Newest Richard Childress Racing driver shows off versatility from dirt to pavement

While Richard Childress Racing might have a relatively unknown driver signed to a new deal, that doesn’t make him any less. Carson Brown isn’t on the radar like other teenage prospects, but the 17-year-old is as versatile as they come.

Cutting his teeth in the Dirt Super Late Model world, Carson Brown has had a ton of experience on dirt. He’s also been able to find success on pavement at an early age.

Earlier this year, Brown took on the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway. In a few weeks, he’s off to Pensacola, Florida, for the Snowflake 125 and Snowball Derby. From dirt to pavement, the Crown Jewel races are becoming the norm for Brown.

“Yeah, just development,” Brown told FloRacing. “I feel like it helps me a lot, being able to drive on many different surfaces. At the Snowball Derby, here at the Dream. Also, a little bit of road course stuff that we’ve been playing with too. Just trying to be good at all of them, and I feel like it’s helping me out a lot. Just being able to flip that switch and just adapting to car types, adapting to the race track.”

When it comes to Five Flags Speedway, Brown has experience. The Richard Childress Racing development driver expects to be competitive again, just like he was a year ago in the Snowflake.

“I hope so. We were really close to the Snowflake last year,” Brown explained. “Just had some issues with another car. But I hope so. We’ve been really good in the Super lately, just kinda need to put the puzzle together and make things happen, but I think we definitely have a shot at both of them.”

Carson Brown feels confident. Will that be enough to get him into the big show at the Snowball Derby?

Richard Childress Racing picks its driver of the future

In the last few years, there has been a bit of an arms race in NASCAR. It has really ramped up with the realization that Connor Zilisch could be the next face of the sport at just 19 years old. Trackhouse Racing has their franchise guy for the next 20 years. What about everybody else?

Now, you could argue that Richard Childress Racing already has a driver of the future. Jesse Love is now a champion in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. He’s as Cup-ready as anyone not named Connor Zilisch or Corey Heim. So, RCR has their driver of the future, right? Plus, they have Austin Hill! Well, let’s bring it back to reality and quickly.

RCR has Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch. Ideally, one or both of them will be moving on at the end of the season. Dillon to a front office role and Busch to a team that can deliver winning cars for him. At the same time, Childress has to stop another Cup Series team from poaching Love before they are ready to move him up. And if they don’t do it for the 2027 season, they likely will lose Love in the process.

What Carson Brown gives Richard Childress Racing is a safety net. He’s not as proven as Love, Zilisch, Brent Crews, and others, but the talent appears to be there. If RCR is able to somehow keep Love, develop Brown, and then pair them in the Cup Series together in 2029 or 2030, then that might be the best plan of action moving forward.