Brandon Brown and the No. 68 Brandonbilt Motorsports team had better have your attention as they just locked themselves into the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs in just their second full-time season in the series. Following a 12th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night, which secured the Playoff berth, Brown was noticeably a combination of joyous and relieved.
“Oh my god. It’s a feeling of just relief,” Brown said of making the Playoffs. “It’s like a breather really quick right before now, I guess the hard work starts. We really have to work to capitalize on this opportunity inside the Playoffs. I’m just ecstatic to be here. I’m so happy with the team’s performance this year.”
The little family-owned team that does a lot with a little, and they have consistently improved week after week since their full-time debut in the Xfinity Series in 2019. The rewards that come with making the Playoffs will now afford the team the opportunity to lease some beefier motors during select Playoff races in an effort to shock the world and at the very least make some more noise than they already have.
“The plan is, now that we’ve secured a spot in the Playoffs, we’re going to try and pick select races for some lease motor programs to really get ourselves competitive starting with Las Vegas,” Brown explained. “I think this just gave a little emphasis to a couple of the partners that are going to come up to help us get a little better equipment. We’re definitely going to try to give it our all for this Playoff run.”
Brown and the team will lease ECR engines in select races including next weekend’s Playoff-opening race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Following Brown’s post-race availability, BMS technical director Collin Fern stated on Twitter that the team will also lease an ECR motor at Talladega Superspeedway.
If the team is fortunate enough to make it through the Round of 12, they will more than likely lease motors for Kansas Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway, as well.
https://twitter.com/Collin_Fern/status/1307167082090553344?s=20
While the Playoff impact for 2020 will mean stronger motors during this Playoff run, the Playoff berth could have bigger implications for Brown and BMS heading into 2021. Brown says this ultimately could unlock the sponsorship needed to upgrade their chassis components as well as potentially entering a technical alliance with a Cup-affiliated team.
“[Making the Playoffs] brings a lot of opportunity to our partners and to potential future partners that might join our teams to help us go out and get that better car, get that better motor, create that alliance with another larger team, whether it’s a Childress or a Hendrick or anyone. This is just tremendous for us,” Brown said.
For Brown and his former little team that could that has now turned into a Playoff contender, the goal is to one day be a powerhouse in the Xfinity Series and they have and will continue to pump all available resources into building their program.
“I wouldn’t say we are maxed out, but we’re pretty close to it,” Brown said. “Everything that we get throughout the season, it goes right back into this team and into this program to build it and make it better. Again, it’s our second full-time season. Everything we get it’s to constantly build and make it better and grow it so we can be a real force in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.”
Can Brandon Brown surprise some people in the Playoffs? Absolutely. Although he has recorded just four top-10 finishes in 2020, Brown has been in contention for more this season as evidenced by his 17 top-15 finishes. If the luck can fall their way, there is no telling how far the young team can go, especially with ECR powerplants under the hood.
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