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2-1-2010
Writing this on the plane back from the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It was fun to be in the same race with Colin like we talked about last time. The quick story is I beat Colin! Sounds funny for a Dad to say that, what I mean is the car I am the engineer on was 3rd and Colin finished 4th.
 Now for what this race really means to our family…. In 1989 my Dad put together a group of investors and we went to the Rolex 24 with me and Diane (my wife/Colin’s Mom) running the team. It was a small team of dedicated volunteers preparing the car months in advance and running the car in the biggest road race in the USA.
 Colin was there, in fact here is a picture. It was his first Daytona pit stop at age 4 months. It had been a dream of my Dad’s to compete in this race and to get the chance to do it with him was the second most special Rolex race I have done in the 21 years I have done this race... the #1 most special? 2005, when I was the engineer on the “Team 16” entry of 3) 16 year old drivers in this big race. Colin, Brad Coleman and Adrian Cario were each 16 years old and had only had their street car license for about 4 months. With the help of many people we prepared, tested, trained and got the car to Daytona. I was the engineer running the car, Colin one of the drivers, and Travis, Colin’s brother who is 16 months younger was the data engineer (he was 14 at the time, but one of the best data engineers in the sport already). Diane was the driver tender, making sure they had food, massages, and were where they needed to be, taking care of the motorhome and keeping 3 16-year olds feed and relaxed. To be in the pits with my whole family working for a common goal in the hardest, most physical, mental demanding, race there is was something that maybe only people that have done that can understand.
We ended up 7th in the race, when most people said we would never finish. In fact one noted journalist said the boys would never see sun set on the first day! So many people worked so hard for that result from the Dad’s that paid for it to the crew, to the support people.
Each year I go back to this race and do it again it makes those memories come rushing back. So to be able to race the Rolex 24, a race that is so special to our family each year is something we all look forward to. This year was no different. I was not really racing against Colin but in the same race as him.
The toal this race takes on man and machine is so severe that all the competitors are pulled together by the shear difficulty of the race and will help each other out if they can. Everyone knows what the fellow competitor is subjected to and has sympathy with the problems.
Everyone on my team knew Colin is my son and were pulling for him... to be 2nd of course, but stilling pulling for him. My driver Ryan Hunter-Reay of Indy car fame had a big battle with Colin in the middle of the night and both enjoyed that.
Ryan said “man Colin raced me hard, but I would not have wanted it any other way.”
n the end Colin’s car had to change the gearbox and fix crash damage from an accident when one of his co-drivers was driving and got hit. Our car ran pretty well except for a small brake problem and a problem with the seat belt that would not tighten up. We ended up just ahead of Colin in the end. Another Rolex 24 for our family. It does mot matter if we have to race on different teams. In this race everyone is racing together trying to accomplish an almost impossible task.
The only thing that could of possibly made it better would be if my Dad was alive to join us this year.
Jeff Braun |
