1/7/06
Thanks for taking the time to visit my new website, cwb15.com. I thought it was important to
give you some background information on my involvement in racing over the years leading up
to the present. It's kind of lengthy, so strap yourself in for the ride!
I'd been going to the races since I was 4 with my parents. My mom's establishment, Rose's
Place, sponsored a sprint car driven by Billy Crockett at the now defunct Navisota Speedway in
central Texas.
When I was 12, I started helping my 2nd cousin with his sprint car. His name was Wayne Brown,
and if that sounds familiar to some of you, it's the same person that presently owns Hot Rod Hill
in Bryan, TX.
Here's a picture of cousin Wayne's car, plus a drawing I made of his first car in 1985. You can
click on the images to view them larger in size, if you'd like:
I began working in the racing industry 'officially,' with Chris McDermott from Houston and his
parents, Pat and Sue back 1987. I was a mechanic on his car along with his dad, Pat until 1991.
Here's the first car I helped the
McDermott's with, and this picture is from
Devil's Bowl in 1988.
We had a lot of fun - and success - along
the way and our travels took us all over the
country, including Central PA, Eldora,
Knoxville, and eventually the United Sprint
Association (USA) and World Of Outlaws.
Here's Chris in a USA Sprint Series race at
Devil's Bowl in 1989.
Sonny Kratzer was crew chief on the car during
this time, and he is presently crew chief on
David Helm's Selma Shell 11H car competing in
the 2006 National Sprint Tour.
For a closer look at this car, just click on the
picture.
In 1991, when the McDermott's returned to
Houston. Chris's friend Ralph Burris called me
and needed a mechanic for their sprint team.
I helped them for the season, and the team
finished 2nd in the Texas Super Sprint
Association points, which was good for a 1st
year driver in the class.
Here's a picture of the car at Big H Speedway in
Houston.
From 1992-1994, I helped build cars with Max
and Laura Henson in Dallas; after a phone call
to Max from Pat McDermott.
We became really close friends in the process
and here's a picture of our team, with driver
Rich Bubak from Denver.
Rich is shown on the LR tire, owner Max is
sitting on the LF tire and I'm right behind him.
Please click on the image to view it larger.
Then Max hired Chris McDermott to race his next
car. This picture is from Devil's Bowl, and we raced
throughout the region that year, which was 1993.
This was a new Schnee car with a Shaver 410
power plant.
Also pictured here is a very young Wayne Priddy,
the track 50/50 ticket seller at the time - who
became a mechanic on Ronald Laney's car out of
Houston. After Ronald was killed at East Bay,
Wayne started helping me with my first car.
The other person by the LR tire, is long-time friend
Alan Baxter, who presently owns two cars that race
at Devil's Bowl.
Max's last car, pictured here, was driven by Dan
Hamilton, who owns Day Motorsports in Tyler.
They raced part of the season, when Max
developed what turned out to be cancer.
Max passed away in 1995 and at that point is when I
decided to give racing a try.
I purchased much of my new car from his wife
Laura after his death.
Max and Laura were like parents to me. Laura and I
still remain close friends today.
In 1996 I had everything in place and started racing at
Royse City's, North Texas Motor Speedway in the IMCA
Sprint division.
I finished the first season in 10th place in national IMCA
points and decided to keep racing from that point.
1997 was literally and up and down season. I
decided to switch to racing at the Devil's Bowl
with a new Schnee car.
On the 12th night of racing in the season
during the feature race, I was passing the 2nd
place car (Russell Shoulders) when his motor
expired and I launched off his RR tire and
went over the FS wall on corner 4, and flipped
about to the finish line.
I totalled out the car and it took about 2 years
for me to rebuild, due to limited finances.
During this time, I helped out Brandon Rogers,
who now owns SprintCarExchange.com.
So, now it's 1998 and here's the new JB
Enterprises car, while it was being built in
our shop (shown above and left).
At the end of the 1998 season, we started
racing this car at races throughout the
region, including Little Rock, Devil's Bowl,
Texarkana and Pocola, OK.
In 1999, we picked the year where '98 left
off by competing at tracks in the area.
In 2000, I took some time off to regroup and
didn't race again until 2002 and that
included races at Cowtown, Devil's Bowl
and Little Rock.
It was in 2002 when my friend Darin Short
and I moved to Ames, IA to work at Wayne
Larson Racing Specialists.
Darin formerly was the Marketing/Financial
Director at Harris Auto Racing and then the
VP of Sales at Maxim, before hooking up
with long-time friend Wayne Larson again.
He now offers a Direct Marketing service
for various individuals in, and outside of,
the racing industry. Please visit him online
at www.darinshort.com. He also built my
website.
We had a lot of fun with the Larson's and I
raced a few times the following two years at
Arlington, MN.
I moved back to Dallas at the end of 2004,
as my dad's health began to deteriorate. I
spent most of the following year working
and going back and forth to my parents in
Bryan, TX.
In 2005, my mom's health suddenly took a
turn for the worse and she passed away
during Thanksgiving.
So my personal racing hasn't been a top
priority lately but I'm now rebuilding and
getting ready for the 2006 season.
During my breaks, I was a crew chief on my
friends, Rodd and Kim Hanna's car, who I've
helped on and off since 1993. They own
Pete Butler's car.
Pete races at I-30 and won the 2003 & 2005
season championship there, as well as the
1996 Short Track Nationals. Here's a shot of
his car to the right. By the way, I also work
for Kim at TransGlobal Inspections, you can
visit them online at TGInspections.com.
The plan in 2006 is to race locally at
Cowtown Speedway, and select events at
Devil's Bowl and I-30 Speedway in Little
Rock.
It wouldn't be a complete story without
showing you a picture of my dog, Max -
named after the late Max Henson. He
travels with me to most of the races and is
my 'shadow' while I'm working on the car.
In 2009 Max passed away after catching a
fatal virus. If you'd like to view Max's
memorial page, click here. It's got lots of
pictures and memories.
I ended up having to take the 2010 racing
season off due to a long insurance
company battle due to a hip replacement
surgery that I needed. I finally got it done
and plan to continue racing in 2011. This
has definitely been a year to forget as far
as all of that is concerned. But I feel like I
am on the road to recovery now that the
surgery is over.
Thanks for taking the time to read about my
racing past, and please make sure to stop
by to say hello if we're racing at a track in
your area!
Sincerely,
Wayne Brown
PS: By the way, my dad's name is Curtis and
my full name is Curtis Wayne; so after a
while everyone just called me Wayne, I
went with that; and that's where 'CW' comes
from.