Braun: Acura MSR Carrying Momentum into ‘Year Two’

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Colin Braun said he’s excited to be carrying momentum into what’s being considered the second year of the Acura Meyer Shank Racing program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Braun and co-driver Tom Blomqvist returned to GTP competition this year after they and the Ohio-based team sat out the 2024 season, culminating in a return to form by the second half of the season.

The expanded two-car operation, the second car run by Honda Racing Corporation USA engineers, combined for wins on the streets of Detroit and the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and a second-place finish in the GTP championship for Acura.

“We obviously came to Daytona [in January] and finished second,” Braun told Sportscar365. “We were very happy with that as a brand-new group.

“We really found our rhythm in the second half of the season on both cars.

“To end the season on that momentum high, although it’s not a long off-season, everyone’s been working super hard in putting together a plan to better ourselves in some areas.

“I’m excited to have that momentum.

“The biggest thing, also, is just coming back to these tracks for a second time as a group.

“We’ve got a notebook to work out of. Sure, MSR, we ran the car in 2023 but we took a year off.

“With that breaking the cadence, it’s nice to come back for Year Two and be able to look at what we’ve done, what we can do better at each track and move forward.

“I’m very optimistic for 2026.”

Braun said the addition of the No. 93 car, driven by Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly, has paid significant dividends, particularly in utilizing HRC US’ significantly ramped up engineering braintrust.

“HRC and those engineers and that group and the amount of resources and people that they have, they’re all super, super smart,” he said.

“As anybody would say, the more smart people you can get in the room and we can talk through ideas and work through things…

“Obviously we have good experience with some of our engineers, mixed with a lot of what they have.

“It’s a pretty smart, crazy room of people that are pushing our program forward. That makes it nice.

“The more depth we can have, the better. All of us are pushing hard. The amount of talent and the brainpower that the group has is great.”

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