Braun, Bennett “Scraping for Every Point” in LMP3 Battle

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Colin Braun said he and co-driver Jon Bennett are “scraping for every point” in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP3 title race as the CORE autosport duo head into the final two races of the season as the class leaders.

Braun and Bennett enter this weekend’s IMSA Fastlane Sportscar Weekend with a 98-point lead over JR III Racing’s Garett Grist and Ari Balogh, following two class wins and an additional podium in the last three races.

“Consistency has played a big part in it,” Braun told Sportscar365. “Getting the good results, consistently, has been nothing new or nothing earth-shaking for us.

“We’ve just been trying to improve, get better race after race.

“We’ve been able to have good, strong finishes from a fuel-saving kind of race like Mid-Ohio was to having good pace like we did in Mosport.

“It’s a tough class for sure.

“The LMP3 class has a lot of good competitors and good people to race against with spec cars, it’s really competitive from all different aspects, from setup-wise to the driving and all of that.

“Every little bit matters and we’re certainly scraping for every point we can get.”

Braun said he feels the LMP3 class, in its second year in the WeatherTech Championship, has gotten more competitive this season, with the emergence of several new teams to the series, including Jr III Racing and MLT Racing.

“Obviously when you’re racing against someone like Riley Motorsports or us at CORE, those teams in the past have run GTLM-level factory programs,” he said.

“There’s a couple of big-name teams there but you’ve also got some other teams that have come in and have done a great job.

“Jr III has done a really good job; they’ve been very competitive, along with the other folks that come into the class.

“I think that’s the beauty of the P3 class. You don’t have to have a huge organization to come in and be able to be competitive. If you do your job and pay attention to the details, you can come into the class and run at the front.

“We’ve seen it also with the Dakota Dickerson car and those guys moving up from IPC into the WeatherTech Championship, and have done a great job and have been competitive.

“I think that’s one of the fun and cool things about the class.”

When asked what they need to do at Road America, the site of the team’s one of two overall victories with an Oreca 07 Gibson in 2018, Braun said they just need to keep executing.

“For me, personally, and our team mindset is that we keep doing that we’ve been doing,” he said. “We’re focused on trying to win races. If we do that, the points take care of themselves.

“A lot of people get wrapped up in the whole championship and points focus. I think if you zoom out and look at it. If the goal is to win every race that you can win, being smart, making good decisions, putting yourself in a good position, aligns exactly with that championship focus as well.

“If your goal is to try and do as well as you can in every race then it’s the same for a championship, the same for a race.

“For us, we’re heads down, keeping our focus on it. Jon and I have been in many championship battles throughout the years together. We’ve won some, lost some.

“It’s business as usual, just our normal deal.”

CORE Squad Credit to Bennett’s “Good Vision”

Braun has credited co-driver and team owner Bennett for maintaining a strong team amid its move to the LMP3 ranks in 2021.

The Rock Hill, S.C.-based organization previously operated Porsche’s factory GT Le Mans effort prior to its withdrawal at the end of the 2020 season.

“[Jon’s] got such a good vision, such a good passion for racing,” Braun said.

“When you mix that together with his business sense and how he’s managed people in his business, he does a really good job of blending those two things together.

“We see in racing folks that are passionate for the racing side of things but maybe don’t have that business sense or vice-versa. Passionate in the business side but don’t understand racing.

“I think Jon’s got a super-unique ability to blend those two things together, create an environment and team that wants to do everything we can, every last little detail and go that extra mile.

“He’s really good at motivating people and understands racing super well. When you put those two things together, I think you create a really good environment for sure.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John