17-Year-Old Racer Ready to Tackle Biggest Track of Burgeoning Career
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (June 10, 2026) – At just 17 years old, Carson Brown has already accumulated a wealth of racing experience, to the point where earlier this year he was signed by Richard Childress Racing to a driver development contract.
Brown has successfully advanced from Legend Cars to winged and non-winged 600cc Micro Sprint Cars, to Super Late Models on both asphalt and dirt, to sports cars in Trans Am’s CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series and, most recently, to the ARCA Menards Series, where in seven career starts he has an average finish of 3.6.
The largest oval he has ever competed on is the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway, where in March Brown scored his maiden ARCA victory. Come Friday, however, Brown will tackle the biggest track so far in his burgeoning career – the 2.5-mile Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, host to the Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150.
“I’m going into Pocono with a very open mindset,” said Brown about attacking a track that is a mile and a half longer than any oval he has raced on before. “It’s the biggest track I’ve ever been on, and the only triangle I’ve ever been on. So it’s a bit trial by fire, but I’m really looking forward to it. I want to experience bigger and bigger racetracks.”
Pocono is known as the “Tricky Triangle” for its three distinct corners connected by three straightaways, including an enormously long 3,740-foot frontstretch. It is the only triangle-shaped track on the ARCA calendar – or any calendar, for that matter. Its layout was designed by two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Rodger Ward, who modeled each of its three turns after a different track.
Turn one, which is banked at 14 degrees, is from the legendary Trenton (N.J.) Speedway. Turn two, banked at 8 degrees, is a nod to the turns at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And turn three, banked at 6 degrees, is based on the corners at The Milwaukee Mile.
The track debuted in 1971 and NASCAR came on the scene three years later when NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty won its inaugural Cup Series race on Aug. 4, 1974. ARCA arrived in 1983, with Friday’s 60-lap contest serving as the 71st ARCA race on the 2.5-mile triangle.
In its four-decade run of hosting ARCA, Pocono has served as a rite of passage for drivers eyeing the elite Cup Series. Kyle Larson, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe and Chase Elliott are just a few of the active, race-winning Cup Series drivers who earned ARCA victories at Pocono.
“You talk to as many people as possible about what to expect at Pocono, but you can only learn so much without feeling it yourself, without getting your own eyes and hands on what you have in front of you,” Brown said.
Brown knows aerodynamics will play a significant role at Pocono, specifically the collective effects of cars’ aerodynamics.
“I know this race will be a lot more aero involved,” said Brown, who is back with Pinnacle Racing Group driving the No. 28 Distributor Wire & Cable Chevrolet. “That’s why I’m running it. I’ve got to get used to that feel – what the car feels like in clean air and what it feels like in dirty air. It’s also about getting a feel for the tire, the grip level, and where all the rubber’s at on the racetrack. Those are things you can’t always predict on the sim.”
Brown knows because he has spent ample time on the simulator inside the GM Tech Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. He is immersed within Wise Optimization, the driver development arm of GM Motorsports, where sim sessions are a staple of race prep.
“The simulator gives you perspective and a good baseline, but there are times when the state of the track plays a much bigger factor,” Brown said. “The sun comes out, the track starts to rubber up, and the clean air ends up being a moving target. You’ve got to take advantage of clean air and as much downforce as you can get in the moment.
“I feel like when you’re out front leading, it’s relatively easy. But the second you get behind a car, you get a lot of dirty air, you start losing downforce, you start losing everything, and then your tires just can’t work. They struggle to load the racecar and then you’re just kind of floating through the corner. You don’t have a lot of grip, don’t have much turn, don’t have much to drive up off the corner. You just start struggling.
“It seems like the leader is always trying to air block and do everything they can to stay out front and just take the other guy’s line away. It’s a whole new ballgame, and that’s what I want to learn.”
Brown’s learning curve begins at 12 p.m. EDT on Friday with a 45-minute practice followed by a 20-minute qualifying session at 1 p.m. The Sunset Hill Shooting Range 150 goes green at 3 p.m. It will be broadcast live on FS1 and streamed on the FOX One app with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio providing live audio coverage.
