9-8-2007 - Colin 3rd in Chicago ARCA race

Joliet, Ill.(September 8, 2007) – In just his second career ARCA RE/MAX Series start, Colin Braun was once again impressive.  Braun qualified fifth but had to dodge three on-track incidents and come back from a pit road penalty to finish third.  An outstanding showing for the Ovalo, Texas native.

The ARCA RE/MAX Series blew into the “Windy City” on Friday for practice and qualifying at Chicagoland Speedway.  The No. 99 Ford was good off the truck but not great in practice.  Braun navigated the 1.5-mile oval in 30.823 seconds during his qualifying lap placing him fifth for the start of Saturday’s 134-lap race while fellow Rolex competitor Michael McDowell took the pole with a fast lap time of 30.540 seconds.  Following qualifying, Braun and company were confident heading into Saturday’s race but Braun knew he still had a tough road ahead of him.

As the field circled the track during the parade laps spotter Eric Peterson summed up the goals for Braun and the No. 99 team stating, “Same plan as last week Colin.  Finish all the laps and learn as much as you can.”  Braun followed up with a big “10:4” and it was off to the races.  The green flag waved over the 40-car field and the No. 2 of McDowell jumped into the lead while Braun settled into sixth.  Braun quickly set himself up to pass two cars on lap eight moving into the fourth position in time for the first of 10 cautions on lap 10.  The field resumed green on lap 19 and Braun continued to run a steady pace in fourth.

The field was navigating through lapped traffic on lap 25 and just as Braun passed the No. 34 of Darrell Basham, Basham’s right front tire blew sending him into the No. 22 and collecting the No. 31.  Braun dodged his first bullet of the day but not the last.  ARCA brought the field to a stop in turn one as they worked to repair damage to the turn one wall.  While under red, Braun reported that the No. 99 Ford was tight in the center of the corners so crew chief Jeff Campey planned for a track bar adjustment to assist him with the handling problem.

The field re-started after 20 minutes and on lap 28 Braun came down pit road for the first time.  The No. 99 team changed four tires, re-fueled and made a track bar adjustments but when the front tire carrier came off the pit wall too early, the team was assessed a pit road penalty.  Braun sat in pit stall number 17 while car after car went by until he was released back onto the track in the 17th starting position for the green flag on lap 32.  Braun was bogged down in traffic but he didn’t let that slow him down.  The No. 99 Ford dropped to the 23rd position for several laps then Braun began his charge to the front.  By lap 40 he was 20th, on lap 47 he was 14th and by lap 61 he had broke back into the top 10.

Braun was still reporting a tight handling car when he came in for a much smoother second pit stop.  Under caution the team once again took tires, fuel and made a track bar and air pressure adjustment.  Braun returned to competition in seventh for the re-start on lap 79 and quickly began chasing down the leaders.  On lap 99 the No. 47 drove into the No. 99 taking himself out but leaving the No. 99 Ford virtually unscathed.  Braun returned to the pits for the final time taking on four tires and fuel and returning to the track in 12th for the re-start. 

With only one lap on the boards, the field once again went under caution.  This time for the No. 11 driving across the right front of the No. 99 Ford.  The accident pushed the right front fender in on the No. 99 Ford but it was determined that there was no reason to pit so Braun remained on track for the remaining laps. 
 

Braun began moving his way to the front of the field breaking into the top-five on lap 121 where he would remain for the closing laps.  The final caution of the race waved on lap 123 for an incident in turn two and both Campey and Peterson coached Braun how to protect his fifth place position on the re-start.  The field went green on lap 128 and Braun immediately jumped two positions to third before he took the checkered flag behind McDowell and Justin Marks in first and second respectively.

“This was a lot of fun,” said Braun following the race.  “Erik Darnell has helped me a lot at the tests and I’ve been getting help from Mike Beam (crew chief on the No. 6 K&N F-150) and Travis Kvapil as well and it really helped me today.  The No. 99 Ford Fusion ran really well.  My crew chief Jeff (Campey) made great calls on pit road and the team really came back and had good pit stops after the first one.  The car started out a little tight but once we got it freed up a bit we were good to go.

“I want to thank all the guys at the Roush/Yates engine shop for giving me a great engine along with my entire team, they were all great.  I learned a lot today and I’m excited to go to Talladega in a few weeks.”

"That was what today was really about, learning," said Braun. "Everybody at Roush Fenway has done a really great job in helping me to adapt to driving on the ovals. Erik Darnell and Travis Kvapil both came out a few times and helped me out during a few tests so a big thanks out to those guys. We had great pit stops and my crew chief Jeff Campey was very helpful. Looking forward to getting in the next one at Talladega."

Hear the interview by clicking here - MP3 file.

In two starts Braun has one top-five and two top-10 finishes in the ARCA RE/MAX Series.  Braun returns to action next week for the final time in the Rolex Grand Am Series for Krohn Racing at Miller Motorsports Park.  Braun will resume his driving duties behind the wheel of the No. 99 Ford at Talladega Superspeedway on September 28.

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