Braun Racing

Braun Racing was a NASCAR racing team based in Mooresville, North Carolina. The team was owned by Todd Braun until his sale to Texas businessman Steve Turner in late 2010, becoming Turner Motorsports.^[1]

Sprint Cup Series

Braun Racing briefly fielded a Sprint Cup team in 2005 when they began fielding the #08 Chevrolet driven by Shane Hmiel. It debuted its Cup team at Atlanta Motor Speedway,^[2] but finished 43rd after an accident on the first lap. Hmiel raced the car the following week at Bristol Motor Speedway, and finished 40th due to overheating.

Braun attempted another Cup race in 2006 at the fall Phoenix race with Jason Leffler driving a number 71 car and sponsorship from Ft. McDowell Resort Destination.^[3] Leffler, however, failed to qualify for the event.

The team announced plans to field a Sprint Cup team for at least five races in 2010. Reed Sorenson drove those five races with Dollar General as the sponsor for those five races.^[4] The team also attempted a few races with no sponsor as a start and park. When Turner Motorsports announced they bought Braun Racing, they also announced that the Sprint Cup team had been shut down.

Nationwide Series

Car #10 history

For the 2007 season, through an alliance with ppc Racing, the #10 team became part of Braun Racing and ran under ppc's 2006 owner points. John Andretti, the previous driver of the car, was announced as the driver, but Dave Blaney raced the car until Montreal in 2007. British John Graham then took over for the next road races, and Brian Vickers took over for four races. Blaney returned for several more races before Brent Sherman was signed for the last four races. Brian Vickers drove a part-time schedule for Braun in 2008, with Blaney and Justin Marks driving in one race apiece. The Team ran again full-time in 2009 with rotating drivers David Reutimann, Kelly Bires, Brian Scott, Marc Davis, Chad Blount, Justin Marks and Cup drivers Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, and Reed Sorenson under a partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports. For 2010, Jason Leffler drove 8 races in the #10 when Kasey Kahne was driving the #38. Drivers for the rest of the schedule were among others Tayler Malsam and Josh Wise. This team became the #30 for Turner.

Car #11 history

#11 in 2010

This team debuted in 2010 with rookie Brian Scott running the full season with AccuDuc Solutions sponsoring for a number of races. Scott was leading the ROTY standings when he was released from the ride. Truck Series driver James Buescher drove the #11 Great Clips car at Kansas.^[5] Buescher finished 35th, 7 laps down. David Reutimann also drove a few races with Rexall sponsorship. The team was later shut down for 2011, but the #11 moved to Joe Gibbs Racing's Nationwide Series car, coincidentally driven by Scott.

Car #32 history

#32 in 2010

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 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.^[6]

Shane Hmiel was named the full-time driver in 2005, and the team switched from Dodge to Chevrolet in an alliance with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. The team also gained sponsorship from WinFuel Multivitamins, owned by TrimSpa's parent company.^[7] Hmiel won the pole position at Texas and three top-fives when he was suspended by NASCAR in violation of its drug policy.^[8][9] 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 (then a Dodge team) and hired Jason Leffler as driver, running as Braun-Akins Racing. After the release of Akins' driver, A.J. Foyt IV, Leffler moved to the 38. The #32 became a part-time team, running with driver Dave Blaney. Blaney had a few good runs and then pulled off an upset victory in the fall event at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Racing side by side with Matt Kenseth on the final laps, before Kenseth spun in turn 4, Blaney raced to the checker flag for the win.

The team was to continue with Blaney full-time in 2007, running Toyotas with support from Hass Avocados and Fans1st.com, but following Andretti's departure from the 10 car, Blaney began piloting that car full-time. Michael Waltrip, Bill Elliott, and Brian Vickers drove the 32 on a limited basis during the season.

In 2008 the #32 was driven by Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers and James Buescher with sponsorship from Dollar General and Hass Avocados. Michel Jourdain, Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve raced on the road courses. The team finished 12th in owner points. Dollar General will sponsor the 32 full-time in 2009, with Burney Lamar and Brian Vickers driving. Lamar was released midway through the season, and was replaced by Reed Sorenson at Gateway, Villeneuve at Montreal, Reutimann at ORP, Bristol, Dover, and Homestad, and West Series driver Brian Ickler at Iowa and Memphis. Vickers returned in 2010 along with Reed Sorenson, however, in May, he suffered blood clots in his leg, ending his participation in the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series for 2010.

Car #38 history

The #38 in the garage area.

Akins Motorsports began 2006 with A. J. Foyt IV in the 38 competing for Rookie of the Year. Shortly after the season began, Akins Motorspors and Braun Racing merged and the 38 switched from Dodge to Chevrolet. Foyt was then released from the ride because he 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 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.

Running first year manufacturer Toyota in the Busch Series in 2007, Leffler gave Toyota its first Busch Series win on July 28, 2007 by winning at O'Reilly Raceway Park. The win established the #38 team as the top non-Cup affiliated team in the Busch Series, and they proved this by finishing third in points.

In 2010, Leffler split the car with Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne and finished out the season in the 10 car.

See also

• Braun Corporation

References

External links

• Braun Racing
• Turner Motorsports