Racing roots run deep for Nationwide owner Todd Braun
Related story: Braun Racing flourishing in Nationwide Series; expects to expand to four teams in 2010
Nationwide Series team owner Todd Braun and his two brothers raced quarter-midgets in Indiana in his younger days, and he once got to race against four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon.
“I actually got to race against Jeff Gordon one time at Kokomo, which was cool,” Braun says.
At the quarter-mile Kokomo Speedway in Indiana, a 12-year-old Gordon raced against Braun. Gordon’s step-father, John Bickford, had moved his family to Indiana to help Gordon’s racing career.
Bickford and Ralph Braun, Todd’s father, knew each other through business, because Bickford owned MPS Hand Controls, a company that made hand controls for street cars. Ralph Braun’s company built wheelchair lifts for vans and did full conversions of vans, and he later bought Bickford’s company. The Brauns all became Gordon fans, if only because of business contacts.
Todd Braun fancied himself a driver, and only recently stopped racing on the side. In the early days, his two brothers raced, too.
“I was actually the better of the three, which isn’t really saying much,” Todd Braun says.
Braun and his family continued to attend races in Indiana and Florida, where they often spent summers. He drove until two years ago, when he competed in a Late Model.
“I think I wrecked,” Braun says. “There was a big pileup in Turn 1, and I got into a wreck, if I remember correctly. It kind of freaked my mom out at the time. I know she told me she didn’t want me to race again, which was kind of common.
“I might get in a race car again, but it’s going to be hard for me. I’ve talked to my dad since then, and he doesn’t want me to race again either.”
