5-25-2003 - Fran Am 1600 race - Willow Springs CA

Friday May 23 - 2003

Today we had 7 on track sessions of practice.  Things went well and Colin had a chance to learn the very fast 2.5 mile track.

We used tires that the Quantum Autosports team threw away.  Colin has only had 1 set of new tires in his car career.  At $700/set the car owner is tight on giving him new tires.

The car worked well and we made some small changes to adapt the car to the fast long turns of Willow Springs.

Top speed here is only 122 MPH, but there is a 115 MPH turn and the average speed for a lap is 77 MPH.

By the end of the day we were happy with the set up and Colin was in the top 3 in the 9 car field.

Qualifying and a race are on tap for Saturday and then a second qualifying and race on Sunday.

Saturday May 24 - 2003

At 8:00am we had a warm up.  Still on the old tires Colin was 2nd quick in the warm up.

We made a small wing change for qualifying and Colin got a new set of tires.

After a few warm up laps Colin went for it and put the car on the pole position by .6 seconds.  Colin's 2nd and 3rd lap were also good enough for the pole.

The race would be 21 laps, so we started with a full tank of fuel (we need the weight for the minimum weight rule).

From the pole Colin led into turn one.  The next 5 laps were a train with Colin leading and Darryl O' Young 2nd and John Knudsen in 3rd.

Darryl got past Colin on lap 6 into turn 1.  4 laps later Colin drafted by him into the fast turn 8.

At mid race Brian Frissele made it a 4 car battle.  The 4 cars swapped positions for the next 5 laps with Colin as far back as 4th.  With 8 laps to go Colin was back to 2nd right on the gearbox of Frissele.  He had been pressuring him for a lap and Brian made a mistake and spun on the exit of turn 4.  Colin just missed the spinning car, but Darryl and John spun to avoid, giving Colin an 8 second lead. 

With the big lead Colin reeled off the last 6 laps to take the victory.

The win made Colin the youngest driver in US history to win a professional open wheel race.

With the pole position and the victory he collects $2,200, or he thinks he collects it.

It goes right into the racing budget and is already used completely up!

For Sunday we have made some changes to make the car better in the high speed turns.

We have a warm up before qualifying (and another new set of tires). 

Travis has really stepped up with the car and is now completely in charge of tires, fuel and data.

It was kind of nice to win this one against all the teams with 18 wheelers and professional race teams with all the equipment and experts.

We are the only "family" team in this series.

The team has worked very hard to make the transition from karts to cars with all the testing and preparation.  In addition the help of Ross Bentley at Speed Secrets and the Quantum Autosports guys.  Coello Racing continues to be a big supporter of the team as well as the great paint work done by Tyrone Johnson (we got many comments on the paint job).

Sunday May 25th - 2003

We made some overnight changes to make the car better in the high speed turns 9 and 2.  These were the spots we were getting beat in on Saturday.

In the warm up Colin was .1 seconds quicker than his pole time from Saturday, and this on tires with 30 laps on them - the car was much better!

In qualifying we went 1:22.01.  This was .6 seconds faster than our pole from Saturday and ended up 1.2 seconds faster than 2nd place.

We changed nothing for the race and Colin started from the pole with 2 Fran Am 2000 cars ahead.  These cars have 60 more HP and bigger tires.

On the start Colin got the jump and followed the 2000cc cars for the first lap.  By lap 3 Colin had a 2 second gap and was having problems with one of the 2000 cars holding him up.

The 2000 driver soon realized he was holding up the first place 1600 car and let Colin through.  By this time Colin had stretched the lead to about 5 seconds.

By lap 11 (1/2 way), Colin was pulling away by .5 seconds per lap and just had to not make a mistake.  Lapped traffic was a factor as he started to catch the tail end of the pack on the long 2.5 mile track.

Colin was able to get through the traffic better than the 2nd place driver Brian Frissele and soon the gap was 9 seconds.  Colin then just reeled off the last few laps to take the victory.  He also set fastest race lap by .6 seconds.  With pole, race win and fastest lap it gave the team a "perfect" day, and another $2,400.

Here the president of Fran Am, Arden Weatherford, presents Colin with the first place trophy.

Colin was able to take the opportunity of the podium speech to dedicate the race to our good friend Jordan Johnson who was injured in a karting accident on Saturday.  Jordan and his father, Tyrone are a part of Colin's success here this weekend as Tyrone painted our car just weeks ago.

Jordan will be fine after some recovery time, we all just want him to get back to racing soon and continue his domination of the Jr. Sportsman class in America.

Colin also thanked Bell Helmets and Stand 21 for the finest in safety equipment. 

