by REA WHITE, Special to FOXSports.com

Braun, 19, is one of NASCAR's up-and-coming drivers. A member of the Roush Fenway Racing arsenal, he's competing for Raybestos rookie honors in the Craftsman Truck Series, but is also running a handful of Nationwide Series races in the organization's No. 16 Ford. Sunday, he made his second start in that series — but his latest in a lengthy string of road-course events.

Braun, a relative newcomer to the stock car ranks, has five years of road-course racing experience and a resume filled with successes in the racing world.

Now, he's turned his attention to NASCAR and to patiently making his way through the ranks.

Braun began racing in quarter midgets at the age of 6, and two years later was kart racing. By the time he was 14, he had competed in Italy, Monaco, France and Japan for factory kart teams.

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He was part of the Team 16 squad and drove in the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona in a Porsche 996 GT3 Cup car. At 17 years, nine months and seven days, he won the Brumos 250 at Daytona International Speedway driving for Krohn Racing in the Grand Am Rolex Daytona Prototype series to become the youngest winner in the series.

He then moved over into the NASCAR realm, where he landed his current ride with Roush Fenway Racing. Braun is driving the No. 6 Roush Fenway truck entry and currently sits 20th in the standings after some early setbacks. He has also run a pair of Nationwide Series races for the organization, finishing 15th at Nashville and qualifying on the pole in Mexico City. He ran in the top five for much of the event before a penalty for a stray tire on a pit stop eventually a cut tire left him 33rd.

Right now, he's focusing on learning as much as he can each week. The more chances he gets to work with veteran drivers, the better prepared he will be and the more he can learn as he tries to gain ground in NASCAR.

He says it's "cool" to get the chance to compete in a few Nationwide Series races, but his main focus remains his truck ride.

Still, he finds it exciting to race in the Nationwide Series against the teammates that he's leaning on as he adapts to NASCAR.

"It's cool having Carl (Edwards) and David (Ragan) actually be in the same race so I can learn a lot more from those guys," he says. "They've been real helpful with my truck series stuff, but it's neat to be driving the same weekend in the same series and the same car as those guys."

Braun's education actually began before he took over the No. 6. He started traveling with driver Travis Kvapil and crew chief Mike Beam, preparing for this season.

He says he doesn't hesitate to ask questions and pick Beam's mind in an effort to learn more about the sport and about his truck.

Star of the future

Colin Braun may look young, but he has already competed in several different forms of racing through the years, including:

Quarter midgets (age 5-7)

Karts (age 8-13)

Fran Am 1600 (age 14)

Formula Renault 2000 (age 15)

Pro Mazda (age 15-16)

Rolex Grand-Am — GT (age 16)

Rolex Grand-Am Series — Daytona Prototypes (age 16-19)

American Le Mans — GT2 (age 18)

ARCA RE/MAX (age 18)

Grand-Am Koni Challenge — GS (age 18)

NASCAR — Craftsman Trucks (age 18-19)

NASCAR — Nationwide Series (age 18-19)

"He's been teaching me a lot," Braun says. "I'm really learning a lot from him, asking him a lot of questions, and I think when we go to the race track I feel like we work together really well. I spend a lot of time with him in the shop and get to know him, the way he works.

"I got a chance to go to quite a few of the truck races the year before, in 2007, at the end and kind of learned the way him and Travis Kvapil worked together. I really kind of knew what to expect when I started with him, and it's been great so far."

His crew chiefs — Eddie Pardue has worked with him for the pair of Nationwide races — could be his biggest assets this season. He understands their level of experience and how he can benefit from it.

"Both of my crew chiefs are really experienced, so I think they're really good at stepping away from that and looking at more teaching me how to drive the race car and what I need in the race car," he says. "That's what really helps me. I feel like I can tell him what the race car or truck does pretty well, but I don't know what it needs to do. So that's where they help big time for me."

Braun's dreams may be big, but his goals entering this season were modest. Joining an experienced truck team, he knew he would have the tools to succeed and perform well.

If he could take the time to understand and learn as he went. To do that, he tried not to set his goals too high.

"We want to go out early on, learn as much as we can and make all the laps," he said earlier this season. "Our goal is to win the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title, that's the biggest goal we have, and if we can win a race or two along the way, that's icing on the cake. The main thing this year is to win the rookie of the year."

While his team has been successful in the past, he feels he has room to develop and grow. Kvapil drove the truck in 2007, finishing sixth in the standings with four wins, and Mark Martin won with it six times in a part-time role the previous season.

Still, Braun didn't feel that he carried the weight of heightened expectations when he joined the team.

"Obviously, the guys that have driven this truck before have done a lot of good things, so I don't think there's a lot of pressure on me," he said. "I think there would be the same amount pressure if I drove in the 99 truck or the 09 truck. It's still a truck, and you're driving for Roush Fenway Racing, and you want to do as well can. I think there is more pressure from that side than just driving the No. 6 truck."

He's handling it well. The trucks have only raced four times this season, but Braun has a top finish of ninth and two of 14th or better. He was caught up in a crash when running well in the season-opening race as well, hampering him in the standings.

He's gaining knowledge and experience, keys to helping him continue to improve as the season progresses.

But when it comes to road-course races, he's the guy that his teammates eye because of his experience.

"Colin Braun is very, very good. As much as I want to stand here and say I'm the guy to beat and I'm going to win this race, I'm telling you, I'm going to have to beat Colin," teammate Carl Edwards said prior to racing at Mexico City. "Because we went and tested, and he's spectacular."

Braun was asked over the weekend if he'd be interested in driving a Sprint Cup car at the road-course races in California and Watkins Glen if he had the chance.

Of course, he admitted. But that's not where his mind is right now. It would just be an added bonus.

"If the opportunity presented itself, I'd love to go do that," he said. "I'm a race-car driver. I love driving race cars. It's something I really enjoy and if I can do it every single weekend of my life, I'd be doing it. If I could do it every day, I'd be doing it. The more racing, the more driving I can do, the better. We'll see what happens. Nothing has ever been brought up about that.

"I'm just focused on driving my truck in the Craftsman Truck Series, and we're trying to as good of a job there as we can and win as many races as we can, and gain as much experience as we can. I'm just focused 100 percent on that. Then going to Nashville a couple of weeks ago in the Nationwide car and coming here this weekend in the Nationwide car, those have been my big focuses, and whatever else happens, happens."

Rea White is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 50 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information. © 2007 Street & Smith Sports Group.