4-30-2007

4-30-2007 - NASCAR draft - Penske takes Colin - All in fun

Welcome to the 2007 NASCAR Draft
By David Smith (04/26/2007)

Yes, I sort of have to credit Mel Kiper for blazing the path for talent scouts and draft experts everywhere. After all, the NFL Draft Expert has a cushy job at ESPN, a booming publication business, and shiny hair that is unparalleled.

Since I started scouting and evaluating race car drivers in 2001, I've quickly realized that Kiper's job is unenviable: keeping track of 1,000+ players every year and putting together a Big Board that is, time and again, eerily accurate on how teams pick. Over the course of those last 5 1/2 years, I've started the website, built relationships with teams, drivers, and race promoters, kept track of nearly 1,000 prospects in the racing world, and have become perpetually sleep deprived. In some ways, it's the best job in the world. On the other hand, well, the fun sometimes gets lost.

PENSKE RACING PICKS:

Colin Braun
Ovalo, TX

PENSKE RACING, without a doubt, would be the team to take on Grand-Am young gun Colin Braun. The 18 year-old sports car racer wants to be in NASCAR but is unproven behind the wheel of a stock car. Penske gambled on Ryan Newman (which worked); however, out of the last three established stock car racers that Penske brought in (Brendan Gaughan, Travis Kvapil, and Kurt Busch), Busch is the only one that has panned out to be a good fit. So why not attempt an unproven racer? Plus, Braun's clean-cut, professional at-track image is the personification of the term "Penske Perfect."