BRAUN: Road Atlanta Debrief

Petit Le Mans this year was a little more difficult than you might have thought. Coming in, we knew we had to basically achieve the equivalent of a solid 5-foot putt, but still, we all wanted to win the race, so it was tough to balance. From a strategy standpoint, with all the traffic, it was important to stay out of trouble. There were so many cautions and we had to focus on protecting our car.

I didn’t feel like the atmosphere around our paddock was any different though. We just had to have in the back of our minds that not all the teams are in the same boat as us and some had nothing to lose.

We had to play our cards right and be there at the end to win the championship. I don’t think we had any contact with any other cars on track and I think we were one of the few PC cars that didn’t have a scratch on it at the end of the race.

I really felt like I got into a rhythm, once all the pros were in the car to finish, everyone got more relaxed. I felt a little more comfortable that we could be more on offense instead of waiting for someone to make a poor choice.

We won the Driver’s Championship at COTA and that was great, but it takes a team to win a Driver’s Championship even, so it felt fitting to win the team championship for all the guys and show that we were the class of the field the whole season.

It’s a lot of hard work. Everyone talks about how much hard work their guys put it, but I think it really shows true to teams that win championships. The crew that we have, they really work their guts out.

We have good pit stops, we have good strategy and we keep working to get better. We never rest on our laurels. That comes from the top down. That’s something Jon Bennett (owner/co-driver) and Morgan (team manager) have instilled in this group. This is why we win championships.

People ask me if CORE is bored after winning four Team Championships in a row and if we’ll move on to something else… I think we need to look for the Drive for Five!

But seriously, I’m essentially an employee for CORE. I drive what Jon and Morgan tell me to drive and I do it to the best of my abilities. I’m happy to drive whatever. I really appreciate the opportunity to drive for such a great team and a well-run organization. It’s a time in my career when I truly enjoy going to the race track.

So now we’re looking forward to going to New York for the banquet. I’m going to go up early with Jon and I’ll bring my wife Melissa. We’re looking forward to some vacation days up there. After the banquet, it’s almost time for race season again!