9-30-2007 - Talladega preview

Concord NC - Roush Fenway Racing up-and-comer Colin Braun will make his final ARCA RE/MAX Series start of the 2007 at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday, October 6. Braun, along with Roush Fenway teammate and NEXTEL Cup driver, David Ragan, hit the 2.66-mile tri-oval this week to test the No. 99 Ford. "The test went really good," said Braun following Tuesday's test. "It was great having David Ragan there to help me. He showed me what lines to run and explained to me how to stay high on the first lap or two then drop down onto the track to get up to speed. I really enjoyed driving the track; it was cool to run wide-open, never lifting off the throttle."

The 19-year old has two ARCA starts under his belt to date. His series debut came at Gateway in August where he qualified 13th and finished a solid ninth. One week later Braun hit the pavement at Chicagoland where he qualified fifth and finished a career best third after overcoming a pit road penalty that sent him back to 23rd for a re-start. He surfaced in the top 10 within 15 laps and quickly moved to third after that where he remained for the rest of the race.

"Colin has showed a lot of improvement since his very first test with us at the beginning of the summer," said Jeff Campey, crew chief of the No. 99 Ford. "At first we had Colin listen on the radio and watch David make laps at Talladega then we put him in the backup car. He worked on his line and logged a lot of laps. At the end of the day both David and Colin did mock runs, David in the primary and Colin in the backup, then we put Colin in the primary for the last mock run and after we made a few minor adjustments he unofficially logged the fastest lap time of the day. Overall we were pleased with how the test went and I think we've coached him as much as we can about restrictor plate racing. Now he just needs to do it."

This will be Braun's first career restrictor-plate race but he's not worried.

"David worked with me a lot and gave me lots of good tips on how to race at Talladega. I've also talked to Erik Darnell and Travis Kvapil about how to run in the draft and what to expect and they've been helpful as well. It's really great to have such a good bunch of teammates like I have at Roush Fenway.

"Our goals are the same as before, to try and make all the laps and finish the race in one piece. The No. 99 Ford is fast and I think the biggest thing holding me back will be my lack of experience and figuring out how the draft works. My plan is to watch and learn for the first 90 laps and try to gain the respect of the older drivers. Then in the last four or five laps, it will be time to go."

The ARCA RE/MAX Series race will be aired live on SPEED Friday, October 5 at 5:00 p.m. EDT.