Brown had put together sponsorship, estimated at a total $500,000 AUD, to drive Kaulig Racing’s #13 entry in the Chicago street race on July 6.
The effort came to naught when Brown was the innocent victim in a multi-car accident just three laps into the race on the concrete-lined circuit.
Kaulig subsequently invited Brown back to contest the Xfinity Series race at Portland on August 30 aboard its #11 Chevrolet Camaro, which will be decked out with the Australian’s backers.
“They did say at the end of the event, ‘this isn’t the way we want to finish,’” Brown explained in a social media video posted by Kaulig Racing.
“It’s not on them, because we funded it, to feel bad for me or that sort of stuff, but they emailed and said, ‘we’re going to get you back over, put all the same sponsors back on and give them their coverage’.
“It’s great of them because they didn’t have to do it. The guys over there, Ty Norris, Chris [Rice], all those guys were great to deal with, so I was stoked when I got that email, and they said, ‘you can come over and do this’.
“I kind of felt like when I got back, I did all of that and got all the sponsors onboard all for nothing really. Now with them saying I’m going over to do Portland, it’s all for something. It’s brought another opportunity to race.”
Brown’s chance in the #11 entry was announced shortly after news broke that the car’s full-time driver Josh Williams was departing the team, effectively immediately.
However, Brown affirmed to Speedcafe that the wheels were already in motion for him to race at Portland with Kaulig prior to that development.
“Originally, I believe it was meant to be a fourth car and I think now I’m in the third car,” he said. “I’m not actually sure what was going on behind the scenes there, but I was going to run at Portland either way.”
Brown is expected to contend for the win at the Portland road course in a field that will also include his former Supercars co-driver Jack Perkins.
The driver to beat will be JR Motorsports’ Connor Zilisch, pending his recovery from a broken collarbone sustained in a bizarre Victory Lane incident at Watkins Glen.
Brown admits he will go to Portland with a point to prove following disappointments in both previous Cup Series efforts.
He starred in practice on debut with Richard Childress Racing at Sonoma in 2024, before electrical trouble hampered his running in qualifying and the race.
“I think Sonoma was my best shot, to be honest. I think I could have had a really good result there with RCR,” Brown added.
“The drama with Chicago is this year, the guys have gotten up to scratch, but also, it’s now down to a 20-minute practice session, I think I got eight laps before the race.
“It was a tough track and I’m happy to say that. I struggled a little bit to get up to speed, obviously new car and the track surface was so rough, it was easy to make a mistake.
“Going over there and then the field being oversubscribed (41 cars for 40 grid slots), I felt like I had to hold back a little bit in practice and quali.
“To go over and have two unsuccessful races is a bit disappointing, so I want to try and prove that we are capable of winning a race at Portland.”
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