Carson Brown
Car: No. 5 | Team: Lee Pulliam Performance | Manufacturer: Chevrolet | Status: Full-time CARS Tour LMSC | Hometown: New London, NC | Age: 17
Career Highlights
Carson Brown is the youngest full-time driver on the 2026 CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car grid and one of the most closely watched development prospects in American short-track racing. The 17-year-old from New London, North Carolina, drives the No. 5 Chevrolet for Lee Pulliam Performance — a team named for the late two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion.
Brown is a first-generation racer with no family background in motorsport, which makes his rapid ascent all the more remarkable. He earned the 2025 ASA Stars National Tour Rookie of the Year award and has been identified as a development driver by Richard Childress Racing, one of NASCAR's most storied Cup Series organizations.
In February 2026, Brown won his first ARCA Menards Series race at Phoenix Raceway in just his series debut — a statement result that drew national attention and validated the investment RCR has made in his career. He competes across multiple platforms simultaneously, balancing his CARS Tour schedule with select ARCA appearances as part of his development path toward NASCAR's national series.
At Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway on April 5, 2026, Brown finished seventh in the CARS Tour LMSC feature — a solid result at one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar.
At 17, Brown is already racing at a level that took many of his competitors years longer to reach. His combination of raw talent, a first-class development pipeline through RCR, and the credibility of racing for Lee Pulliam Performance positions him as one of the drivers most likely to make the leap from short tracks to NASCAR's top divisions.