Tim Brewer

NASCAR Analyst  

Tim Brewer

Tim Brewer, one of the most successful crew chiefs in NASCAR history with 53 wins, 55 poles and two NASCAR Cup Series championships, joined ESPN in 2007 as a NASCAR analyst. 

Brewer worked with some of the greatest drivers ever in NASCAR, including three-time NASCAR champion Cale Yarborough, the only driver to win three consecutive championships from 1976-78; three-time NASCAR champion Darrell Waltrip; and 1988 NASCAR champion Bill Elliott. 

Additionally, Brewer worked with drivers Bobby and Terry Labonte, Geoffrey Bodine, Mike Wallace, Neil Bonnett, Tim Richmond, Davey Allison, Sterling Marlin and John Andretti, among others.   

A native of the Winston-Salem, N.C., area, Brewer started his racing career in 1969 at the age of 14 with local driver Ernie Shaw at Winston-Salem’s Bowman Gray Stadium. In 1973, at the age of 18, Brewer became one of the youngest crew chiefs in NASCAR history when he joined the Cup Series team of Winston-Salem driver Richard Childress and served for five years.  

Brewer’s glory years in NASCAR came with the storied Junior Johnson organization, which he was part of for 12 years, beginning in November 1977. As crew chief, he led Yarborough to the 1978 NASCAR title and finished a close second in 1980. With driver Waltrip, Brewer won a second Cup title in 1981 as the team won 12 races, including four straight. He left the Johnson team in December 1981 to join Cale Yarborough at M.C. Anderson Racing but returned to Junior Johnson two years later. In 1992 Brewer had another strong season with driver Elliott that included another four consecutive race wins and a close runner-up points finish. 

From 1999-2001, Brewer worked in research and development for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team Ultra Motorsports and driver Mike Wallace, where the team drove to four wins and earned 30 top-10 finishes. 

Brewer’s career also includes starting several successful NASCAR teams including BlueMax Racing, for which Richmond won races, Bill Davis Racing with driver Bobby Labonte (remains active), a second Junior Johnson team with Sterling Marlin as driver and the former Kranefuss-Haas Racing with John Andretti behind the wheel (now part of Penske Racing). 

Brewer most recently worked as a racing consultant after leaving the Morgan-McClure team in July 2005.

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