This is how the Fran Am web site told the story:

FRAN AM 1600 USA WEST DOUBLEHEADER WEEKEND SHOWCASES YOUTH
				YOUNG TALENT DOMINATES WEEKEND RACES

In Round Two of the Fran Am 1600 USA West Pro Series, 14 year-old Colin Braun (USA) of Ovalo, TX, won his first ever formula car race for Team Speed Secrets. Series veteran John Knudsen (USA) finished in the 2nd spot with fifteen year-old Brandon Coleman (USA) of Houston, TX, finishing 3rd for the second time in as many outings.   38 COLIN BRAUN IN TECH Braun impressed all observers by snagging the pole while series points leader Darryl O'Young (CAN) of CT Motorsports started second with Knudsen Racing's Brian Frisselle (USA) qualifying third. At the start, Braun led the pack into the first turn and would hold onto first place until the 5th lap when O'Young made his move and took the lead. Soon after, Knudsen also passed Braun sending the rookie back to third. A fierce battle for the lead had O'Young, Knudsen, Braun and Frisselle switching positions on nearly every lap. Although Frisselle, who qualified fourth, eventually took the lead and set the fastest race lap, a late race spin dropped him to sixth. His spin also caused a chain reaction as O'Young and Knudsen both spun to avoid him, handing Braun the lead. The rookie didn’t look back as he drove to victory in his first-ever formula car race. Knudsen recovered from his late spin to claim second place and 15-year-old Brad Coleman of Worldspeed Motorsports rounded out the top three with his second podium finish in as many races. O'Young finished fourth while Fran-Am rookie, Garrett Zine of Knudsen Racing battled hard from his eighth place qualifying position to finish fifth in his first formula car race. After the race, Knudsen offered this testament to the young drivers' abilities: "This was without a doubt the best race in Fran-Am 1600 so far. The competition this weekend with the new young drivers was nothing but the best professionalism in formula car racing I've been a part of in 10 years. Side by side, wheel to wheel, nose to tail racing is what is going to make this year extremely competitive and exciting. My helmet's off to Fran-Am, great job!" “This was an incredibly exciting race,” said Steve Henry, Race Director for the USA West series. “Braun's victory just proved how unbelievably talented these young kids are. They have had very little trouble making the transition from karting to Fran-Am and have shown themselves to be capable and knowledgeable racers.” Braun's enthusiasm for the race and the series was evident after the race: "The race was great, I really had a good time. It was fun racing wheel to wheel with four cars. I have raced that close in karts before but never thought that would be possible in a car. I'm so happy to win my first ever car race, especially since I am only 14. I know I have a lot to learn but it was great to win this weekend. It definitely took every Speed Secret I learned at the Speed Secret camp to pull this one off. It was a real pleasure working with such a professional staff at the Fran-Am West Coast race this weekend, they have been very nice."   ROUND TWO RACE - OFFICIAL RESULTS POS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   CAR 38 2 33 1 17 4 7 8   DRIVER COLIN BRAUN JOHN KNUDSEN BRAD COLEMAN DARRYL O'YOUNG PETER NOSLER GARRETT ZINE BRIAN FRISSELLE KEN LEE TEAM TEAM SPEED SECRETS KNUDSEN RACING WORLD SPEED MOTORSPORTS CT MOTORSPORTS PORTER RACING KNUDSEN RACING KNUDSEN RACING CT MOTORSPORTS LAPS 22 22 22 22 21 21 15 3   FASTEST 1:24.678 1:24.618 1:25.723 1:24.612 1:27.575 1:28.765 1:24.377 1:48.092     It didn't take long for Braun to earn his second victory as he won Sunday's race; likewise, Coleman again took the 3rd spot on the podium. After his third podium finish in as many races, Coleman said: "The second Fran-Am west coast race weekend at Willow Springs was a fast and exciting event. The track known as the fastest road in the west lived up to its name and provided great challenges for all of our drivers. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my fellow drivers in this great series." Finishing 2nd in Sunday's race was Knudsen Racing's Brian Frisselle (USA) of Hawaii. After the race Frisselle reflected upon his weekend: "Having never raced go-karts, the experience gained in Fran-Am is very important. I was trained in the Skip Barber system just over a year ago and have only raced their RT2000 car. Learning the Fran-Am car has not only been fun but very important in progressing my career. Having never tested the car before AMP, I was forced to learn a new car, a new track and how to left foot brake all at the same time. I felt I progressed well at AMP but did not feel truly comfortable with the car until Willow Springs. I love the car and the performance it provides. I feel I still have some to learn, but I have many races to go." After holding a narrow 2 point lead in the points chase after Round Two, O'Young's second 4th place finish of the weekend would actually end up extending his lead after three rounds to 5 points due to Knudsen's DNF in Round Three.   ROUND THREE PODIUM FINISHERS FRISSELLE, BRAUN AND COLEMAN   ROUND THREE RACE - OFFICIAL RESULTS POS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8   CAR 38 7 33 1 4 17 8 2   DRIVER COLIN BRAUN BRIAN FRISSELLE BRAD COLEMAN DARRYL O'YOUNG GARRETT ZINE PETER NOSLER KEN LEE JOHN KNUDSEN TEAM TEAM SPEED SECRETS KNUDSEN RACING WORLD SPEED MOTORSPORTS CT MOTORSPORTS KNUDSEN RACING PORTER RACING CT MOTORSPORTS KNUDSEN RACING LAPS 22 22 22 22 22 21 20 6   FASTEST 1:23.793 1:24.356 1:24.555 1:24.342 1:25.789 1:26.900 1:29.109 1:24.483     Top Five Points Leaders after Three Rounds: Darryl O'Young (CAN) - 80 pts Brad Coleman (USA) - 75 pts Colin Braun (USA) – 70 pts Brian Frisselle (USA) – 70 pts John Knudsen (USA) – 56 pts Next up for the Fran Am 1600 USA West Pro Series is a doubleheader race weekend June 28th and 29th at Sears Point.