Colin Braun, driver of the No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford F-150, looks to redeem
himself this week in a rare Wednesday night NASCAR Camping World event at
Bristol Motor Speedway. After a disappointing 32nd place finish in 2008, Braun
has spent the last few weeks studying the performance of his fellow Roush Fenway
Racing drivers in hopes of a solid finish at the series' fastest track. Later in
the week, Braun visits the Illinois State Fair as part of Operation Teen Safe
Driving Program, and his role as a spokesperson for Ford Driving Skills for Life
program.
COLIN BRAUN - driver, No. 6 Con-way Freight Ford F-150 -ARE YOU LOOKING
FORWARD TO WEDNESDAY NIGHT IN BRISTOL? "I'm really excited about Bristol.
It's one of the races I'm most looking forward to going to because I did such a
poor job there last year. I ran really good and qualified pretty decent, then
30-40 laps in we got inside the lap cars and wrecked. We saw a lot of guys in
Nationwide and Cup do the same thing, but it doesn't make you feel any better. I
feel like I let the whole team down there in Bristol, so I'm looking forward to
trying to redeem myself. With a little more experience that I have and kind of
figuring out what Bristol is like now will help me out."
WHERE DO YOU LOOK WHEN YOU'RE DRIVING AT BRISTOL? "When I drive at
Bristol, I'm looking out my windshield anywhere really. It seems like you have
to try and look everywhere. It's a place where you can catch somebody really
fast, you can get caught yourself pretty fast, you can pass on the inside, you
can pass on the outside, it's a challenging place to run for sure."
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR INVOLVEMENT WITH THE ILLINOIS STATE FAIR AND
OPERATION TEEN SAFE DRIVING? "I'm excited to go to the Illinois State Fair.
This will be my first Ford Driving Skills For Life (DSFL) appearance this year
and I'm really excited about it. While I'm there, I will have the opportunity to
meet with a lot of different people and to talk about the importance of safe
driving. This will be a great program. I will be able to talk to young drivers,
the Illinois State Police and all the people that are involved with Operation
Teen Safe Driving. This will be the first Driving Skills For Life event where I
will have the opportunity to meet with the state police. It will be neat to hear
about safe driving from their perspective because that is something they work
with everyday on the road. For me, I can help talk to the young drivers but for
the police, they are involved every day with what happens on the road. I think
it will interesting to talk with them about what they've seen and hopefully, I
can contribute my experience on the race track and teach the teens safe driving
skills on the road."
WHY ARE YOU INVOLVED IN DRIVING SKILLS FOR LIFE? "For me, this whole
program is something that I'm really believe in. After going to a few events
last year, I could really see how all the people get behind this program and
learn a lot from it. There are so many people out on the road that don't
understand how important it is to be focused on the driving task, to not be
distracted, and to always buckle-up and do a lot of things that a lot of us take
for granted. Using the Illinois State Fair will help get the word out about the
importance of driving safety. By sharing our knowledge of safe driving, it will
hopefully save the lives of teenagers, which is an important thing to do."
SINCE YOU'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN DRIVING SKILLS FOR LIFE, WHAT TECHNIQUES HAVE
YOU APPLIED TO THE RACE TRACK? "For me, it is quite a bit different because
that's a time and a place to go fast and do things you wouldn't normally do on
the road. For me, the biggest thing is to remember is where I'm at and what I'm
doing. When I'm at the race track, that's a style of driving. When I'm on the
road, that's another kind of driving. The most important thing is to always
remember the difference between that."
