Colin Braun: From Quarter Midgets to a Rolex 24 Overall Win

Colin Braun is an American racing driver from Texas who has competed in sports cars, stock cars and open-wheel racing. He won the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona overall and holds the WeatherTech Prototype Challenge titles of 2014 and 2015. He now drives for Meyer Shank Racing in IMSA and runs part-time in NASCAR's Truck Series for Kaulig Racing.

Who is Colin Braun?

Colin James Braun was born on 22 September 1988 in Ovalo, Texas. He is an American racing driver who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. He currently drives Meyer Shank Racing's No. 60 Acura ARX-06 in IMSA, and he is also a part-time Truck Series driver for Kaulig Racing.

Racing runs in the family: his dad, Jeff, works as a race engineer, and Travis, his brother, writes screenplays. The surname is pronounced like the colour brown.

From quarter midgets to a Rolex 24 overall win, with a Daytona oval speed record along the way.

How did Braun start racing?

Braun began in quarter midgets at six, and by eight he was racing for factory kart teams in Monaco, Spain, France and Japan. At fourteen he moved into cars and won championships in two single-seater categories, Renault TR 1600 and TR 2000 Pro Series.

Those early years gave him an international grounding before he turned to road racing. His first big step in sports cars came in 2006, when the Rolex 24 at Daytona became his road racing debut.

What did Braun achieve in 2006 and 2007?

In 2006 Braun joined Krohn Racing's No. 75 team with Jorg Bergmeister and won the Brumos Porsche 250 at Daytona, making him the youngest to take a major race win on the continent. He also stood on the Le Mans podium that year, in a Ferrari F430, which made him the youngest driver ever to do so.

The Master Settlement Agreement barred him from three races that season, yet he still finished fourth in the points while Bergmeister won the title. He had also been the youngest Daytona Prototype driver, in an Essex Racing Ford Crawford.

In 2007 he stayed with Krohn, now alongside Max Papis. The team finished in the top five in points, although Braun was sidelined by a suspension after a clash at Watkins Glen's Crown Royal 200.

Did Braun race in NASCAR?

Yes. In 2007 Roush Fenway signed him to a development contract. The first stock car he drove was in the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Gateway, where he finished thirteenth. He then ran Camping World Truck Series races, and that November Roush said he would drive its No. 6 Ford full-time, replacing Travis Kvapil.

In 2008 he was full-time in the Truck Series with crew chief Mike Beam. He collected three top-fives and eight top-tens, and the Raybestos rookie crown came his way, making him the sixth Roush Fenway driver to take the truck rookie title. He also made five Nationwide starts that year, including a top-five and two poles.

At the 2009 Truck Series season opener at Daytona he earned his first pole, at 177.441 mph. He led the first 10 laps before falling back and finishing ninth. His only Truck Series win came at Michigan on 13 June 2009.

What happened after Roush let Braun go?

In 2010 he moved up to the Nationwide Series with Con-way as his sponsor for eighteen races. He made 24 starts with five top-tens and seven DNFs, and Roush released him on 1 December 2010, as its Nationwide programme concentrated on sponsorship for other drivers.

A spell at Robertson Racing followed in 2011, in the ALMS. NASCAR came back into the picture with Billy Ballew Motorsports, which used him in its No. 51 Ford at Michigan.

Why did Braun move into sports cars full-time?

In 2012 Braun announced he would not race in NASCAR that season, and he drove for CORE autosport on the ALMS circuit. The move dropped his NASCAR commitments entirely. Partnered with team owner Jon Bennett, he helped CORE win the Prototype Challenge teams championship.

That year he also drove a Kia Optima in the Pirelli World Challenge GTS class for Kinetic Motorsports. Braun was in the Pirelli class, and the team's entry was built around the Optima. He scored two podiums in four races, but he was replaced by Mark Wilkins after an incident with teammate Michael Galati at Miller Motorsports Park.

In 2013 he tested Daytona Prototype cars with Doran Racing and then went back to CORE for a full ALMS campaign. He finished fifth in the Prototype Challenge drivers' standings, with five podiums including two wins.

Did Braun set a speed record at Daytona?

