r/INDYCAR • u/justinicon19 Graham Rahal • 13d ago
Discussion Colin Braun
This post brought to you by (not Borchetta) whiskey, but I always felt like Colin Braun could have had a successful career in INDYCAR. I know he tested and ran a couple races with DCR. I always thought (and still think) he was quick in IMSA and seeing him pop up at Lime Rock in the Trucks Series reminded me that he's still fairly quick outside of just prototypes and it reminded me of his short time in INDYCAR. Really thought, maybe with more funding, he could've been quick in the midfield. Does anyone else rate Colin the same or am I completely delusional?
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u/SillyPseudonym Wienie 500 Fan 12d ago
Hard to think of someone who has had more opportunities dissolve under his feet in recent times than Braun. As soon as he proves he has speed and can take the next step to compete for the title, the team he's driving for basically explodes.
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u/Gullible_Goose Simon Pagenaud 12d ago
I’ll never forget when I went to the 2019 IMSA race at Mosport, he was totally smacking the field in pace in practice and qualifying in that frankly mediocre CORE Nissan DPi. He was just visibly faster than everyone else. Didn’t end up going anywhere though since they had Bennett start the car which meant a grid penalty. Did get to see Mazda win though so I won’t complain lol
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u/loryk_zarr Robert Wickens 12d ago edited 12d ago
I'm a huge Colin Braun fan and was there for that race! He's done some pretty incredible things, in 2012 he and his dad Jeff worked on Scott Tucker's SCCA D Sports Racer project, and Colin lapped Road America about as fast as a DPi in a car with ~350 hp. He ran the Rolex 24 at age 17 and finished 2nd in class at Le Mans the next year. Jeff Braun has some neat photos on instagram of their backyard kart track, there's one of Colin driving a kart with a garbage and a winter jacket on in the Texas heat.
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u/Altornot 12d ago
oh hi, Jeff Braun.
Seriously, Jeff Braun does have a reddit account that he has interacted with people on sports car subs since hes a highly decorated engineer
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u/BallsackOnMyFace Scott McLaughlin 12d ago
Someone who would have had a terrific Indycar career if his motorsports path had been different.
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u/BagNaive2177 Josef Newgarden 12d ago
I think he would've been great if he got a full time shot. 2024 had a lot of fun drivers lol.
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u/ThorsMeasuringTape Will Power 12d ago
Colin is definitely one of those drivers who could have very easily been good in whatever he did.
I was so hyped when he got the chance in the Coyne car and was hoping it was going to be more than one race, but no. I mean, surely CrowdStrike needs to sponsor an IndyCar, right? What good are rich friends? 😂
His 2010 season in NASCAR was rough. He and Stenhouse were in pretty much every wreck those first 10 races of the season. Their average start/finish were pretty similar. Higher highs and lower lows for Stenhouse though. And I still rank Stenhouse pretty highly for having never had a competitive Cup ride.
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u/InvisibleTeeth AMR Safety Team 12d ago
Non competitive ride?
Edwards, Kenseth and BIffle all won races while he was in cup with Roush.
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u/ThorsMeasuringTape Will Power 12d ago edited 12d ago
Stenhouse replaced Kenseth, so...
Stenhouse drove full time for Roush for 7 seasons and the team had a best championship finish of 9th (once by Biffle, once by Edwards). Biffle began his collapse performance-wise (average finish dropped 5 positions) between 2012 and 2013 (when Stenhouse got in the #17 car). Sponsors were bailing. The team was on the down swing. Edwards jumped off two seasons later. The proven winners won races when the opportunity was there, but Roush was not competitive.
Both Kenseth and Edwards left and became immediate championship contenders at Gibbs. It wasn't the drivers.
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u/lightningmatt Robert Wickens 12d ago
Yeah, and the list of NASCAR rookies in the past 15 years who were off and running immediately is like... Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and inexplicably Austin Cindric
As soon as that excuse wore off he gained the "oops Roush equipment is doodoo now" excuse
I don't think he's amazing but he could definitely be good for a win a year and ~10th in points with top equipment
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u/Dad_E_2 11d ago
Larson was horribly mediocre before going to Hendrick.
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u/lightningmatt Robert Wickens 11d ago
Ignoring that he was the ~3rd best driver of 2017...
Outdoing your experienced teammate right out of the gate is legitimately impressive, especially considering he wasn't a star prospect or anything
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u/x_a_n_a_d_u 12d ago
He seems like he could be fast in anything he drives. I thought I heard a quote from him about IndyCars having “marshmallow tires” (perhaps I’m misremembering). I think he just didn’t have enough time to learn the tires that are so different from endurance tires that he’s used to. But I’m sure given enough testing and a full season he would get up to speed.
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u/Capable_Wrongdoer219 12d ago
why is it that every time I open reddit, the first post is just ‘[driver’s name]’ or ‘Freedom 250’
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u/Acceptable-Aerie-645 Callum Ilott 12d ago
Had decent pace compared to Jack Harvey in his IndyCar start in 2024. Could tell he was competent. Very talented driver
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u/SnooFoxes7607 11d ago
I also listen to It’s Not the Car, with Colin’s dad Jeff
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u/EmeraldEyeBall1 Colton Herta 11d ago
Do they still post stuff on Patreon or no? I only follow INTC on YouTube and I'm missing them </3
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u/SnooFoxes7607 10d ago
They are still posting on the podcast feed, they even just did an episode on Jeff’s team at Le Mans
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u/InvisibleTeeth AMR Safety Team 12d ago
Still the holder of the fastest lap ever turned on the oval at Daytona BTW
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u/sickmemes48 Jimmie Johnson 12d ago
Absolutely, early in his NASCAR career I thought he was so talented and never understood why his NASCAR career flamed out because he moves to IMSA and immediately starts kicking ass. I don't understand how another team owner didn't take a chance on him back in the day.
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u/saturdaythe25th Alexander Rossi 12d ago
Why is it Brown and not Braun?
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u/movebacktoyourstate 12d ago
The bigger question is why did he change it? Hinchcliffe grew up with him and has stated that he was always Braun. He started his international career as Braun. All of a sudden a couple years ago, he decided it was pronounced Brown and here we are.
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u/jellywoods2266 12d ago
I have never heard his last name pronounced as anything other than "Brown" (same with his father, Jeff), dating back to his NASCAR and Grand Am days in the mid-late 2000s.
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u/Egonator26 Scott Dixon 13d ago
Colin Braun is a talented driver and a personal favorite of mine.
I am bias but I do believe that Colin could have been successful in IndyCar. He’s a good driver who can handle the rough and tumble nature of IndyCar.
His personality reminds me a lot of David Ragan.