Martinsville Truck Race

[Darnell99Fan]

10-11-2007

TEAM NEWS: Roush Fenway Racing Enters Colin Braun at Martinsville
~TruckSeries.com Report 


Roush Fenway Racing’s newest driver, 19-year old Colin Braun, will race the No. 50 F-150 at Martinsville Speedway on October 20, 2007. This will be Braun’s first Craftsman Truck Series start.

“The goals are the same as they were in all the ARCA races, to finish all the laps and get as much experience as I can,” said Braun. “I’m looking forward to getting out there and driving the No. 50 F-150. There will be a lot to learn and I will need to give a lot of room to the drivers who will want to push me around a little bit, but I will certainly do that. I want to make all the laps I can and gain as much experience as I can. I’m looking forward to racing against guys like Travis Kvapil and Erik Darnell, I think I’ll learn a lot from them.”

The announcement comes on the heels of Braun’s impressive ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Talladega Superspeedway where he qualified third and finished ninth after leading his first career laps in a stock car. Braun has three ARCA starts on his resume never finishing outside the top-10. In his first career ARCA start, Braun impressed Roush Fenway brass by qualifying 13th and finishing ninth then followed that up with a fifth place qualifying effort and third place finish at Chicagoland.

“Colin has done everything we’ve asked him to do,” said Roush Fenway general manager, Max Jones. “The goal at the beginning of every race has been to finish every lap and learn as much as possible and that’s exactly what he’s done. He’s one of the hardest working drivers I’ve seen in a while. He’s in the shop, watching practices, participating in pit practice, talking to our other drivers, just trying to learn as much as possible and that shows. We feel like he’ll do a good job for us in the truck at Martinsville.”

In his short tenure with Roush Fenway, Braun has been a keen observer of how the Craftsman Truck Series works and he’s relied on the advice of fellow teammates to help him make the transition from road course to oval racing.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned from watching the truck races is that you don’t have to run at the front all the time.” Braun continued, “I think the key to success will be to use the first few pit stops to get the truck handling really well and work with John Quinn (crew chief, No. 50 F-150) to get any issues sorted out. Then from the last pit stop forward its time to go racing and hopefully, if we’ve all done our jobs, we will have the best truck by the end of the race.”

[Highflying9916]

Good luck! 

[roushbiff6]

Yeah, go Colin.    Good luck Colin!

[Darnell99Fan]

10-17-2007

This Week in Ford Racing: Colin Braun
~TruckSeries.com Report 


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.”

[Darnell99Fan]

~Roush Fenway Racing

RSC Equipment Rental to Sponsor Braun at Martinsville



Concord, N.C. (October 17, 2007) – Roush Fenway Racing announced today that Scottsdale, Ariz. based RSC Equipment Rental, Inc., will be the primary sponsor of the No. 50 F-150 and Colin Braun this weekend at Martinsville Speedway.  Saturday’s 200-lap race marks Braun’s first start in the Craftsman Truck Series and he’s looking forward to carrying RSC Equipment Rental’s colors on his F-150.

“I’m looking forward to this weekend at Martinsville,” said Braun.  “To have a company like RSC Equipment Rental come on and sponsor us this weekend really means a lot.  Many of their customers are NASCAR fans so to represent RSC Equipment Rental for the first time in a NASCAR arena is really cool.  I along with John Quinn (crew chief) and the entire RSC Equipment Rental team will work as hard as we can to have a great finish on Saturday.”

Martinsville marks the first time RSC Equipment Rental has sponsored a NASCAR team.  RSC Equipment Rental is one of the largest equipment rental providers in North America servicing construction and industrial markets through a network of more than 465 rental locations across 39 states.

Braun signed with Roush Fenway Racing earlier this year and has run three ARCA RE/MAX Series races never finishing outside the top 10.  In his first ARCA Series start at Gateway Braun finished a respectable ninth and two weeks ago at Talladega Superspeedway clocked his best qualifying effort in the series, third, led his first laps and looked to be a contender for the win until a late race move put him to ninth at the checkers.

Braun also raced in the Rolex Grand-Am Series this year for Krohn Racing where in 15 starts, he accrued two poles, nine top-five and 12 top-10 finishes.  Earlier this month, Braun tested at Caraway in preparation for Saturday’s race with fellow truck teammates Travis Kvapil and Erik Darnell.

About RSC Equipment Rental, Inc.

Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., RSC Equipment Rental, Inc., is one of the largest equipment rental providers in North America servicing construction and industrial markets with an original equipment fleet cost of more than $2.5 billion. RSC offers superior levels of equipment availability, reliability and service to customers through an integrated network of more than 465 rental locations across 39 states in the United States and in four Canadian provinces. With more than 5,300 employees committed to continuous safety and 24x7 customer care, RSC delivers the loyal customer support needed to build the future.  Additional information about RSC is available at www.RSCrental.com.

About Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating 14 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; five in the Busch Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Todd Kluever, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Danny O’Quinn Jr.; and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Edwards, Peter Shepherd, Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell; and one in the ARCA/REMAX Series with Colin Braun and Darnell.


Already talking up sponsors like a pro.

[Darnell99Fan]

Colin's Ride...

[Highflying9916]

Sweet! Thanks for the pics 

[Darnell99Fan]

By the way...that is Colin in the black polo shirt.