Three-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champion Colin Braun will make a one-off return to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in this week’s 150-mile race on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Braun will drive the #25 Ram 1500 entered by Kaulig Racing (which employs his 2026 Rolex 24 At Daytona co-driver AJ Allmendinger), as the Stellantis-owned truck brand makes its return to NASCAR racing in 2026, breaking a 14-year absence from the sport.
Early in his career, Braun made a shift from sports car to stock car racing, signing with Roush Fenway Racing (now RFK Racing) as a development driver. He was the Truck Series’ Rookie of the Year in 2007, and a race winner in the series in 2009 at Michigan International Speedway. Braun also made his only IndyCar Series championship round appearance at St. Pete two years ago.
“I’m excited to get back behind the wheel of a NASCAR truck, especially on such a cool weekend when they debut in St. Pete,” Braun said. “Ram’s program offers a fantastic opportunity to mix my endurance background with oval and street course racing. I’m thrilled Ram is giving me this chance. I have seen how much work the Kaulig crew is putting into getting this program started up, and giving them a great result would repay them for the hard work!”
He won’t be the only driver with sports car racing ties racing around St. Petersburg this coming weekend, as the inaugural truck race at St. Petersburg will also feature cameo appearances from Dario Franchitti and James Hinchcliffe.
2008 Rolex 24 overall winner Franchitti, recently placed on the reserve list for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, will drive the #1 Tricon Garage Toyota Tundra. This Saturday’s race will be Franchitti’s first in any NASCAR series since August 2008. He returned to contemporary motorsport in January at the Michelin 24H Dubai, for the first time since a major accident in 2013 ended his IndyCar Series career.
Hinchcliffe, a semi-regular fixture of IMSA endurance races over the years with Mazda/SpeedSource and Pfaff Motorsports, will drive the #77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado. This is his first-ever NASCAR start, but the Canadian racing hero has driven in the Repco Supercars Championship before.
The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin double-header will be headlined by guest appearances from Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA drivers Sébastien Bourdais (#38 McCumbee McAleer Racing) and Earl Bamber (#21 Hendricks Motorsports).
MX-5 Cup’s 42-car entry list also includes the regular contenders of the series – names such as Jeremy Fletcher, Jared Thomas, Tyler Gonzalez, Gresham Wagner, and the series’ newest winner, Noah Harmon.
Feature image © IMSA
