At 16, Braun was part of the Team 16 squad and made his road racing debut in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with a Porsche 996 GT3, teammate to future NASCAR driver Brad Coleman.[5] Braun made history as the youngest Daytona Prototype driver at 17, driving an Essex Racing Ford Crawford. In 2006 he joined Krohn Racing's No. 75 team, teaming with Jörg Bergmeister. Braun became the youngest winner of a major auto race on North American soil with his win at the Brumos Porsche 250 in Daytona.[6] Due to the Master Settlement Agreement, he was barred from participating in three races but still finished fourth in points while Bergmeister won the overall championship. He also became the youngest driver to stand on the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a second-place finish in his class in a Ferrari F430.[6] He stayed on with Krohn for 2007, but was teamed with Max Papis. The team ended up in the top five in points, despite Braun being suspended for an incident at the Crown Royal 200 at Watkins Glen International.[7]
In 2007, Braun signed a driver development contract with Roush Fenway Racing.[8] Braun made his stock car debut in the ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Gateway International Raceway, where he finished 13th.[9] Braun later made his NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series (was Craftsman Truck Series), driving the No. 50 RSC Equipment Rental Ford for Roush Fenway. He was running in the top 20 before a flat tire sent him into the wall and a 34th-place finish.[10] He would also drive the No. 16 3M Ford at the Sam's Town 250 where he had a 30th-place finish. In November 2007, he was announced as the full-time driver of the No. 6 Ford, succeeding Travis Kvapil.[11]
2008–2011
Braun assumed full-time duties in 2008 in the Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 6 Con-way Ford F-150 with veteran crew chief Mike Beam. He earned three top-five and eight top-10 finishes, and won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award.[12] Braun became the sixth Roush Fenway Racing driver to claim the rookie title in the truck series. He also made five Nationwide Series starts including one top-five finish and two poles.
Braun's 2010 Nationwide car
After turning a lap of 177.441 mph on Thursday evening in qualifying to earn his first career Camping World Truck Series Pole award,[13] Braun led the field to the green flag Friday night at Daytona International Speedway for the 2009 season opener. He led the first 10 laps of the race, fell as far back as 15th and with luck, in the end, Braun crossed the finish line in ninth place to score his ninth career top 10. On June 13, he scored his one and only career Truck Series win at Michigan.[14]
In 2010, Braun was promoted to the Nationwide Series, and Con-way would be his sponsor for 18 races. However, by midseason, Braun was removed from the No. 16 car in certain races in which they did not have a sponsor, but returned to the No. 16 car in races when Con-way is the sponsor.[15] Braun had a tough rookie year in the Nationwide Series, making 24 starts with 5 top 10s but also had 7 DNFs. Braun was released by Roush on December 1 after Roush's Nationwide program turned its focus to getting sponsorship for Carl Edwards, Trevor Bayne, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Braun joined Robertson Racing in the American Le Mans Series for part of the 2011 season.[16] Braun returned to NASCAR with Billy Ballew Motorsports, driving their No. 51 Ford at Michigan.[17]
2012–2013
Braun at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve
On January 21, 2012, he announced that he wouldn't compete in NASCAR during the 2012 season, but would drive for CORE Autosport in the 2012 American Le Mans Series season.[18] Partnered with team owner Jon Bennett, Braun helped CORE win the ALMS Prototype Challenge Class Teams Championship. Braun also joined the Kia Racing team[19] as part of Kinetic Motorsports Pirelli World Challenge GTS Class No. 38 Kia Optima entry. After four races, where he was able to achieve two podium finishes, Braun was replaced by Mark Wilkins following an incident with his team mate, Michael Galati, at Miller Motorsports Park.[20]
Braun partnered with Bennett for the first two races of the 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season running with Doran Racing in a Ford Dallara to gain insight into the Daytona Prototype category.[21] Braun returned to CORE autosport for the full 2013 American Le Mans Series season, competing in the Prototype Challenge class. After driving the No. 05 with Bennett for the first eight races, Braun switched to the team's GT entry, driving the No. 06 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR with Porsche factory driver Patrick Long.[22] As a result of the late-season switch, Braun finished fifth in the PC Drivers' Championship, but made significant contributions to CORE's 2013 PC Team Championship by scoring five podium finishes (including two wins) with Bennett.[23]
