higher, nobody will know this track better than the grizzled veteran. 

Not only does Brown get a shot at the biggest competition the track has seen in decades, he also gets to drive a Cup Series car.

As any longtime fan of motorsports will know, sometimes it’s less about the talent of the driver and more about the money they put in, and for Brown, a Cup Series ride was just something intangible for the weekly series driver. 

Despite this, his resume in Modifieds speaks for itself, and longtime fans of the series will be eager to see his efforts in Saturday’s heat races. 

One aspect Brown has noted will take some adjustment are some of the changes NASCAR made to the venue ahead of the exhibition. 

One major difference is the added SAFER barrier to the venue, a thick padded exoskeleton for the track walls that absorb impacts from cars. While it’s a no-brainer addition for a Cup Series race, the extra two feet extending onto the track takes away a racing line that is common for the Modified drivers, where they hug the wall on the high side of the track. 

The extension makes the track a bit narrower, which will be certainly noticeable in the Madhouse Classic, a Modified event preceding the Cup heats that Brown will be running in at 1:45 p.m. PST and can be watched on FloRacing or the NASCAR Channel on the Tubi app, which is free. 

While the cream of the crop will be competing for a chance at a piece of Cup Series history on Saturday, Tim Brown is simply grateful to live out the dream he had while working on Cale Yarborough’s race cars over 30 years ago. 

While thing’s didn’t pan out the way a young Brown may have figured, there’s no better time and place the mechanic and Madhouse legend would rather make his NASCAR Cup Series debut.

The Cookout Clash at Bowman Gray drops the green flag Sunday, 5 P.M. PST on FOX.