UNEXPECTED NEWS: Cam Waters and Will Brown Not Ready For NASCAR Cup Series After…

Both drivers touched down earlier this week and reacquainted themselves with their respective teams. Before Perth, Brown dashed over to the States with catch up with RCR, while Waters spent time at RFK as he competed in the Truck Series.

RCR is based in Welcome, North Carolina, with RFK’s headquarters 70 kilometres south in Concord, which is near Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Both drivers had previously sat in Cup machinery, but this week has seen Waters and Brown get into their respective #60 Ford Mustang and #33 Chevrolet Camaro.

Sit fits aside, being in the workshop helps the drivers dive into the minutiae of driver comfort, from pedal sizing to seat position. Don’t forget, these are left-hand drive cars, so while Cup cars have sequential gearboxes like Supercars, drivers change gears with their right hands.

Teams also provide opportunities for drivers to fine-tune their skills away from the car. Notably, RFK has also published vision of Waters completing a reaction time test using a light board, which measures reaction time, hand-eye quickness and coordination.

Pit stops

Both drivers have completed pit stop practice, which is important given how different stops are in NASCAR versus Supercars.

Where Supercars are lifted by air jacks, NASCARs are lifted by a sole jack man. NASCAR pit crews are only allowed five people over the wall: front tyre changer, rear tyre changer, tyre carrier, gas man and the jack man.

Pit road speed at Sonoma is 40 mph (64.4 km/h), which is nearly 25 km/h than pit lane speed limits in Supercars, something both drivers have picked up on.

“We did a bit of pit stop practice today, which was cool,” Waters told Supercars.com.

“Just coming in quick and seeing the guys run out in front of the car and pulling up, and releasing and all that stuff, which is just a little bit different to what we do back home.”

Brown added: “I drove the pit stop car which was cool, which is important because it’s so different to what we do in Australia.

“With the guys running in front of you, I’m a bit nervous about not making a mistake in the pits. Driving the car is one thing, but I feel like all the procedure stuff will be the next.”

Simulator

Because both drivers don’t get laps in their cars until Friday practice, simulator laps have proven crucial. Both drivers had sim time in previous visits to their respective workshops, with Waters and Brown both getting two sessions each this week.

Brown steered RCR’s sim before getting a crack at the Driver-in-the-Loop simulator at the GM Tech Centre, where Shane van Gisbergen, who will be Brown’s spotter for the race, was on site to assist.

That particular sim, according to GM, is “as close as drivers can get to racing without actually strapping in.” In Driver-in-the-Loop sims, tracks are scanned to a very high resolution and feature all visual elements, from individual bumps to unique surface chances. They also offer the motion and G-forces a driver would experience at speed.

Before heading Stateside, Waters has also benefited from Thomas Randle’s Dream Simulation set-up, and with his sim efforts coming with support from RFK drivers Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher.

Waters has also spent time with experienced driver Joey Hand, who recently drove Ford’s Wheel Force NASCAR at Sonoma. ‘Wheel Force’ cars are named because they are test mules, which measure wheel forces in real time, through sensors on each corner

“The first day that we got in on the Monday, I spent four hours in the sim, which was great,” Waters told Supercars.com.

“I’ve got another sim session today. It’s a two hour session and I’m sharing it with Brad and also got Joey Hand there to help out. He drove the Wheel Force car for Ford at Sonoma, which will be good to chat to him about what he thought about it all.”

Content and media

Because both drivers are new faces in the Cup Series, they require headshots in team gear and their new suits, which have been captured at their respective team bases.

Media is also a key part of the week, as Waters and Brown are presented to new audiences, while also creating their own content to publish across their own channels and entertain existing fans.

Brown’s team has published a vlog from his opening days in the States, with Waters’ journey captured through humorous and educational social clips.

“To come over here to do a road course and to drive a car that makes a lot more sense to me and is a lot closer to what I raced back home, is a bonus, to be honest,” Waters explained during a media availability on Tuesday.

“Stepping up into Cup, the level of competition is going to be way harder as well… the truck stuff was awesome. Absolutely had a ball. The challenge of learning a new car and you know, doing ovals as well. I think there’s probably a little bit less of an undertaking this weekend, but it’s going to be tougher at the same time.”