Meet Colin Braun

Colin Braun

With two championships already under his belt, 18-year-old racing sensation Colin Braun has already achieved more than some drivers do in their entire careers.

Texas born and raised, Braun's been attending races nearly from the day he was born — his first spectator experience was at Road Atlanta when he was just two weeks old. A few years later, he was behind the wheel, running Quarter Midgets by age six and karts by age eight.

Braun honed his early chops on his family's private 1/3-mile configurable road course, built in 1996 by his father Jeff, an engineer for Krohn Racing's Riley-Ford DP. Braun's daily 200-lap practices paid off big-time when he won the Fran-Am 1600 Pro Series championship and was named Rookie of the Year at the ripe old age of 14.

"Being brought up by a father who's an engineer and having my driving coach Ross Bentley — those two factors have really helped me out a lot," Braun says.

Grand-Am was next up for Braun in 2005. As part of Team16 with fellow 16-year-old teammates Brad Coleman and Adrian Carrio, Braun opened eyes at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in 2005 when the trio earned themselves a 7th-place GT class finish.

Braun made history again in July 2006, becoming the youngest driver ever to earn a spot on the podium at the legendary 24 Hours of LeMans, helping wheel Krohn Racing's Ferrari 430GT into a second-place result. Also in 2006, Braun brought home the win for Krohn at the Grand-Am Brumos 250 at Daytona DP Series, one of his proudest racing moments to date.

"It was a brand-new team and a victory in a big series," Braun says.

Braun's 2007 season slate includes American Le Mans Series outings with Risi Competizione and Krohn Racing. With co-driver Max Papis, Braun placed third in this year's Grand Am EMCO Gears Classic DP class at Mid-Ohio as well, and he's been named Racer Magazine's 2007 Rookie of the Year.

In June, Roush Fenway Racing signed Braun to its prestigious driver development program, which enters Braun in select 2007 ARCA races and puts him in the running for Rookie of the Year and the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship in 2008.

What's next for Braun?

"In the short-term, I'd like to learn as much as I can with Roush Racing and hopefully win the ARCA championship next year," Braun says. "My long-term goal is to be the NEXTEL Cup champion."

Braun lives in Ovalo, Texas with his parents, Jeff and Diane, and brother, Travis.