On October 9, 2013, Braun joined Michael Shank Racing at Daytona International Speedway to set a new speed record on the track's oval course using a Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype car, powered by a twin-turbocharged Ford V-6 engine; the existing record was 210.364 miles per hour (338.548 km/h), set in 1987.[24] Braun broke the record, setting a fastest single lap at a speed of 222.971 miles per hour (358.837 km/h).[25]
In 2013 Braun began coaching Team CrowdStrike in the NARRA Radical Cup Series to many wins and an overall championship.[26]
2014–present
2014
Braun returned to CORE autosport in 2014, in the new United SportsCar Championship, driving the No. 54 PC car with Bennett.[27] He and co-drivers Bennett, James Gué and Mark Wilkins won the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona in the PC class[28] followed by the 12 Hours of Sebring.[29] Braun and Bennett went on to win races at Kansas Speedway and Watkins Glen International, propelling them to the 2014 PC Drivers' Championship and PC Team Championship as well as the newly created Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.[30] Braun received the TOTAL Pole Award for winning more PC pole positions than any other driver.[31]
2015
Braun and Bennett's success continued into 2015, where once again they claimed the PC Driver Championship in conjunction with CORE's PC Team Championship.[32]
2016
Braun returned to CORE autosport in 2016, racing with Bennett in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PC class. The team’s first win came at Sebring with Braun, Bennett and Mark Wilkins behind the wheel. Braun passed Tom Kimber-Smith with 23 minutes remaining and won by a margin of 1.283 seconds.[33] The team posted three wins at Sebring, Laguna Seca, and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.[34] They also posted two second-place finishes at Detroit and Road America.[35]
In 2017, IMSA eliminated the PC class and Braun moved to the GTD class in a Porsche GT3R with CORE autosport and co-driver Bennett.[37]
Braun also returned to GRC Lites competition for CORE autosport.[38]
2018
The CORE autosport team moved into the Prototype class in IMSA competition, with Braun and Bennett driving an LMP2-spec car.[39] The team began the season with a second-place finish at the Rolex 24 and posted back-to-back wins at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and Road America. They also posted two more podiums at Watkins Glen and Laguna Seca.[40] Braun also scored poles at Watkins Glen and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. At CTMP he ran a quick time of 1:06.315, bettering the previous track record (a 1:08.459 by Ricky Taylor) by over two seconds.[41] As the only private, non-factory funded team, Braun and Bennett finished the 2018 season just four points shy of the overall IMSA Championship.[42]
In 2018 Braun joined forces with George Kurtz and his team, CrowdStrike Racing for Pirelli World Challenge racing. Braun raced the two-driver SprintX format with Kurtz in the No. 04 CrowdStrike/GMG Racing Audi R8.[43]
2019
In November 2018, CORE autosport announced they would not race the ORECA 07-Gibson in the LMP2 class in 2019. Instead, they would make the switch to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s DPi class in a Nissan Onroak DPi with drivers Braun and Bennett.[44] Braun and Bennett combined with Loic Duval and Romain Dumas to finish fourth at the Rolex 24 Hour race to start off the year.[45] In July, Braun broke his previous track record at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park with a lap at 135.250 mph. It was an IMSA track record and less than a second off the all-time track record set by Marco Werner in a diesel-powered Audi R10 in 2007.[46] Mid-way through the 2019 season, Bennett announced he would be retiring leaving Braun to look for other opportunities.[47]
In December 2019, DragonSpeed announced that Braun would join its 10Star entry for the Rolex 24 At Daytona on January 25–26. Braun would join co-drivers Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley in the LMP2-class ORECA 07-Gibson.[49] Braun helped the team win their second-consecutive LMP2 victory at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Following the win, Era Motorsports announced it had signed Braun to assist with the remaining three endurance races – the 12 Hours of Sebring, Six Hours of The Glen, and Petit Le Mans.[50]
Braun also joined George Kurtz and the CrowdStrike Racing team in GT World Challenge’s GT3 Pro-Am class. The two posted eight podium finishes on the season, including three wins. They finished the season with wins at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), Road America, and at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The duo also partnered with driver, Ben Keating to take a second win at Indianapolis in the Pro-Am class in the Intercontinental GT Challenge’s Indianapolis 8-Hour race after driving in both wet and dry conditions.[52] Braun and Kurtz finished the season second in the overall Pro-Am Drivers Championship. Braun and Kurtz also made their debut in the Total 24 Hours of Spa as part of SPS Automotive Performance’s lineup for the Belgian endurance race.[53] It marked Braun’s first career start at the race.
