Birthday: August 5, 1971
Hometown: Philidelphia, PA
Browne, who has his masters in mechanical engineering, was promoted to team director of the No. 19 Dodge team to coincide with the arrival of Sadler in August for the final 14 races of the season. The duo got off to a quick start, claiming the team�s first top-10 finish of the season in their first outing together at Michigan. The experience of those races together is expected to play a significant role in a fast start in 2007.
The Sadler-Browne team is encouraged by the fact the No. 19 Dodge ran at the front of the field in four of the last nine races, but failed to turn the performance into quality finishes. The intense Browne is looking to build on a foundation that includes one of the best over-the-wall crews in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, potent power plants from Evernham Engines and communication between driver and team director that has improved with each race together.
Unlike many in the business, Browne didn�t grow up racing. But he was always interested in cars. And his passion for cars is what ultimately lead him into racing.
Browne got into the racing business unintentionally when he was offered a job with Chrysler Corporation shortly after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Penn., with a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked as an engineer in racecar and passenger car vehicle dynamics and simulation while studying at Oakland University pursuing his masters in mechanical engineering.
Wanting to do something different, Browne moved to a more racing-oriented position at Chrysler after finishing graduate school. He became lead engineer, supporting Pac West Racing (teams of well-known racers Dominic Dobson and David Donohue) and Reynard Racing Cars, in the North American Touring Car series. It was through the connections he would make with Dobson and Donohue that he ended up in the NASCAR world.
In 1997, Browne met Roger Penske while working on the North American Touring Car series. At the time, NASCAR was just starting to see the value of having engineers on their race teams. Browne left Chrysler for Penske Racing in 1998, moved to the Charlotte area from Detroit and spent two years working as a simulation engineer for both the No. 2 and No. 12 teams of Rusty Wallace and Jeremy Mayfield.
Browne then spent the next two years as a consultant race engineer/driver coach for teams in the Barber Dodge Pro-Series and the Speed World Challenge Touring Car and GT Series, before heading back to North Carolina to take a position with Evernham Motorsports managing Dodge�s Research and Development program in 2002.
During the 2003 and 2004 seasons, Browne teamed with Kenny Francis as the race engineer on the No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge team. In 2005 he was promoted to Director of Vehicle Dynamics for Evernham Motorsports, traveling periodically and working with all of Evernham Motorsports� race teams. He was serving as head engineer on the No. 9 Dodge team in 2005 when Kasey Kahne got his first win at Richmond.