Kade Brown is heading into Martinsville this year seeking redemption after missing out on the win and the Virginia Triple Crown championship last year.
In 2024’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300, Brown was running fourth with eight laps to go, looking to win the Virginia Triple Crown and take home a grandfather clock. Jake Crum got loose under Brown in Turns 3 and 4, creating a large stack up. Brown was on the outside of three-wide going into Turn 1 the next lap.
Aaron Donnelly and Daniel Silvestri were underneath him and made contact, sending them into Brown, and Brown into the outside wall, ending his race. Brown heads into this weekend’s race not only looking for redemption for himself, but also to score the win with R&S Racecars.
“I was at the shop with the boys yesterday,” Brown said on Thursday. “They’re pulling late nights. We’re all putting in as much effort as we can to make sure we come with as fresh of a race car as we can bring and we really come out swinging. I imagine most teams will do that, but we’re making sure that we’re as much, if not more effort into it.
“Especially being that they’ve had such good runs there in the past with Bobby [McCarty], but Bobby was never able to capitalize on a win because of circumstances, and my run last year. Almost winning the Triple Crown and running third all night. We have an itch to really, really come out swinging.”
Brown is no stranger to big time Late Model Stock races. He won the South Carolina 400 in 2023, and following his great run he had going at Martinsville last year, he is excited to chase a clock again.
“It just gives you that confidence knowing that you can compete and beat all these guys,” Brown said about how being a South Carolina 400 winner helps him heading into this weekend. “Truthfully all the guys we race against every week in the [CARS] Tour [and] another five or ten are going to be the cars to beat.
“I have a lot of experience racing around those guys. Winning the South Carolina 400 gives me a confidence boost knowing I can beat all those guys.”
While a CARS Tour win has eluded Brown this year, he has constantly been one of the fastest guys of the season. He currently sits third in the standings, 32 points behind leader Landen Lewis.
“We’ve learned a ton all season,” Brown said. “We’ve been fortunate to not make too many mistakes. We’ve had some runs where we just didn’t have the race car, I wasn’t there, we just weren’t good enough and those were nights where we were still able to capitalize and come out with a top ten.
“There’s a lot of effort from all of us going into Martinsville. We’re going to try to go and minimize mistakes and be as strong as we have been all year. We’ve been getting better every week and hopefully this will be our breakthrough.”
Like most drivers, Brown already has a spot for the coveted grandfather clock trophy that comes with winning at Martinsville.
“I’ve got a great spot in my living room where I can put that clock,” Brown said. “That’s the most notorious trophy there is. When you win MArtinsville, no one will forget that so that would be huge. I’ve been fortunate to win a lot of other races, but I would take away all those other wins just to win Martinsville.”
