MOORESVILLE, N.C. Sixteen-year-old racer Carson Brown is on the fast track.

For the third time in as many months, the resident of New London, N.C., will make a racing debut, this time in the ARCA Menards Series East season opener Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla. Brown will drive the No. 4 ebb Logistics/PayCafe Chevrolet for Hettinger Racing.

Ive known Chris Hettinger for a while and have always been impressed with the racecars he puts together. Weve talked about making this happen, and now we finally did, Brown said. We tested last week and it went really well, and I feel confident in what weve got for Saturday at Five Flags. Its a track where Ive spent a lot of time and have had a good amount of success, and being able to take this next step with Hettinger Racing makes it even better.

Since winning the Allen Turner Pro Late Model championship last year at Five Flags Speedway, Brown has been making an upward climb on the racing ladder. He made his Super Late Model debut Jan. 17 at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway and then scored two Super Late Model wins in the span of six days during the World Series of Asphalt Feb. 7-15 at New Smyrna (Fla.)

Speedway. A week later, Brown was turning left and right on the twists and turns of Sebring (Fla.) Intl Raceway during his first career start in the TA2 division of the Trans Am Series, finishing an impressive eighth in the 39-car field. Now, it is ARCA that beckons, with a 150-lap race around a half-mile paved oval on the southwestern edge of the Florida Panhandle that Brown knows well.

Im really familiar with Five Flags and all of its nuances, so that gives me confidence going back there in an ARCA car, Brown said. The car is different, but I know the track. So if we can get ahead and get the car where it needs to be early in that practice session, then I feel like we can run well. If you practice well, you qualify well, and you race well. We just need to go down there, make the most of our track time, and execute.

Browns racing career began just five years ago in Bandoleros. Twenty-one wins spread across two seasons in 2020-2021 led him to Legend Cars. From 2021 through 2023, Brown tallied eight championships. With dirt experience initially gained in Legend Cars, Brown kept after the craft, running winged and non-winged 600cc Micro Sprint Cars from 2022 through 2024, winning twice in 56 starts.

Brown still kept a foot firmly planted on asphalt, running a Pro Late Model in 2023. He won in just his second start, taking the victory Feb. 12 at New Smyrna in a stout, 31-car field.

Dirt, however, remains an integral part of Browns racing repertoire. He began racing dirt Super Late Models in 2023, winning in his sixth start Aug. 19 at Moler Raceway Park in Williamsburg, Ohio. Brown continues to sling Super Late Models sideways on clay ovals, and if that werent enough, he enjoys getting dirty in off-road trucks, competing in select AMSOIL Championship Off-Road races. Brown ran 13 off-road races in 2024, earning two podiums among nine top-five finishes to end the season fourth in the championship standings.

All the dirt racing helps me adapt to different track conditions and different cars quicker, Brown said. Everything is always changing on dirt, so it forces you to adapt. As Ive moved into bigger cars, especially this year, I feel like Im able to make adjustments faster and take what the car is giving me.

In dirt racing, you get two or three hot laps and then youre right into qualifying. You kind of have to figure it out on the fly. Its allowed me to find ways to help the car even if its not handling the way Id prefer. Thats given me a little bit of an advantage, especially at the beginning of practice and even in the race when everybody is still learning the gist of everything and figuring out how tight or how green the track is.

In five years, Brown has assembled an incredibly diverse racing background. It is what drew Chris Hettinger, owner of Hettinger Racing, to put Brown in his race car.

Carson is a talented young driver, and everything finally lined up for him to be with us this weekend at Five Flags, Hettinger said. What makes Carson stand out is his versatility. Hes won in Pro and Super Late Models, shown speed on road courses, has raced and won on dirt hes fast in anything he drives. That kind of experience is really going to help him as he takes this next step, and were proud that its going to be with Hettinger Racing.