In his championship-winning 2024 campaign, the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver took a podium finish at every event.
His average starting position was sixth and his average finishing position was fourth.
In 2025, that has dropped to an average starting position of ninth and an average finishing position of fifth.
His qualifying woes have become something of a running joke, often remarking he’d have a better shot at winning the title if he didn’t qualify so badly.
Nevertheless, the #1 Chevrolet Camaro driver has been able to fight forward.
There was no better evidence of that than the most recent Sandown 500, where Brown fought from 15th to second on Saturday and then 17th to third on Sunday.
In both instances, Brown mistimed his runs.
“My approach is just to try and get in the Shootout each day,” said Brown ahead of the Adelaide Grand Final.
“I feel like in the Shootout we can do a good job and be further up the front.
“We’re trying to put our finger on our qualifying at the moment, but haven’t figured it out yet.
“We haven’t been able to pinpoint what it is.
“So, we are doing a lot of simulator work, we’re looking at setup, we’re looking at our run plans and everything to try and make sure we give ourselves the best shot.”
By comparison, Brown’s Red Bull Ampol-backed teammate Broc Feeney has been the best across the board, winning 13 races and 16 pole positions.
He averages a third place grid position and fourth place finish across the season so far.
Had the Finals Series not been introduced, Feeney would have had a 286-point lead over Grove Racing’s Matt Payne coming to Adelaide.
His gap is just 20 points over Walkinshaw Andretti United’s Chaz Mostert.
“I’m just really excited, to be honest,” said Feeney.
“Like, obviously, it’s been an awesome season. But this Finals series is something else. There’s been a lot happening in the first couple of rounds.
“To make it as the points leader into the last round is super important. I am genuinely just stoked and pumped to go racing.
“It’s the biggest week of my racing career, probably the biggest week of my life coming up.”
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While Feeney is the short-priced favourite and Mostert is a close second, Brown is optimistic of his chances.
“I think on-track stuff, you’ve got to play it by ear,” said Brown.
“You never know what’s going to happen until you’re in the situation. You qualify on pole and get out in the lead, and none of those team tactics really work.
“But when you’re coming through the pack like I was, there are always those team tactics you have to watch out for.
“But generally, the fastest car wins at the end of the day. So, we’ve got to go to Adelaide, trying to put our best foot forward with a really good setup, me driving well, and try and see where we come out.
“Like I say, it’s down to four guys now. We’ve given ourselves a good shot at actually winning the title again, so hopefully we can come away with a championship.
“I’m feeling confident going into there. I felt confident going into Sandown. Our qualifying wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but we really raced strongly.
“Our side of the garage is building confidence going into Adelaide, definitely after our last round.”
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