2021
CORE autosport announced at the end of 2020, after a one-year hiatus, the team would enter IMSA’s new LMP3 class at the start of 2021. Braun was once again tapped as Bennett’s co-driver. The LMP3 class requires a Pro-Am lineup with Braun filling Pro duties and Bennett filling Am duties.[51] It was also announced that George Kurtz and Matt McMurry would join the duo for the four endurance races.[54] The team’s first win of the year came at The 12 Hours of Sebring as Braun and Bennett combined with Kurtz for the win. The win made Braun and Bennett three-time winners at the 12-hour endurance race.[55]Road America marked the team’s second win of season snapping Riley Motorsports three-race win streak. Braun won by more than 22 seconds over the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports team.[56] Long Beach wasn’t on the schedule for the LMP3 class so Braun made a one-off GT Daytona (GTD) start for Scuderia Corsa in its Ferrari 488 GT3 with co-driver, Daniel Mancinelli. The start marked Braun’s first GTD start since 2017.[57]
Braun announced he would join George Kurtz in the No. 04 DXDT Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Fanatec GT World Challenge America Series competition marking their fourth year together as co-drivers.[58][59] The duo posted four podium finishes and wins at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and Virginia International Raceway (VIR).
2022
Colin Braun returned to IMSA competition with CORE autosport in the LMP3 class for 2022. It was announced that George Kurtz would join Colin and co-driver Jon Bennett for the endurance races.[60] In his 17th consecutive Rolex 24 start, Colin, crossed the finish line third in his final stint of the 24 Hour race to give the team a podium finish at the 60th running of the race in Daytona Beach, FL.[61] The duo of Braun and Bennett would collect five podium results on the year including two wins at Mid-Ohio [62] and Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP). The win at CTMP marked the duo’s fifth win at the track.[63] With the help of Kurtz, the team finished fifth in the final race of the year at Road Atlanta but were crowned IMSA LMP3 champions. This marked the third IMSA championship for Braun and Bennett.[64]
Colin returned to CrowdStrike Racing in 2022 to pilot the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing/AWS machine for the fourth consecutive year in GT3 competition. The team partnered with Riley Motorsports for the 2022 season.[65] Sharing driving duties with George Kurtz, the team amassed three wins starting with NOLA Motorsports Park. Their win in Saturday’s race launched them into the championship point lead.[66] They continued their winning ways at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), rebounding to win on Sunday after a hard-luck race on Saturday.[67] At Watkins Glen, the duo earned the overall win on Sunday by 3.962 seconds over second place.[68] To close out the 2022 season, Colin partnered with CrowdStrike Racing and Riley Motorsports to win the 25 Hours of Thunderhill with co-drivers Kurtz, Matt McMurry, and Felipe Fraga in an LMP3.[69]
In November 2022, Jon Bennett announced he would be closing CORE autosport.[70] On the heels of that announcement, it was announced that Colin would join the Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) roster for the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. Colin will co-drive with Tom Blomqvist for the team’s full-season Acura LMDh program. The MSR team claimed the 2022 IMSA DPi championship and will now look ahead to a new era of IMSA competition in the hybrid-powered GTP class.[71]
2023
The 2023 season kicked off at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, with Colin Braun making his first appearance with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR). Colin started the weekend by logging the fastest lap time in the first session (1:35.635).[72] Then, during the fourth test session, Colin clocked the fastest lap time (1:35.038) in the No. 60 Acura ARX-06.[73] The MSR team claimed the 2023 pole award as Colin's co-driver, Tom Blomqvist, drove the hybrid-powered Acura ARX-06 during the 15-minute session.[74] The 61st running of the Rolex 24 saw the debut of the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) era. Meyer Shank Racing with regular drivers Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist and additional drivers Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud combined to give the team its second Rolex 24 victory in as many seasons. After 24 hours, the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 crossed the line 4.190 seconds ahead of second place.[75] The win marked Colin's fourth Rolex 24 class win and first overall win. Colin won the 2014 Rolex 24 in the PC Class with CORE autosport and then in 2020, captured the LMP2 win as one of four drivers for DragonSpeed USA. He also combined with CORE autosport in 2018 to win the Trueman Pro-Am Team Endurance class.[76][77][78]
