Editor's note:Throughout the year, FOXSports.com will have different Braun
Racing drivers, crew chiefs and crew members with us to explain
what's going on around Braun Racing and the NASCAR Nationwide
Series.
I started Braun Racing back in 2002 from humble beginnings.
Our small shop housed a couple cars, and the first race we entered
was the Koolerz 300 at Daytona in February 2003 with drivers Chad
Blount and Jimmy Vasser. Over the years, the operation grew slowly,
and we've had some great drivers come through our doors. Jamie
McMurray, Casey Mears, David Stremme, Dave Blaney, Mike Bliss, Kyle
Busch and Denny Hamlin have all turned laps in Braun Racing
vehicles.
A pivotal moment in our company was when Toyota chose us to
lead their NASCAR Nationwide Series effort. I'm very proud that our
team was able to bring Toyota their first NASCAR victory on July
28, 2007, courtesy of Jason Leffler at O'Reily Raceway Park.
In 2010, Braun Racing's expanded even further. We've moved
into a new shop in Mooresville, N.C., that now houses the
Nationwide efforts of the Nos. 10, 32, 38 and 11 cars, as well as
our No. 32 Cup team. The No. 32 Dollar General team comes back with
Brian Vickers at the helm for 10 races with a new addition to Braun
Racing, Reed Sorenson, running a majority of the remaining races.
Jason Leffler returns as the driver of the No. 38 Great Clips car
with Kasey Kahne moonlighting for eight events.
Our newest full-time addition to Braun Racing is the No. 11
car driven by Rookie of the Year contender Brian Scott. We have a
couple sponsors signed on for the No. 11, including AccuDoc
Solutions, StopRepairBills.com and BigSpot.com. We'll also be
running the No. 10 Beringer Wine car with David Reutimann and the
ABF car with Jason Leffler when Kasey's in the No. 38 Great Clips
ride.
The last piece of the puzzle is our No. 32 Sprint Cup Series
team. Dollar General's continued to support Braun Racing for the
last three years, and we feel it's a natural move to grow the
program into the Cup series. Our Cup effort began last September
when we began building the team and getting the cars through the
inspection process. We also needed a driver with Cup experience and
COT seat time. Reed Sorenson fit right into our program with Dollar
General, and I'm excited to see what he can do this year.
Speaking of COTs, the Nationwide Series COT makes its debut
at Daytona in July. We've begun car construction and have put
together a team of people specifically to understand and develop
our Nationwide Series COT program. I believe our Cup effort will
help the learning curve all of the Nationwide teams will go through
and give us a competitive advantage moving forward.
As you can see, we have a lot going on over at Braun Racing.
We look forward to blogging all the excitement 2010 is sure to
bring. From all of our staff, teams and marketing partners, thanks
for following along at our FOXSports.com blog.
