12-30-2009
Well the guys at Activ8 asked me to start this blog section on Colin’s new web site. The idea is to give all the fans an inside look into what goes on at the track, what the crew does, what a young NASCAR driver does and what the challenges are, as well as some of the funny and different things that happen this year. I have had fun doing the live Tweets from the track and giving everyone an “inside look” that they may not see on TV or from the grand stands. I hope to do that same thing here this year. I will have my camera and Iphone with me this year at most of Colin’s races.
 So here we go.
The truck season is over and Colin will be doing the Nationwide series full time in the #16 Ford Fusion and Mustang. Con-way freight is back for 18 races starting in Daytona.
So what do NASCAR drivers do in the mean time? Rest, go to the beach, vacation, get away from racing…nope! Colin, wants to drive something every day if possible. Eddie Pardue, Colin’s crew chief, and the crew are busy building cars for the year and NASCAR has a very tight testing ban, so Colin goes karting. As a family we went karting every year from the time Colin was 5 years old. So to go to Kershaw SC last week as a family and run the karts was a great time for us all.
Colin had a CRG TAG kart. This is a 125cc engine making about 35 HP. These things are fast light and a huge work out. Faster than a shifter kart at most tracks it is a great way to stay in shape in the off season and have a blast doing it. Colin and Jamie NcMurray have gone kart practicing together before and it is fun but competitive just the same.
These guys can’t just go drive and relax. It is all about how fast you ran and can we make changes to go faster. We spent the day in Kershaw trying different adjustments on the kart. No different than what Eddie and Colin do at Daytona during practice. Colin keeps notes of every change and what it felt like and what the times were. You hear about the crew chief’s note book, well Colin has the same thing for the kart. Colin and his brother, Travis had some good races with Travis in the shifter and Colin in the TAG. It was good to see some really competitive racing with 2 good drivers having fun running hard.
 And just like the #16 Con-way guys do each week, it was back to the shop and a complete strip down of the kart, checking all the parts and making lists on what we can do to make if better and faster the next time.
Karts or the Nationwide car he only knows one way to do things.
Jeff Braun |
