After working for NASCAR Xfinity Series team Brandonbilt Motorsports as technical director, Collin Fern will become a team owner in 2023. FRS Racing‘s #96 Chevrolet Camaro will make its début at Richmond Raceway on 1 April, though the team has not immediately announced a driver.
According to the tentative schedule listed on their website as of this article’s publishing, the team hopes to run eight races in 2023. After Richmond, the #96’s next stop will be Charlotte Motor Speedway on 27 May, followed by Pocono Raceway (22 July), Michigan International Speedway (5 August), Watkins Glen International (19 August), Bristol Motor Speedway (15 September), Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval (7 October), and Martinsville Speedway (28 October).
“FRS Racing is the culmination of an entire offseason’s worth of hard work trying to build a brand from scratch,” said Fern. The team name stands for Fern-Ring-Sherman, with the latter two referring to his mother Catherine Ring and stepfather Will Sherman. “I am extremely excited for this opportunity, and I cannot thank Jerry Brown (Brandonbilt owner) and David Clarke (general manager) enough for their visions and belief in me to carry on what theyve built. I look forward to being on track part-time in 2023, with the hope that we can be full-time come the 2024 season.”
Fern had worked for Brandonbilt since 2016, spending four years as the marketing and public relations manager before being elevated to technical director in 2020. In their second year with Fern’s technical guidance, Brandonbilt won the Talladega fall race with Brandon Brown. Since then, however, the team’s future has been in flux due to a lack of sponsorship that forced Brown out of the #68 despite being Jerry Brown’s son.
Like Brandonbilt, FRS will have a technical partnership with Richard Childress Racing and use Earnhardt Childress Racing (ECR) engines.