Hunter Brown’s racing journey began a little over two years ago and now, the Jacksonville driver is at the precipice of his second career Southern National Motorsports Park track championship.
The 2023 Any Car division champion heads into Saturday’s Championship Night with an 11-point lead over Kenly’s Davis Renfrow in the KONI Shocks Charger division. It’s been a meteoric rise for a driver who only started racing in March 2023.
“I used to dream of driving one of these cars,” Brown said. “Now that I own two of them, it’s just a dream come true to be able to do this. This is huge for the whole entire team, as hard as they’re working. This will be one of the biggest accomplishments in my racing career, if all goes well.”
Brown’s season began in victory lane when he swept the season-opening doubleheader back in March. He’s backed that up with another win on the season, which came back in May.
This season has not been without adversity.
Back on March 15, Brown was sidelined from a race with mechanical issues. He was ultimately relegated to a 10th place finish. Since then, he has paved the path to a potential championship with consistency with eight top-five finishes in 10 races on the season.
“Everything we’ve worked so hard for this year and we’re right there at it,” Brown stated. “We’re not going into this big-headed or anything. I know anything can happen, but I’m just going to go there and do my best like we have all year and see where we end up at the end of the night.”
Hunter Brown’s career started out at Coastal Plains Raceway in Jacksonville in 2023 when he, alongside his sister Haley, began racing in the track’s Bomber division. Success was almost instantaneous for both drivers, with Hunter winning multiple races on the season and Haley winning the biggest Bomber race the track held that season.
Haley recently made the transition to Charger herself.
“It’s pretty great racing with her,” Brown said. “I’m excited for her to learn it and get a little better. I hope to be able to run door-to-door with her next year.”
Brown can clinch the championship, officially, with a finish of 11th or better.
Renfrow sits second in points with a comfortable 11 point advantage on third place Brandon Head. Wesley Johnson runs fourth in points and Austin Farrell is fifth.
The only driver with as many wins as Brown is Rusty Daniels, who has only competed part-time in the KONI Shocks Charger division in 2025. Daniels has three wins, and is poised to clinch the Six Pack Charger Series championship.
Saturday’s championship finale will also feature the third round of the I-95 Showdown for the Ultra Racing Association along with Legends, Any Cars and return visits from the Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club and the Virginia Mini Cup Racing Association. The green flag will fly at 7pm with tickets available online and at the gate on race day.
The race will be available on Ultra Broadcasting, the official streaming provider of Southern National Motorsports Park and the Ultra Racing Association.
Hunter Brown takes the checkered flag at the 2025 season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park. (Andy Marquis photo)
