Braun's learning curve continues to flatten out

Colin Braun has matured into a consistently fast driver during his second season in the Camping World Truck Series and, at age 20, he figures to get even better in the final nine races of the year.

Braun's third-place finish at Chicago last week was his fifth top-five and seventh top-10 in the past nine races. Braun has climbed to a season-high seventh in the points standings going into Saturday's Lucas Oil 200 at Iowa Speedway (9:30 p.m. ET, SPEED).

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"I feel like I've had a really good run through this summer stretch of races," Braun said. "We were fast at the end [at Chicago]. I guess we didn't have enough for those guys [winner Kyle Busch and runner-up Todd Bodine]. I feel like there's some experience stuff they have an edge on me. I need to figure out how to drive these trucks as fast on the edge as those guys do."

Braun didn't have any oval or stock-car experience when Roush Fenway Racing signed him before the 2008 season, but he had been racing professionally in road racing since he was 14. At 17, Braun became the youngest driver to stand on the podium at the Le Mans 24 Hours after co-driving a Ferrari to second in the GT class and the youngest to win a major North American sports car race in the July race at Daytona.

The transition to ovals and a NASCAR national series was marked by ups and downs in 2008, when Braun was 13th in points and the rookie of the year. The inconsistency continued early this season as Braun was involved in four crashes and had five finishes of 20th or worse in the first seven races. He was 19th in points before starting his turnaround with a third-place finish at Texas and a victory at Michigan, his first in the series, the following week.

"If I could go back and redo about five races, it would be an awesome season," Braun said. "Unfortunately, I can't. My guys have been doing a great job back at the shop getting these Ford trucks really tuned up. They work on them a little bit, make them a little better, just massage them a little bit. You don't have to keep fixing these trucks, and I've learned that's a pretty big deal.

"I feel like I'm still learning a lot and still have a lot to learn as a driver. Having a veteran crew chief like Mike Beam is a huge help. He's taught me a lot and certainly always knows what I'm looking for in my truck."

Team owner Jack Roush plans to move Braun into the Nationwide Series next year.

"I'm looking forward to that," Braun said. "That's going to be an awesome opportunity."

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