Electrical Problems Leave Braun With A 28th-Place Finish At Phoenix

AVONDALE, Az. (November 13, 2009) – Friday the 13th lived up to its reputation for Colin Braun at Phoenix in the Camping World Truck Series race. Braun was running 10th with 35 laps to go when he lost power to his Con-way Freight Ford F-150 and coasted to pit road. Electrical issues took Braun out of the race with a 28th-place finish.

Braun qualified 11th earlier in the day and moved up to ninth place by lap 20. The truck was a bit tight through the center of the corners and free off. A caution on lap 35 brought him to pit road for fuel and a track bar adjustment, as crew chief Mike Beam felt it was too early in the race for new tires. Since some teams elected to pit twice and take tires, Braun was second when the race resumed on lap 39.

The crew knew they would sacrifice some track position by not taking tires, but the payback would come later in the race when Braun had newer tires for the end of the race. He was fifth on lap 50 and in seventh by lap 88. He maintained seventh place until the next caution on lap 92 when he was able to pit for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.

Braun was ninth for the restart on lap 96 and settled into 10th place by lap 100. He was hitting his marks and was poised for a top-10 finish when he radioed to the crew on lap 113 that the truck "just wouldn't run." He lost power and coasted to pit road for the team to evaluate what was wrong. The team raised the hood and discovered an electrical issue which ended their night. When the checkered flag flew Kevin Harvick won the race, while Braun was scored in 28th place. Ron Hornaday also clinched the driver's championship.

"We had a good run going tonight and I thought we were going to have a top-10 finish until I was on the backstretch and the truck just quit running," Braun said. "I tried switching ignition boxes and nothing got it going again. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but the guys will tear everything apart Monday when the truck gets back to the shop and we'll figure it out. It's a shame it knocked us out of the top five in points. We'll have our work cut out for us at Homestead next weekend to get back up there."

The No. 6 Con-way Freight True LTL team fell two positions to seventh in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series point standings. Braun is only 25 points out of fifth place. The final race of the season will be on Friday, November 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It will be live on SPEED at 8:00 p.m. (ET).