New RCR Dev Driver Has a Unique and Versatile Background

Eyebrows were raised when RCR signed seventeen-year-old Carson Brown as a development driver. He’s not a name most fans would know, but he’s someone with a unique skill set and background, making him an exciting prospect to follow. Carson Brown is a name that NASCAR fans should remember.

Dirt In One Hand, Pavement In the Other

RCR’s newest man has his hand in two pots. Brown, in 2025, is getting ready to take on some of the best names in all of dirt track racing, as Brown took on the Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway.

But that’s far from the only crown jewel the young teen has on his recent schedule. In a few weeks, he’s off to Pensacola, Florida, for the Snowflake 125 and Snowball Derby. Late Model events on pavement.“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 racetrack.”

Brown’s Six Flags Experience

The RCR dev driver, Carson Brown, does have experience at the Florida short track. Having been competitive when he entered the Snowflake 125 last year. Even putting down a lap in last year’s practice that was enough to earn the best time of the session impressed RCR enough to keep their eye on him.

“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; we just kind of need to put the puzzle together and make things happen, but I think we definitely have a shot at both of them.”

Seeing a young driver with such confidence is always a great thing, especially when it’s backed by his great weekend last season. But what does this mean for the NASCAR team that signed him?

Another RCR Driver of the Future

Recently, NASCAR has entered an arms race for young talent. With Chevy already having multiple prodigies, with Trackhouse having Connor Zilisch, and Hendrick having both the current Kyle Larson and the next Kyle Larson in Corey Day, plus there’s Hocevar.

And Toyota has young road-course ace Brent Crews, plus truck dominator Corey Heim. And Ford has a son of Scott Riggs, Layne Riggs. So RCR wants some arms for their NASCAR prodigy race. But some would argue that he’s getting greedy.

As he already has one in Jesse Love. A two-time ARCA West champion and ARCA champion who already has multiple wins in NASCAR’s second tier with RCR before he’s reached drinking age. And he even won the Xfinity championship last year despite Zilisch being the better driver for most of the year, but whatever, I guess.

The Cup Effect

But of course, RCR has two cars in Cup, both driven by veteran drivers. Two-time Cup Series champion, forty-year-old Kyle Busch, the 2008 and 2018 Daytona 500 winner, plus ex-Nationwide and Truck Series champion, thirty-five-year-old Austin Dillon.

So Jesse Love is for one car, and Austin Hill, as great as he’s been in O’Reilly, is thirty-one, so not a driver for the future. Carson Brown, at seventeen, has already won the 2022 INEX Cook Out Summer Shootout Semi-Pro Championship.

Plus, he has competed in series like the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, the CARS Late Model Stock Tour, and the ASA STARS National Tour, and is competitive with all these grizzled vets of the short-track and dirt-track scenes. Making him a safe bet for RCR’s future. Thanks a bunch for reading!