10-17-2007

10-17-2007 - Martinsville Truck preview

Ford Racing - Colin Braun, driver of the No. 50 RSC Rentals Ford F-150, talks about the transition from sports cars to stock car racing. Braun makes his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut Saturday night during the Kroger 200 at Martinsville. He competed in three ARCA races in 2007 with three top-10 finishes.

COLIN BRAUN – No. 50 RSC Rentals Ford F-150 – HOW WAS YOUR FIRST TRUCK THE TEST? “It went really good. We got a chance to take the RSC Rentals Ford down to Caraway (N.C.) and go testing with Travis and Erik , and it went really good. I got the chance to make a lot of laps and got the chance also to pick those guys’ brains for a day on what to do at Martinsville and what to have in the truck to make it competitive. It was a great test for me. I learned quite a bit and just getting the chance to hang around those guys for a day and learn from them was fantastic.”

YOU WILL MAKE YOUR TRUCK DEBUT THIS WEEKEND AT MARTINSVILLE. “I’m really excited after the three ARCA races that we’ve done; I’ve gotten my feet wet a little bit in stock-car racing. I’ve really been enjoying it and learning quite a bit. Obviously, being surrounding by the great people at Roush Fenway Racing makes it a lot easier for me to adjust to racing stock cars. We go from the biggest track at Talladega to the smallest track on the circuit. So it will be a challenge for me to see how well I can adapt to racing short tracks. I’ve never driven a short track before, so I’m very excited about doing that and really looking forward to getting out there and learning as much as I can about short-track racing and driving in the Craftsman Truck Series.”

WHAT ADVICE DID CARL EDWARDS GIVE YOU ABOUT MARTINSVILLE? “Carl has been helping me out quite a bit with advice on how you’ve got to be patient, but you have to be persistent as well. You can’t be pushed around, but you don’t want to step over that line and be a bully and get beat up because you’re trying to be too good too soon. He’s just trying to help me out with being patient and what to expect at Martinsville from the veterans and things like that.”

WHAT IS KEY TO HAVING A SOLID RACE TRUCK? “I think we need a truck that turns good in the center. I know my crew chief, John Quinn, can get that done. We worked really hard with that when we tested at Caraway. Having a truck that turns really good in the center and one that I feel comfortable driving around in by myself. Because I think when you get all those trucks out there with you all nose-to-tail, it’s going to require most of your attention to focus on not crashing into anybody. We just need a solid truck for me to drive all day long and be patient and make our laps the whole day. That’s our goal, and keep all the wheels pointed in the right direction and keep going.”

IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS, YOU’VE RACED IN THREE DIFFERENT SERIES. HOW DO YOU ADJUST FROM ONE TO THE OTHER? “Let’s see, I raced in Talladega in the ARCA race, then to VIR [Virginia International Raceway] in the sports car and now back here in the truck series. It’s certainly all different cars and different driving styles, but I think one of the things I focus on is driving to the limit of the tire. That’s the whole goal. Obviously, you have different race cars, I have a different feel that I get from each race car, but as a race-car driver, the whole goal is to drive that tire right at the limit. If that tire is sliding almost every time you go through a corner, you’ve got to be going pretty darn close to going as fast as you can. That’s what I’ve focused on and like I said, having the great people at Roush Fenway has made it a lot easier for me to adapt back and forth between driving all these different kind of cars.”

WHAT ARE YOU GOALS FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR? “For the rest of the year, I think our short-term goal is Martinsville. We want to make all the laps there and learn as much as I can. I’m going to the rest of the Nextel Cup races and Busch races and hopefully truck races, just to watch and learn and gain the experience that I can listening on the radio and being involved with those guys that make the decisions, changes and adjustments and all that. That’s the whole goal for me, to use the rest of the year as a learning year and see what the program is for next year.”

HOW DOES OBSERVING HELP YOU BE A BETTER RACER? “I think if I can’t be learning inside the truck, it’s better to learn outside of the truck than sitting at home on the couch. If there is a race weekend, I want to be there and learn as much as I can, that’s for sure.”

WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE YOUR TEAMMATES MATT KENSETH, GREG BIFFLE, TRAVIS KVAPIL AND ERIK DARNELL HAVE GIVEN YOU? “I think the biggest thing that those guys have all come around and told me in a round about way is you’ve got four or five races this year in stock cars, and you need to make the most out of all of those races. You’ve got to finish all the laps, even if it means losing a few spots. You definitely need to make all the laps and gain the experience making all the laps. If you go out there and you’re super fast and crash on lap two, you just lost the rest of that race to learn what you need to learn. You need to go out there and make sure you finish all the laps. That’s what we’ve focused on this year. It’s been our goal and we’ve done that so far. Hopefully, we can keep it up.”