7-11-2006 - Birmingham News story on Colin testing at Barber

Youthful exuberance

When Colin Braun came to Barber Motorsports Park to test a Daytona Prototype sports car last year, he garnered a lot of attention because he was only 16, and his co-driver, Brad Coleman, was only 17.

At Monday's test session at Barber, Braun was again the focus of attention, because he'll enter the July 28 weekend of Grand American competition with another youth-related title: Youngest driver ever to win a Daytona Prototype race. The lanky Texan and co-driver Jorg Bergmeister took the checkered flag at the Porsche 250 in Daytona on June 29.

After winning the latest race on the schedule, Braun was understandably upbeat Monday morning.

"It's been very good for us lately," he said. "My teammate and Boris Said won at Watkins Glen. We went to Mid-Ohio and qualified on the pole there and finished second. We went to Daytona, started second and won the race, so we've been on a pretty good roll."

Only conflicts with a tobacco sponsorship kept Braun from being co-leader of the points race with Bergmeister. Phillip Morris sponsors the Indy Racing League entries of Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves. Part of that sponsorship deal stipulates that no drivers under the age of 18 can race in any events at the same track on the same weekend that IRL races.

In an unlucky twist for Braun, Grand American and IRL share three race weekends on their calendars - the March 25 race at Homestead-Miami, the June 3 race at Watkins Glen, and the Aug. 26 race at Infineon Raceway. That means Braun has missed two races and will miss a third.

Even after missing two races, Braun ranks fifth in the points standings, 58 behind Bergmeister.

Braun's Krohn Racing team used the test session at Barber on Monday to experiment on their No. 76 Ford Riley.

"We have a lot of things we'd like to try on the cars, but we've never had a chance to because we were always trying to make the cars quicker for the weekend. This is the time that we can try a bunch of those things," he said.

Bergmeister gave his teammate credit for knowing what to do behind the wheel. "He has a lot of experience already, even at that age. He drove a lot of open-wheel and other types of sports cars, so he's doing great," Bergmeister said.

Although Bergmeister is in line to win his first Daytona Prototype championship, Bergmeister and Braun don't plan to drive conservatively in order to protect Bergmeister's 31-point lead over Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz.

"You have to go for the checker," Bergmeister said. "If there's a chance to win, we're going to try to win. On one side, you have to play it a little safe and not risk too much, but if there's a chance for a win, you have to take it."