Mike Brown has been a part of Bill Davis Racing since 1991 and has been an integral part of BDR’s growth as well as it’s successes.  Brown’s technological know-how, motorsports experience and business skills have helped make him a perfect fit for the BDR organization for over a decade.  

Brown grew up around racing, years before he realized he could make a career in the sport. His father raced at local tracks in Georgia, and Brown helped him with the race cars.  The younger Brown earned an Associate’s Degree in Information Technology from Athens (Ga.) Technical College in 1980, then went to work designing computer software for various Georgia companies.  He soon took a job in the IT department for Speedway Waste Disposal, a waste management company.  The owners of Speedway Waste Disposal were local track rivals and friends of Brown. 

The waste disposal company owners started a NASCAR Busch Grand National team in the late 1980s and named Brown team manager and tire changer.  Brown raced on the weekends and worked as the IT manager during the week.  He left the office at 5 p.m. and headed to the race shop to work until 9 p.m. almost every day.  Brown recalls the team being very competitive and earning one victory in 1989 at Lanier Speedway in Gainesville, Ga., with driver Ronald Cooper.  The operation did quite well, especially considering it only had one employee working full-time on the car.

In the Right Place at the Right Time  

His experience as a team manager was not what got Brown started at BDR; it was his fast footwork.  In the early 1990s, Brown continued to work nine-to-five during the week and change tires on racecars during the weekends.  Brown’s team competed with Davis’ entries, and a strong friendship between the two men soon formed.

Speedway Waste Disposal’s team eventually stopped racing, but Brown didn’t want to put the brakes on his racing career.  He kept going to the track, helping out wherever an extra hand was needed. 

One weekend in 1991, Brown was changing tires for a new team that was fielding a car for Mike McLaughlin’s NASCAR Busch Series debut at Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway.  McLaughlin hit the wall in qualifying, and Brown’s weekend appeared to be over.  But before McLaughlin returned the car to the garage area, Davis had tried to recruit Brown and a friend to help service the car for his rookie Busch Series driver, Jeff Gordon.

Brown and his friend took Davis up on the offer and began working on Gordon’s car.  The weekend went well; so well, in fact, that Brown started traveling to work for Davis’ team.  He worked on the car and changed tires on the weekends, then flew back home to Georgia to resume his regular job during the week. 

When Bill Davis Racing stepped up to NASCAR Cup Series competition, Brown stepped up with the team.  Toward the end of the 1996 season, the strain of constant weekend travel and working two separate jobs began to wear on Brown.   He needed to make a decision.  Either he was going to race full time, or he was going to continue to pursue his IT career in Georgia. 

Davis didn’t want to let Brown slip away, so he offered him a full-time job with both the business side and competition side of the race team.  Brown realized it was the opportunity he had been waiting for and accepted Davis’ offer.  In 1997, Brown and his family moved to High Point, N.C., and he began working full time for BDR.

Since 1997, Mike Brown has been an essential part of Bill Davis Racing. Having served as general manager for over 10 years, Brown took on a new challenge in early 2008. Now acting as Chief Financial Officer, Brown is responsible for the day-to-day financial responsibilities of BDR.  With great organizational skills, and a great understanding of NASCAR Brown’s new job is a perfect fit!