Editor's note: Throughout the year, FOXSports.com will have different Braun Racing drivers, crew chiefs and crew members with us to explain what's going on around Braun Racing and the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
I started Braun Racing back in 2002 from humble beginnings. Our small shop housed a couple cars, and the first race we entered was the Koolerz 300 at Daytona in February 2003 with drivers Chad Blount and Jimmy Vasser. Over the years, the operation grew slowly, and we've had some great drivers come through our doors. Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, David Stremme, Dave Blaney, Mike Bliss, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin have all turned laps in Braun Racing vehicles.
A pivotal moment in our company was when Toyota chose us to lead their NASCAR Nationwide Series effort. I'm very proud that our team was able to bring Toyota their first NASCAR victory on July 28, 2007, courtesy of Jason Leffler at O'Reily Raceway Park.
In 2010, Braun Racing's expanded even further. We've moved into a new shop in Mooresville, N.C., that now houses the Nationwide efforts of the Nos. 10, 32, 38 and 11 cars, as well as our No. 32 Cup team. The No. 32 Dollar General team comes back with Brian Vickers at the helm for 10 races with a new addition to Braun Racing, Reed Sorenson, running a majority of the remaining races. Jason Leffler returns as the driver of the No. 38 Great Clips car with Kasey Kahne moonlighting for eight events.
Our newest full-time addition to Braun Racing is the No. 11 car driven by Rookie of the Year contender Brian Scott. We have a couple sponsors signed on for the No. 11, including AccuDoc Solutions, StopRepairBills.com and BigSpot.com. We'll also be running the No. 10 Beringer Wine car with David Reutimann and the ABF car with Jason Leffler when Kasey's in the No. 38 Great Clips ride.
The last piece of the puzzle is our No. 32 Sprint Cup Series team. Dollar General's continued to support Braun Racing for the last three years, and we feel it's a natural move to grow the program into the Cup series. Our Cup effort began last September when we began building the team and getting the cars through the inspection process. We also needed a driver with Cup experience and COT seat time. Reed Sorenson fit right into our program with Dollar General, and I'm excited to see what he can do this year.
Speaking of COTs, the Nationwide Series COT makes its debut at Daytona in July. We've begun car construction and have put together a team of people specifically to understand and develop our Nationwide Series COT program. I believe our Cup effort will help the learning curve all of the Nationwide teams will go through and give us a competitive advantage moving forward.
As you can see, we have a lot going on over at Braun Racing. We look forward to blogging all the excitement 2010 is sure to bring. From all of our staff, teams and marketing partners, thanks for following along at our FOXSports.com blog.
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