1970's
Bown made his NASCAR debut in 1972 in the Winston Cup Series. At the age of seventeen, he ran the Winston Western 500 at Riverside International Raceway the #27 Plymouth owned by his father Dick. Bown started 22nd but finished 32nd that day after crashing on lap 88. Bown made 2 more starts in the #27 that year, with his best finish being fourteenth at the second Riverside race.
In 1973, Bown returned to the Winston Cup Series driving his father’s #03 Rose Auto Wrecking sponsored Dodge, finishing in the top-10 for the first time in his career at the Tuborg 400 at Riverside. In 1974, Bown again competed in the three California races on the Winston Cup Series schedule, the two events at Riverside as well as at Ontario Motor Speedway. His best finish was 20th. In 1976, Bown began driving for Gerald Cracker, driving the #01 Lakes Drywall sponsored Chevrolet in four races, and the #03 at Riveside, where he had his best finish. Bown was named the Most Popular Driver of the Year in the NASCAR Winston West Series in 1977. In 1979, Bown drove Jim Testa’s #68 Kings Inn/Kings Mountain Truck Plaza Buick and Boy Scout Special Chevrolet in 7 Winston Cup events. He scored a 7th place finish in the Daytona 500 and a 6th place finish in the Firecracker 400. He drove eleven races for the next two years for different owners, but did not reach the top-ten.
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