7-2005 - Colin is National Speed Sport News Rising Star

National Speed Sport News
Rising Stars: Colin Braun

June 1, 2005 - By Rocky Entriken 

When you come right down to it, the way a 16-year-old kid gains respect from his racing peers is the same way a 26-year-old would -- by racing smart and producing results. The difference is the older driver is expected to, while the teenager isn't.

So when Colin Braun and his equally age-16 teammates Adrian Carrio and Brad Coleman finished seventh in class at the 24 hours of Daytona -- out of 35 cars -- their elder peers looked on in amazement and awe, and perhaps smiling approval.

Turns out these weren't just a bunch of kids turned loose with newly minted driver's licenses. It was more like a trio of high school honor students prepping for their SATs in hopes of a Harvard scholarship. That is, they studied.

"Our dads said wouldn't it be cool to do Daytona, so we gathered all of our resources and went out and did it," Braun said of the formation of Team 16 to drive a Porsche GT3 Cup car in the 24-hour classic.

None of the trio had ever driven anything longer than a 45-minute sprint, had never raced a production-based car or shared the track with faster-class cars. None had ever raced at night or even used an H-pattern shifter. There was much to learn. The first step was to get with Speed Secrets, veteran Ross Bentley's driver coaching program.

"Ross and Speed Secrets taught us what it takes to be a good sedan driver, to go for 24 hours and resist the urge to go fast all the time," Braun said. "It was an absolutely great learning experience for me. Having the Speed Secrets guys there made the difference. If I'd just gone there alone I'd have been lost.

"When we all started, we sat down and said, 'What are our goals going to be?' We came to the consensus if we can just finish the race," added Braun. There were those who predicted the teens would never get far enough to turn on their headlights.

"With that in mind, they set out a program for us. We worked on that for three months."

All three had grown up from karts and junior formulas using sequential gearboxes. Bentley not only had to teach them about an H-pattern shifter, he drilled them on what to do if they lost a gear, having them practice without using this gear or that. It paid off -- the team lost fifth gear (out of six) in the race but continued on with confidence. Each of the four, Bentley included, drove about six hours.

Braun's father, Jeff, was a race-car engineer who had worked with Team Scandia.

"He drove a little when he was younger, then he discovered how much passion he had for being an engineer," Colin Braun said. "He's done some sports car stuff, ChampCar stuff, he's done Daytona 16 times, Sebring, Le Mans."

Braun started out in quarter midgets at age five, and a couple of years later was in karts. Twice he was a Grand National champion, which got him invited to races at Monaco and in Japan.

"I got the invite to race for the Biesse factory (in Monaco). Wow, it was so neat to race such an historic place. They used the pit lane, then Rascasse and those corners. We didn't go through Casino. It's amazing how small and close the walls are, small even for a go-kart."

In 2003 Braun became the youngest driver ever to win a professional U.S. car race at age 14 -- eight wins, actually, on the way to becoming the Fran-Am 1600 champion. The next year he won the Formula TR series, again with eight victories.

Now he is working on deals that could have him in a full-time ride for next season either in a Grand Am Daytona Prototype or an ARCA stock car.

"My dream," he said, "I want to be a paid professional race car driver -- the next Tony Stewart or Robby Gordon who can get in any car and go fast. Any chance I get I'll jump at."