UNC Charlotte brothers restore Ricky Bobby’s Wonderbread Car, applying business and engineering expertise
Story by Alex Reynolds, Video by J.D. Angel and Harrison Hieb, Photos by Ryan Honeyman and courtesy of The Garage Shop
The Wonderbread Car from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby is back in racing shape for the first time in two decades thanks to two brothers, an engineer and a controller, both enrolled at UNC Charlotte.
Spencer Brown ’19, currently in the master's program in electromechanical engineering, and Tony Brown, a doctoral candidate in business administration, run The Garage Shop, a race car fabrication company based in Newton, North Carolina. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame, a repeat client of The Garage Shop, tasked the brothers with restoring the car so it could be displayed at Talladega Superspeedway during the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500.
Restoring a Hollywood car isn’t the most technically challenging job the brothers have taken on but the impact was unmistakable.
“We work on a lot of cool stuff here so I didn't think it was that big a deal. But man, this thing blew up. Everyone asks, ‘Is that the real Ricky Bobby car?!’”
Spencer Brown '19
A cabinet in the lobby is full of toy cars, each representing a real race car restored by The Garage Shop.
Parallel tracks
Spencer Brown '19, lead engineer at The Garage Shop
Motorsports is in Brown’s blood. The family’s next door neighbor in Catawba, North Carolina, was NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Isaacs. From a young age, Spencer remembers doing light mechanical work with his dad, Aaron Brown, who built race cars for 30 years before founding The Garage Shop in 2011.
“They would put me to work: I cleaned the haulers, cleaned toolboxes and cleaned pit carts,” Spencer Brown said. “That’s what I did growing up; it wasn't really quite normal, but it was fun.”
Spencer worked in the business beginning at 16. He went on to work as a mechanic for NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and ARCA teams for the better part of a decade. At 25, he realized he wanted a change.
He enrolled at UNC Charlotte in 2016 while working for his father at The Garage Shop and earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in just three years.
“I was able to take all my mechanical, on-the-road and set-up knowledge, and apply it to the engineering base,” Spencer said.
Furthest to the right, Spencer Brown, at UNC Charlotte Commencement Fall 2019
Tony Brown, DBA candidate and controller at The Garage Shop
Tony’s experience was different from his brother’s. In seventh grade, he moved overseas with their mother, an IAEA nuclear inspector. They first lived in Finland, then Germany, before moving to Austria, where he finished high school.
A rugby player in high school, Tony competed for the Austrian Under-18 National Team, which gave him a few scars and an unforgettable trip to Budapest, Hungary, for an international tournament.
“It was definitely a unique experience that still has an effect on me,” Tony said. “It really allowed me to be exposed to so many different cultures and ways of thinking, and to see how differently people approach things.”
Tony moved back to North Carolina in 2017 and enrolled at Queens University of Charlotte to earn a bachelor's degree in business administration. He followed with an MBA from Queens in 2021. In 2024, he enrolled in UNC Charlotte's DBA program, which he believes is the best in the country, where he learned from DBA Director and Distinguished Professor of Management Franz Kellermanns.
“All of my professors have been phenomenal and deeply invested in the program,” Tony said. “When you come into a class, it's very involved. It's not a sit-down-and-get-lectured environment.”
Tony (left), Aaron (center) and Spencer Brown (right) at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah
Meeting in the middle, taking over the shop
Tony and Spencer Brown at their shared desk at The Garage Shop
During their years apart, in an era before FaceTime, the Brown brothers stayed connected through video games. When Tony returned stateside, he began working at The Garage Shop with Spencer and their father, first as a part-time mechanic, a stint that was short-lived.
“Long story short, that’s when we found out I’m not a mechanically inclined person,” Tony said.
But with degrees in hand, the brothers figured out they could lean into their strengths to push The Garage Shop forward. Tony became more involved in the shop’s business aspects, overseeing finances, payroll and process improvements. Spencer took on engineering-heavy projects, allowing The Garage Shop to evolve beyond mechanical restorations toward more complex fabrication work.
The stereotype is that the engineering and financial sides of a business like The Garage Shop are constantly at odds. A natural push and pull between required repairs and budget constraints – compounded by two competitive brothers at the center – could be a recipe for sibling bickering. But both brothers agree it has worked out for the best.
“Our different perspectives give us a bigger picture on projects, which makes it really great,” Tony said.
Spencer (left), Aaron (center) and Tony Brown (right) inside The Garage Shop
Two years ago, their father experienced health issues that forced him to step back from the business. This was a turning point for the brothers' relationship and The Garage Shop. Until that point, the most senior Brown had the final say on all projects, a void the brothers had to fill.
They agreed to split responsibilities evenly. Spencer, now the shop's lead engineer, manages projects and garage operations, while Tony, the shop's controller, handles the business’s finances. Together, they are ushering in a new era for The Garage Shop in a recently opened 15,000-square-foot facility.
“I think it's made our bond stronger and I can’t imagine I could do it with anybody else,” Spencer said.
If you ain’t first you’re last
Will Ferrell's seat in the Wonderbread car from Talladega Nights with original markings from the making of the film
The Ricky Bobby Wonderbread car from Talladega Nights was a project commissioned by the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in Talladega, Alabama. One of two original Wonderbread cars used during the filming of the movie, it includes authentic features such as camera mounts and a note from Will Ferrell.
The car was a "mess" when it arrived at the shop. It had been sitting at the Hall of Fame for 20 years. It wouldn't start, the roof was damaged and someone had stolen the original shifter knob. Compared with previous projects, it wasn't revolutionary. But being able to work on a car that is such a memorable part of so many people's childhoods was special.
“It's truly an original and I'm excited to preserve it for another 20 years,” Spencer said.