back to News

Braun And No. 16 Team Finish 18th In Stater Bros. 300

FONTANA, Calif. (February 20, 2010) – Colin Braun qualified the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion in the 18th position for the Stater Bros. 300 at Auto Club Speedway. Even after falling a lap down during green-flag pit stops in the middle of the race and a green-white-checker finish that saw the field going three and four wide, Braun finished the event on the lead lap in the 18th spot.

Almost immediately after the drop of the green flag, Braun radioed to crew chief Eddie Pardue that his car was tight in the center of the corners and free on exit. The caution waved on lap 33 and Braun brought the car to pit road for adjustments. He restarted in the 20th position. Unfortunately, the young driver continued to battle the handling of his car and fell a lap down to the leader under green flag pit stops on lap 78. The caution flag fell almost immediately after the field cycled through pit stops on lap 86 and Braun brought the No. 16 car down pit road again, allowing Pardue and team to continue to adjust on the race car and put on fresh tires. Being the first car one lap down, Braun received the “Lucky Dog” award putting him back on the lead lap, and he restarted in 18th on lap 91.

As the laps continued to wind down, Braun radioed again to the team saying his car was loose. Under what would be the final caution of the race, he brought the No. 16 to his team for a final adjustment to tighten the loose handling condition. The crew gained Braun two spots on pit road to restart 15th, in what would be the first green-white-checker finish of the season. Unfortunately, the cars in front of Braun stacked up on the restart, causing him to lose those valuable positions in the two lap shootout. He went on to take the checkered flag in 18th.

“We fought some handling issues this afternoon, and Eddie (Pardue, crew chief) and the guys just kept trying to hit on something to make it better,” Braun said after the race. “The green-white-checker finish was a little tricky too. The No. 10 car didn’t go on the restart in front of me and I couldn’t pass before the line which caused me to lose a few spots. This was a really good learning day for me though and it’s something we can build on for the future. I just want to be able to get better each week and we definitely have a good opportunity for that out in Las Vegas next weekend.”

With his finish at California, Braun is second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings behind leader James Buescher. The No. 16 team heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend for the Sam’s Town 300 on Saturday February 27 which will air at 4:00 p.m. (ET) on ESPN2.