Over a year ago, Shane van Gisbergen conjured magic. After the Kiwi’s inaugural Cup Series race win in 2023, people were waiting for his full-time Xfinity ride to spell results in 2024. It did at Portland International Speedway, with SVG overcoming messy restarts and a battle with Justin Allgaier to win. The former Supercars champ punted a soccer ball to celebrate his victory. Now, another Supercars star is expected to make a spectacular show.

Last year, SVG was on loan to Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series. He clinched three wins for the team at Portland, Sonoma, and Chicago. In 2025, the same winner’s luck has yet to visit Kaulig. That is why they are relying on another Supercars celebrity to pull them up again – and fans are excited.

Trying to leave a mark like Shane van Gisbergen

Well, that might be difficult, given the Kiwi speedster’s indomitable progress. Shane van Gisbergen has been almost unbeatable on road courses in both the Xfinity and the Cup Series. However, Will Brown’s efforts are tireless, anyway. He debuted in the Cup Series last year, starting 24th and finishing 31st in Sonoma for Richard Childress Racing. Brown returned for the 2025 Chicago Street Race, wheeling the No. 13 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet to a 39th-place finish and finishing just two laps due to a multi-car pile-up. Despite his woes, Brown remains determined in his latest comeback.

Kaulig Racing’s official X account posted the big news – Will Brown will debut in the Xfinity Series under the team’s banner. The post read: “We’re thrilled to welcome Will Brown back to the States for the @NASCAR_Xfinity Series race at Portland!” After letting go of its full-time driver, Josh Williams, Kaulig is rotating drivers for races. It put Carson Hocevar in the car for Iowa, and has since announced Michael McDowell for Watkins Glen and Justin Haley for Daytona.

Will Brown also posted his enthusiasm about taking the wheel on August 30 in Portland. The 27-year-old Australian speedster wrote, “Very excited to be racing NASCAR again with Kaulig Racing. Looking forward to having a crack at the Xfinity Series.” Although his success in NASCAR has been limited so far, Brown also boasts a fantastic reputation in Supercars, similar to that of Shane van Gisbergen. He won the 2024 Supercars title, and Brown currently sits second in the championship as he attempts to go back-to-back. Last year, he clinched a podium finish in Bathurst 1000 and earned two class victories in the Bathurst 12 Hours in 2017 and 2018.

This aura of excellence has also gotten the NASCAR community pumped.

Fans applaud NASCAR’s honorable guest

Ever since Josh Williams’ stats dropped at Kaulig, rumors have been doing the rounds. They focused heavily on Will Brown, considering the Aussie speedster’s prior experience in the team’s Cup Series arm. Given the wild difference between the Cup cars and the Xfinity cars, fans expect Brown to perform better than he did in his crash-riddled Chicago race. So one fan wrote, “not shocking given the earlier rumors the past few weeks, glad Brown is coming back for another race.” Will Brown finished outside the top 30 in both of his Cup Series starts. However, even Shane van Gisbergen’s disastrous finishes at the start of 2025 were misleading. So, another fan rooted for the Supercars star: “Hopefully he has better luck in this race than he’s had in his two Cup Series starts.”

What is more, Will Brown’s arrival spells an exciting trend of inviting Supercars guests. Shane van Gisbergen has already reached the pinnacle of that trend, clinching three back-to-back road course victories this season. Hence, somebody is pumped to see Broc Feeney, a 22-year-old Supercars star, come as well. “Love it. Hope he does well. Would love to see Broc Feeney in a NASCAR one day.” Feeney entered 2024 out of the shadow of Shane van Gisbergen and won six races. He has already toppled Brown as a teammate with 10 victories in 2025, so another fan wrote: “all my homies wanted feeney but can’t wait to see will contend for a win!”

Kaulig Racing has already conquered Portland International Speedway twice. The first time, it was with AJ Allmendinger at the inaugural NXS race in 2022. Then, SVG took a Kaulig car to victory lane. Now, all eyes are on Will Brown. “Oh f— yeah. Excited to watch another kaulig car dominate at Portland for a third time.” 

Clearly, the excitement is high for NASCAR’s Supercars guest. Let us wait and see if Will Brown can finally break his jinx in the sport or not.