Supercars champion Will Brown on his title defence, day job away from the track and sporting the No.1
He finished 2024 a Supercars champion, but don’t think Will Brown is still riding that wave. The Triple Eight star reveals how he recharged in the off-season, and it’s not how some would think.
How did reigning Supercars champion Will Brown recharge and set himself for his title defence in 2025 during the off-season?
He went back to work – selling cars and driving trucks.
After claiming his maiden Supercars title off the back of one of the most consistent seasons in history, it was business as usual over summer for the Triple Eight star.
When he’s not chasing Supercars success, Brown spends his days working at his family’s used car yard in his hometown of Toowoomba and helping drive trucks in the car carrying business he bought with his father, Shane, last year.
Despite the high of a breakthrough Supercars championship last year, Brown did not give himself an extended break and was quickly back at his day job.
“I had five days off and I worked the rest of the time,” Brown said when asked how he recharged for his title defence this year.
“I’m always charged up, I wouldn’t say I did any major relaxing.
“I just worked. I went back to the car yard and drove trucks.”
Far from a distraction, 26-year-old Brown said the off-track work helped keep him grounded in the world of motorsport.
While Brown acknowledged more commitments with the Red Bull squad had seen him take a “small step back” from the family business, he said his off-track jobs were just a normal part of his life.
“It definitely keeps you humble, that’s for sure,” Brown said.
“It keeps you down to earth. I am up there selling used cars every day that I am not racing or away on commitments for the Supercars and then some days driving the truck early in the morning to fill in for some of the boys.
“It is just one of those things to be honest that is just how I was brought up. My dad used to go to work at 5am and come back at 6pm and that was how it was.
“I left school and went straight into the family business and worked in that the whole way through. It’s just pretty normal for me.”
Brown, who also holds a private pilot’s licence, stormed to his first Supercars title last year in his first season with the powerhouse Triple Eight squad after replacing triple series champion-turned NASCAR racer Shane van Gisbergen.
So, have sales picked up with a Supercars champion now making the pitch?
“It’s definitely been a pick up from last year due to the success that we had on the track,” Brown said.
“We get a lot more people coming through now that know that I still work there and obviously race in the Supercars.
“A lot of the people that come in and buy a car notice some of the (Supercars) memorabilia around the place and then realise I am delivering the car to them.”
There is no doubting his racing credentials as a series champion, but Brown said he held his own as a salesman.
“I would say there are better than me out there, but it is not too hard selling used cars if you are selling good ones,” Brown said.
“I can sell stuff.”
Brown produced a 40-year first in winning his maiden Supercars crown last year, becoming the first driver since V8 great Dick Johnson in 1984 to score a podium at every round on the calendar.
He hit the track for pre-season testing at Sydney Motorsport Park on Wednesday proudly sporting the champion’s No. 1 on his Chevrolet Camaro, which he parked at the top of the timesheets with a late flyer.
Ahead of this weekend’s opening round in Sydney, Brown admitted it had been a “surreal” moment when he saw the No. 1 on his car for the first time.
Is Will Brown going to be the hunter or hunted in 2025? âš”ï¸#RepcoSC#Supercarspic.twitter.com/FXsXMcpk5C
— Supercars (@supercars) February 17, 2025
“It is a bit of a pinch yourself moment,” Brown said.
“That was probably one of the moments where you went, ‘This is real’ when I saw the No. 1 on the side of the car.
“It’s pretty surreal to be honest. You don’t really think about it as yourself as the champion …. I remember looking back to people like (team boss) Jamie Whincup that I used to idolise when I was a young kid in go-karts, I used to watch him and go, ‘He’s won the Supercars championship’.
“So to now say that I have is a very cool thing to be able to say and a very cool thing to be able to run the No.1.”
Lining up on the grid as the defending champion would not change Brown’s approach on the track in a season when all drivers would be faced with a revamped championship format and new finals series.
“It hasn’t changed anything massively for myself,” Brown said.
“You get to run that No. 1 on the side of the car, which is a really cool thing, but everyone is back to zero points and you have got to try to win races to try and get the championship.
“It’s just about staying committed and focused.
“Last year, consistency was our biggest thing and making sure that we put as much effort in as we could to be the best prepared team out there and that showed.
“It is a bit different this year because you want consistency all year around but it changes a bit with the finals the way the finals work.
“But for me, it is just a matter of staying focused and continuing to enjoy my racing and I just want to show up every weekend and do the best job that I can.”
Brown beat his Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney to the Supercars championship last year, but expected the 22-year-old to be hungry to turn the tables this season.
“He came out hard last year as well. He was super competitive all year and there were only a couple of little things that obviously went my way with consistency that really allowed me to get that little bit of an edge,” Brown said.
“Broc has shown he is super fast and things will go his way one season and that may be this one. I’ll work as hard as I can to beat him, but he is a very good driver.”
This season will be Triple Eight’s last representing GM before its switch to Ford from 2026 and Brown was hungry to finish on a high with the brand he has raced for his whole career.
“It would be great to back it up and win for GM again this year,” Brown said.
“I have driven for them my whole Supercars career so far and in Super2, so for me it is going to be different switching across to Ford.
“It would be very good to finish off on a high and send GM (partnership) with Triple Eight off in the right way.”
More Coverage
Bulega proves why he is the man to beat at Phillip Island
It’s one thing to ride fast, it’s another to be consistently fast. Nicolo Bulega showed his clear ability for the latter, recording quick times around Phillip Island with metronomic regularity.
Waters blitz converts qualifying pace to first win of the season
Tickford Racing star Cam Waters has fired the season-opening salvo for Ford after he converted his blistering qualifying pace to blitz the first race of the Supercars season.