8-11-2006 - Braun to make Glen Debut

Braun to make Glen debut

BY CHRIS GILL
Published: Friday, August 11, 2006 12:04 AM CDT
 

The last time Colin Braun was at Watkins Glen International, his driver suit stayed in the Krohn Racing hauler while his teammate Jorg Bergmeister and co-driver Boris Said cruised to victory in the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen. Thursday, the 17-year-old Braun laid down some of the quickest laps of the morning practice session and will get to compete in today's Crown Royal 200.
No talk of lawsuits, no canceled track time and no wet stuff.

“Nobody is suing each other, it's not raining yet, so it's been nice,” Braun's team owner Tracy Krohn said with a laugh.

In June, Braun was at the center of a contentious battle spurred by the national tobacco settlement, pitting Krohn in one corner against WGI, International Speedway Corp., Roger Penske and Philip Morris in the other. As per the rules of the settlement: Since Braun was underage, he could not compete during a race weekend where tobacco sponsorship was prevalent. Marlboro cigarettes has its logo on Penske's IndyCars, which headlined the June event weekend.

Similar circumstances kept Braun out of the Daytona Prototype at Homestead in March.

Officials from WGI said Braun could not race, a lawsuit was brought up by Krohn and ultimately there was a mysterious settlement that put Said in the car with Bergmeister, who teamed up to win that race.

“Definitely better circumstances. The Krohn Racing guys and Tracy Krohn tried real hard to get me to race, but it just didn't happen. Much better circumstances,” said Braun, comparing his last visit to this weekend's. “That's made the whole situation easier for me. Tracy and the Krohn Racing guys worked so hard on the whole situation and I can't ask anything more than that.”

No cigarette or chewing tobacco makers sponsor cars in the Nextel Cup or Busch series these days and since Braun has been emancipated, he doesn't fall under WGI's rule of “no racers below the age of 18.”

He can and will race today, and if the last four weeks are any indication, he might be one of the favorites.

Krohn Racing's No. 76 Ford-powered Riley Daytona Prototype has won three of the last four Rolex Series events, including the six-hour enduro, and a victory today would give points leader Bergmeister a hat trick. Braun, a mild-mannered kid from Texas has proven as fast as frontrunners like Max Angelelli or Scott Pruett, became the youngest pole winner in professional sports car racing history in Birmingham, Ala. two weeks ago and Thursday qualified the car in fifth position.

“We definitely are one of the cars to watch out for, hopefully we can keep that streak going here. We're sure we can,” Braun said.

“The team has just been outstanding. We started to gel after the third race of the season, for both cars,” said Krohn, who co-drove to a six-hour win here in 2005. “We've finally gotten a read on what the cars are going to be able to do early on in the sessions, and that's helped us a great deal.”

And that might make a star out of Braun.

NOTE | Krohn is being profiled by Forbes magazine at The Glen this weekend, with a writer and photographer following him everywhere but the restroom. In 2005, Krohn ranked 320th on Forbes' “Richest Americans” list and is 512th in the world. He says simply, “In my other life, I'm in the treasure-hunting business in the Gulf of Mexico.” Krohn is a native of Houston, Texas and is the CEO of W&T Offshore Inc.