MOTOR RACING : Brown Is Car Salesman You Don’t See

When you watch drivers such as Dan Gurney, A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Ivan Stewart in TV commercials, the guy behind the wheel often is Kelly Brown.

A former world top-fuel drag racing champion from Calabasas, Brown is either a stand-in or the main man in scenes that are dangerous or complicated, using techniques and experiences he gained from drag racing to pull them off.

“Racing taught me the concentration level I need to do commercials in high-speed cars,” Brown said. “A stunt driver must be totally focused, with tunnel vision, the same way a top-fuel driver must feel. Racing taught me that.

“I have the same feeling when I’m strapped in a stunt car as I did when I was strapped in a dragster. I have the same butterflies when I’m being strapped in, and when I hear the word action it’s the same as hearing the engines fired up. The butterflies are gone and everything turns to slow motion.

“In drag racing, the light coming on is only a blink to outsiders, but I could actually see the light coming on and getting into focus. That same knack of slowing down motion is just as important in doing a stunt.

“To make a product look perfect every time, you have to know the braking points, speed, acceleration and shifting points. All closely parallel what you need to know in racing.”

Brown made headlines in 1978 when he, engine builder Jim Brissette and chassis builder Mike Drake took a back-yard top-fuel dragster on the National Hot Rod Assn. circuit and won the world championship over Don (Big Daddy) Garlits and Shirley Muldowney.

“I don’t think a low-bucks operation like ours could do it today,” he said. “I was amazed at how far--and how expensive--racing has become when I watched the Winternationals last month at Pomona. I think half an engine today costs more than we made during the entire year in ’78.”

Brissette is still active in drag racing. He was named mechanic of the race last week in the NHRA Ford Nationals at Firebird Raceway for his work on Doug Herbert’s top fueler.

Brown is itching to get back in racing, too, but not as a drag racer. His goal is to drive the fastest piston-driven car in the world. Al Teague set the record at 409.986 m.p.h. Aug. 21 at Bonneville.

“Running at Bonneville is like drag racing was 20 years ago. There’s no pressure, no money to speak of to be won. It’s just having a good time and getting the job done. I drove a modified roadster, using regular gasoline, and got it up to 236 m.p.h. last year.

“I think the technology is there for a 500 m.p.h. run in a piston-driven car, and I’d like to be the first one to do it. I still have those competitive juices from drag racing. When I was running top fuelers, I never felt like the top speed was fast enough. I always wanted to go faster.

“One of the biggest problems in the past has been getting adequate tires that would hold up at those speeds. I think it’s time to switch to aluminum wheel-tire combinations where the tire and the rim are all one unit.

“I know I’m not too old. I’m 49 and (world top-fuel champion) Joe Amato is only two years younger and guys like Snake (Don Prudhomme) and Ace (Ed McCulloch) are older, and they’re still winning (drag races).”

One of Brown’s favorite commercials involved shooting with Lee Trevino in which Brown does a 180-degree slide in a passenger car and stops inches from Trevino’s back.

“Lee never flinched the slightest,” Brown said.

Brown formed Drivers, Inc., several years ago and does 35 to 50 car-oriented commercials a year. He also did much of the driving in the Shirley Muldowney movie, “Heart Like a Wheel,” starring Bonnie Bedelia.

Among the better-known stunts done by Brown are the Budweiser truck commercial in which an 18-wheeler becomes a Bud Jaguar, which was shot at Sebring, Fla., with Jaguar driver Davy Jones; the air bag shot for Chyrsler in which two cars meet head on, which was made at Inyo-Kern airport to allow shooting from different directions without worrying about wires or poles getting in the picture; and one for Mitsubishi in which cars slide back and forth on a skid pad like an automotive ballet.

“We shoot most of the new car commercials in the Northwest or the South because it is usually greener there and the ad agencies want a European look to the background,” Brown said. “One of the most difficult things to do is not jumping off a ramp or hitting someone head on. It’s trying to make a big comfortable passenger car take a sweeping corner at 50 m.p.h., with a 20-foot dropoff on the side of the road, and make it look as smooth as a 20 m.p.h. ride. The one thing you can never do is make the product look bad, even if it’s a shot that won’t be used. You just never do it.”

One thing you won’t do is be able to recognize Brown in one of the shots.

Said Brown: “It’s one thing if you’re Richard Petty plugging Pontiacs or Ivan Stewart in a Toyota truck, but when the same guy does commercials for Mitsubishi, Mazda, Chrysler, Toyota and half a dozen other manufacturers, the last thing he wants is to have his mug associated with any of them.”

Notes

SPRINT CARS--The California Racing Assn.’s traveling show will be at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix Saturday night for the second race of the season. Two-time CRA champion Brad Noffsinger has signed to drive Andy Morales’ championship Tamale Wagon. He replaces four-time CRA champion Ron Shuman, who plans to drive Billy Wilkerson’s sprint car in selected races, including Saturday night, while running in more midget and champion dirt car events.

The winged World of Outlaws cars will run Friday at Manzanita and Saturday at Bakersfield Speedway in Oildale.

STOCK CARS--The second race in the $46,800 Inland Chassis Sportsman Challenge will be held Sunday at Willow Springs along with Vintage Auto Racing Assn. road races.

MIDGETS--Two-time Western States champion Robby Flock heads entries for Saturday night’s first open-wheel race of the season at Imperial Fairgrounds Raceway in El Centro. Wally Pankratz, Frank Pedregon and Arizona champion Jack Yeley also are entered.

DRAG RACING--The Sunoco Race Fuels Shootout, featuring Chevrolets, will open a nationwide series this weekend with a $25,000 race at Bakersfield Raceway. Final eliminations are Sunday. Rob Vandergriff is defending champion.

MISCELLANY--Richard (Rico) Hawkes, former director of operations at Ascot Park, has been named general manager of the Portland (Ore.) Speedway, a NASCAR-sanctioned Winston Racing Series track.