Yes. On 9 October 2013 he set a fastest single lap on Daytona's oval course at 358.837 km/h (222.971 mph) in a Daytona Prototype run by Michael Shank Racing. It beat the 338.548 km/h (210.364 mph) record set in 1987, which had stood for more than two decades.

The car was powered by a twin-turbocharged Ford V6, and the record was a headline achievement in a year when Braun was also building his reputation in sports cars. In 2013 he also took up a coaching role with Team CrowdStrike, a squad that raced in the NARRA Radical Cup Series, won often and took an overall title.

How did the Prototype Challenge titles come about?

Braun's breakthrough in sports cars came with CORE autosport in the Prototype Challenge class. In 2014 he, Bennett, James Gue and Mark Wilkins took the year's opening Rolex 24 in the PC class, then the 12 Hours of Sebring, and Braun and Bennett added wins at Kansas and Watkins Glen.

Those results delivered the 2014 PC drivers' championship and team championship, along with the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. Braun also collected the TOTAL Pole Award, given to the driver with the most PC pole positions.

In 2015 Braun and Bennett claimed the PC drivers' title again, alongside CORE's team championship.

What happened in Braun's LMP2 and DPi years?

Those years show how he moved between classes as the series changed. In 2016 CORE collected victories at Sebring, Laguna Seca and CTMP, three in all, along with two second places at Detroit and Road America. Braun also started out in Global Rally Cross that year, racing for CORE.

In 2018 CORE moved into the Prototype class with an LMP2 car. Braun and Bennett opened the year with a second place at the Rolex 24, then took two wins in a row, at CTMP and Road America. They finished four points short of the overall IMSA title, and Braun also set a new track record at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, more than two seconds quicker than the old mark.

In 2019 CORE switched to the DPi class in a Nissan Onroak. Braun and Bennett finished fourth at the Rolex 24 with Loic Duval and Romain Dumas. In July Braun broke his own track record at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park at 135.250 mph, an IMSA record, just under a second shy of the all-time mark.

How did his GT and LMP3 seasons go?

When IMSA scrapped the PC category in 2017, Braun shifted to GTD, where he piloted a Porsche GT3R for CORE alongside Bennett. The switch put him in a different class with new rivals. That year he also returned to Global Rally Cross Lites competition with CORE.

In 2020 he joined DragonSpeed for the Rolex 24 LMP2 class and won, and Era Motorsports signed him for the last three endurance races of the year. With CrowdStrike he raced in the GT3 Pro-Am category of GT World Challenge, posting eight podiums, three wins and a second place in the Pro-Am standings.

CORE entered IMSA's new LMP3 class in 2021 with Bennett, and the team won at Sebring and at Road America with Braun. In 2022 they were crowned IMSA LMP3 champions, with wins at Mid-Ohio and CTMP along the way. That same year he also won the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in an LMP3 car, with co-drivers including George Kurtz.

Scuderia Corsa gave Braun a one-off ride in GTD, in its Ferrari 488 GT3, since LMP3 was absent from the Long Beach schedule. With Kurtz he won GT America rounds at Circuit of the Americas and Virginia International Raceway in the DXDT Mercedes-AMG.

Key results by season

Did Braun win the 2023 Rolex 24?

Yes. He won the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona overall with Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud in the Meyer Shank car numbered 60, an Acura ARX-06. The car crossed the line 4.190 seconds clear of second place, in the first year of the GTP era at the race.

It was his fourth Rolex 24 class win and his first overall win. He had already won the PC class in 2014 and the LMP2 class for DragonSpeed in 2020, so the 2023 result completed the set of wins at the race.

What is Braun doing now?

Braun remains with Meyer Shank Racing in IMSA, driving the team's Acura ARX-06, a role that continues from his 2023 overall win. In 2023 the team also claimed the Roar pole award with Blomqvist driving, and Braun set the quickest lap in the first session of the test.

In 2024 he made his IndyCar debut for Dale Coyne Racing at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, and he also took part in the Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge, a non-championship event. In NASCAR he runs a part-time Truck Series schedule for Kaulig Racing in the No. 25 Ram 1500.