Braun-Akins Racing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Owner(s) Name | Todd Braun, Doug Stringer |
| Racing Series | Busch Series |
| Number of Championships | 0 |
| Car Number(s) | #32, #38 |
| Driver(s) | Dave Blaney, Jason Leffler, Chase Pistone |
| Primary Sponsor(s) | ABF Freight, Great Clips |
| Shop Location | Mooresville, North Carolina |
| Homepage | Braun Racing Homepage Akins Motorsports Homepage |
Braun-Akins Racing is a NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. The team was created in February 2006 when Todd Braun’s Braun Racing and Doug Stringer’s Akins Motorsports merged. The team currently runs the and #32 Hass Avacados Toyota for Dave Blaney and the #38 Great Clips Toyota for Jason Leffler in the Busch Series.
Contents |
[edit] Car #32 history
Braun Racing was formed in 2002 when team owner Todd Braun hired rookie Chad Blount to drive in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Blount finished second in points, and won Rookie of the Year honors. Braun moved his operation to the Busch Series in 2003, fielding the #30 Dodge for Jimmy Vasser for two races, and the #19 for Chad Blount, Casey Mears, David Stremme, and Jamie McMurray. Mears ran the most races for Braun, winning a pole at Chicagoland Speedway and finishing in the top-ten four times in fourteen starts. In 2004, McMurray won the team's first race at North Carolina Speedway in the #30. The team ran the #32 full-time with sponorship from WinFuel/TrimSpa with David Stremme as driver, who won a pole at The Milwaukee Mile and five top-fives before switching to FitzBradshaw Racing towards the end of the season. He was replaced by Shane Hmiel.
Hmiel was named the full-time driver in 2005. He won the pole at Texas and three top-fives when he was suspended by NASCAR in violation of its drug policy. Jorge Goeters, Ron Hornaday, Blount, and Leffler finished out the year for the team.
After struggling to find primary sponsorship for 2006, they merged with Akins Motorsports and hired Jason Leffler as driver. After the release of Akins' driver, A.J. Foyt IV, Leffler moved to the 38. The #32 became a part-time team, running Dave Blaney. Blaney had a few good runs and then pulled off an upset victory in the fall event at Lowe's Motor Speedway, holding off Matt Kenseth.
The team will continue with Blaney part-time in 2007, running Toyotas with support from Hass Avacados and RaceFans1st.com. Blaney may also drive for Bill Davis Racing in a few events in this series.
[edit] Car #38 history
Akins Motorsports, at the time owned by Brad Akins and Bob Sutton, debuted in 1993, running the #38 Country Time Ford Thunderbird driven by Bobby Hamilton. They ran two Winston Cup races with Hamilton driving, posting a tenth-place finish at Dover International Speedway. They also ran a pair of Busch Races with Elton Sawyer driving, his best finish a 25th at Richmond International Raceway.
Sawyer went full-time with the team in 1994 with sponsorship from Ford Credit. They had six top-tens, as well as winning at Myrtle Beach Speedway, finishing fourteenth in championship points. The following season, they moved to ninth in points and Sawyer won the pole at Indianapolis Raceway Park. During the 1995 season, Akins/Sutton also fielded a Craftsman Truck Series team with Sammy Swindell driving with sponsorship from Channellock, posting four top-tens and finishing twelfth in points. At the end of the year, Sawyer was replaced with Dennis Setzer with Lipton Tea sponsorship for 1996. He had two top-tens, before Sawyer came back to the team to finish out the year, posting one top-ten.
In 1997, Barbasol became primary sponsor, and Sawyer finished a then-career-best sixth in points, before moving up to fifth the following season. In 1999, Akins formed a second car, the #98 with Lysol sponsorship with Sawyer driving. He won his second race at New Hampshire International Speedway and finished fifth in points again. Glenn Allen, Jr. took over the #38 for the season, and had a fourth-place finish at The Milwaukee Mile, but was replaced dring the season by Hut Stricklin, who ended the season with a pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
The 38 team closed in 2000, while Sawyer continued to drive the 98, posting fourteen top-tens. At the end of the year, Starter/Hot Tamales came on board as sponsor, and Sawyer posted a career-best ninteen top-ten finshes. Rookie Christian Elder drove the #38 with Great Clips/Deka Batteries sponsorship for sixteen races that year, posting a best finish of 20th twice. At the end of the year, Starter and Hot Tamales left, causing Akins to sell the 98's equipment to Robert Yates Racing. Elder drove the 38 for eight races in 2002, sharing the ride with Mark Green before Green took over the ride permanately, posting three top-fifteen finishes.
In 2003, Akins hired Kasey Kahne as the team's driver. Kahne finished seventh in points and won his first career race at the Ford 300. He left for Evernham Motorsports' Cup ride at the end of the season, but continued to run Akins' Busch team, as they switched to Dodge Intrepids. He went winless, but had two poles and finished eleventh in points.
In 2005, team manager Doug Stringer assumed full ownership, and Kahne shared the car with Tyler Walker. He had two wins and three poles, while Walker did not finish better than 14th, and was released. Mike Wallace and A.J. Foyt IV shared the driving duties with Kahne for the balance of the season. Foyt began 2006 in the 38 competing Rookie of the Year, but was released after the Akins and Braun teams merged and the 38 switched from Dodge to Chevrolet (Foyt had a driver development deal with Dodge, and could not break it). Leffler took over the ride, and had an up-and-down year. Leffler was at often times one of the best non-Cup teams on the track. However, engine woes continually ended his bid to make the top-10 in points. Also, Leffler and team barely missed making a Nextel Cup event late in the season at Phoenix International Raceway.
In 2007, the team will be in Toyotas, but everything else will remain the same on the #38 car.
[edit] Trivia
Both Braun Racing and Akins Motorsports were featured on the SPEED Channel series NBS 24/7, which followed the teams on an intimate basis.
[edit] External links
| Toyota in NASCAR | ||
| Nextel Cup teams | Bill Davis Racing | Michael Waltrip Racing | Team Red Bull | |
| Busch Series Teams | Biagi-DenBeste Racing | Braun-Akins Racing | Michael Waltrip Racing | |
| Craftsman Truck Series Teams | Bill Davis Racing | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Germain Racing | HT Motorsports | Red Horse Racing | Wyler Racing | |
