Brabham enjoys “eye-opening” stock car debut

Brabham, grandson of Australian Formula 1 legend Sir Jack Brabham, tested a late model for David Gilliland Racing at Hickory Speedway, his first run in a stock car-style machine.

He made quite an impression as well, running within a tenth of a second of the pole position time from the most recent late model event at the track.

“It was certainly a new experience for me, to be honest it was actually eye-opening,” said Brabham.

“The team did its utmost to make sure I was comfortable in the car. It had a lot of power and was quite responsive.

“The opportunity to do this was awesome. Any time you get to drive a racecar is good.

“I didn’t know what to expect coming in, as the NASCAR-style of vehicle and racing is just a whole different world to what I know and what I’m used to.

“It became pretty clear pretty quickly that this style of racing is insanely competitive and very professional.”

Veteran impressed

NASCAR veteran David Gilliland, who owns the team, was impressed with how quick Brabham was, particularly given his background is in open-wheeler racing.

“Matt did real good,” said Gilliland.

“He listened to what we were saying and was able to adapt to what we were talking about pretty quick.

“He did everything we asked of him and got up to speed very quickly, I think his transition into this style of car was good.

“Hopefully we can do some more – it would be fun to go out together and try and win a race. He even learned how to leave his hat in the car like a real NASCAR driver!”