8-6-2005 - Colin youngest ever Daytona Prototype driver

McDowell, Braun And Coleman Lead Record-Setting Rolex Series Youth Movement At The Porsche 250

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (August 6, 2005) -- A trio of record-setting performances at last weekend's Porsche 250 Presented by Bradley Arant at Barber Motorsports Park by three of the brightest young American talents in motorsports has served notice that a high-speed youth movement is afoot in the premier Daytona Prototype division in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series.

Finlay Motorsports hot-shoe Michael McDowell and Team 16 teenage co-drivers Colin Braun and Brad Coleman all played a role in rewriting the Grand American Rolex Series record book in the Porsche 250.

McDowell, already a front-of-the-pack contender at the age of 20, became the youngest Daytona Prototype driver in history to record a top-three podium finish when he co-drove to second place in the No. 19 Air Force Reserve/Make-A-Wish BMW Riley with Memo Gidley. Braun, 16, in turn became the youngest driver in history to start a Rolex Series race in the Daytona Prototype category when he took the green flag in the Team 16 No. 5 Ford Crawford. He later turned the race car over to his 17-year-old teammate Coleman which gave the teenage duo the added honor of being the youngest teammates to ever drive a Daytona Prototype in a race.

"The competition in the Rolex Sports Car Series is getting more and more intense at every race and these talented young men proved in the Porsche 250 that a great deal of sports car racing's next generation of star talent is coming from the Daytona Prototype category," said Grand American President Roger Edmondson. "I wouldn't be surprised to see Michael McDowell win a race this year and the skill both Brad Coleman and Colin Braun have demonstrated bodes well for some podium finishes and victories for them in the years to come."

While McDowell earned his first experience in a Rolex Series victory lane, the teenage duo of Braun and Coleman made history just by starting the race. Joined by then co-driver Adrian Carrio last February in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the three 16-year-olds (Coleman turned 17 later in February) first made history as the youngest drivers to compete in the Rolex Series when they finished the grueling race in a GT class Porsche GT3. Stepping up to the top-level Daytona Prototype division represented a new challenge for Braun and Coleman, however, but the young guns quickly proved they were up to it.

Braun qualified the Essex Racing prepared Ford Crawford Ford in 15th place, just behind sports car legend Hurley Haywood and a spot ahead of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Champion Bobby Labonte. At the start, Braun took the race car to seventh place before losing the nose in one contact incident and later being tapped into a spin. The car stalled and the team lost several laps, but the pair never gave up, and brought the Ford Crawford home in 13th place.

"The race went very well," Braun said. "We started in 15th and worked our way up to seventh. When I was in seventh I unfortunately got tapped from behind and spun in the hairpin. It put us down a few laps and then Brad got in the car and did a good job to get us back up to 13th. Our main goal was to finish the whole race and gain the experience and learn as much as we could, and the team feels like we exceeded those expectations."

The Team 16 duo plans to return to Daytona Prototype action for the VIR 400 at Virginia International Raceway in October.