Braun Racing, who with driver Chad Blount finished second in ARCA RE/MAX Series championship points in 2002, is returning to the RE/MAX Series tour with two teams for the 2004 season. In Dodges purchased from the Chip Ganassi NASCAR Nextel Cup Series stable, plans are to run each team in 13 superspeedway races with drivers Deborah Renshaw in a #64 Dodge and rookie Ryan Hemphill in a #77 Dodge. As a sidebar to the Braun announcement, 16-year-old rookie Josh Allison of Waverly, Indiana will share the #64 with Renshaw in 2004. Plans are to run Allison in the short-track events with Renshaw completing the superspeedway portion of the schedule. Veteran crew chief Eddie Kelley, who engineered Shelby Howards three-year plight in the RE/MAX Series, will serve as Allisons crew chief. (Catchfence)
BGN NOTE: No word on whether Braun will still field Busch teams. Blount started out with the #19 Busch team in 2003, but left in mid-May. Casey Mears stepped into the ride for the companion events. Braun also fielded the #30 on a part-time basis.
UPDATE: BGNRacing.com is being told that Braun is close to signing Jamie McMurray for several Busch races next year. (BGNRacing.com)
AND Braun Racing, in a strategic alliance with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS Engineering), would like to build on the 2003 Busch Series success of Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears. The program offers a sponsorship with Nextel Cup drivers that will run up front and have the resources of a Nextel Cup team for the investment of a Busch program. McMurray is available for 10-20 races and Mears is available for 10 races-the full schedule. Last season McMurray had 2 Busch wins and five top-5s in 17 races. Mears captured the pole in Chicago and had seven top-15 finishes.(12-16-2003)
