Travis Donald Braden (born March 25, 1994) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He most recently competed full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 27 Ford for RFMS Racing. He currently serves as a mechanic for Hendrick Motorsports and the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Alex Bowman.[1] He has also raced super late models, winning the Winchester 400 in 2016 and the Snowball Derby in 2019.
Racing career
Braden began racing when he was eight years old, competing in mini-wedges, quarter-midgets and Legends car racing, winning a Young Lions national points championship.[2] He later won the Whelen All-American Series state championship in Ohio.[2]
He raced super late models in 2013 and 2014, winning the ARCA/CRA Super Series championship both of those years.[3]
Braden made his ARCA Menards Series debut in 2015, and won his first start in the series, passing William Byron near the end of the race at Lucas Oil Raceway.[4]
In 2016, Braden went super late model racing, winning the Winchester 400 in Winchester, Indiana.[5]
After running part-time for RFMS Racing in the 2017 ARCA Racing Series, the team and Braden agreed to a full-time slate in 2018.[6] Braden returned to RFMS for a second full season in 2019,[7] and early in the year, led the championship point standings,[8] which he would finish fourth in at the end of the season.[9]
In 2019, Braden entered the Snowball Derby for the first time. He qualified 30th, the last car in on time trials, after qualifying with a rebuilt car after being wrecked by another competitor in practice.[10] He was declared the winner of the race after original winner Stephen Nasse's car failed post-race technical inspection.[11]
In early 2020, Braden revealed that he would not contest another season in the ARCA Menards Series, instead using the year to move to Charlotte, North Carolina and focus on large super late model races and races in NASCAR's top three divisions.[9]
Personal life
Braden is a native of Wheeling, West Virginia,[9] and attended West Virginia University where he double-majored in aerospace and mechanical engineering.[12] Braden is a 2012 graduate of Wheeling Park High School.
Motorsports career results
ARCA Menards Series
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| ARCA Menards Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | ARSC | Pts | Ref |
| 2015 | Platinum Motorsports | 01 | Chevy | DAY | MOB | NSH | SLM | TAL | TOL | NJE | POC | MCH | CHI | WIN | IOW | IRP 1 |
POC | BLN | ISF | DSF | SLM | KEN 2 |
KAN 6 |
36th | 655 | [13] |
| 2016 | DAY | NSH | SLM | TAL | TOL | NJE | POC | MCH 4 |
MAD | WIN | IOW | IRP | POC | BLN | ISF | DSF | SLM | CHI 7 |
KEN | KAN | 61st | 405 | [14] | |||
| 2017 | Ford | DAY 22 |
NSH | SLM | TAL | TOL | ELK | POC | MCH | MAD | IOW | IRP | POC | 31st | 845 | [15] | ||||||||||
| RFMS Racing | 27 | WIN 4 |
ISF | ROA | DSF | SLM | CHI 11 |
KEN 9 |
KAN 17 | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | DAY 22 |
NSH 15 |
SLM 14 |
TAL 9 |
TOL 8 |
CLT 11 |
POC 4 |
MCH 12 |
MAD 11 |
GTW 9 |
CHI 7 |
IOW 9 |
ELK 7 |
POC 9 |
ISF 4 |
BLN 3 |
DSF 15 |
SLM 5 |
IRP 12 |
KAN 20 |
5th | 4445 | [16] | |||
| 2019 | DAY 8 |
FIF 10 |
SLM 12 |
TAL 7 |
NSH 8 |
TOL 13 |
CLT 9 |
POC 10 |
MCH 6 |
MAD 4 |
GTW 7 |
CHI 5 |
ELK 12 |
IOW 7 |
POC 9 |
ISF 11 |
DSF 7 |
SLM 9 |
IRP 7 |
KAN 5 |
4th | 4780 | [17] | |||
References
- ^ "Seven NASCAR Roots drivers score 2024 'Road to Daytona' invites from ARCA Menards Series". ARCARacing.com. January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 8, 2024.
- ^ a b "Travis Braden-ARCA Racing". ARCARacing.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- ^ "Two-Time ARCA/CRA Super Series Champion Enters This Sunday's "Father's Day 100" at The Milwaukee Mile". ARCA Midwest Tour. Retrieved January 5, 2020.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Donnelly, Doug. "First Start – First Win in ARCA For Travis Braden". Speed51. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ "Travis Braden scores Winchester 400 win in wild finish". WDUN. October 11, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ "Braden & RFMS Unite For Full ARCA Schedule". Race Chaser Online. December 14, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ "Braden Back With RFMS For Full ARCA Season". Speed Sport. February 8, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ Krall, Charles (April 24, 2019). "ARCA Menards Series Championship Leader Travis Braden Heads to Talladega Looking for First Win of 2019". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ a b c Flatley, Jake (January 5, 2020). "Wheeling native Travis Braden racing towards NASCAR dreams in 2020". WV MetroNews. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ Sullivan, Connor (December 7, 2019). "Braden Pulls A Miracle on Snowball Derby Qualifying Day". Speed51. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ Bonkowski, Jerry (December 9, 2019). "Stephen Nasse DQ'd, Travis Braden declared Snowball Derby winner". NASCAR on NBC. NBC Sports. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ Krall, Charles (May 17, 2019). "Consistency Key to ARCA Championship Leader Travis Braden's 2019 Success". ARCARacing.com. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- ^ "Travis Braden – 2015 ARCA Racing Series results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ "Travis Braden – 2016 ARCA Racing Series results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ "Travis Braden – 2017 ARCA Racing Series results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ "Travis Braden – 2018 ARCA Racing Series results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
- ^ "Travis Braden – 2019 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
External links
- Official website
- Travis Braden driver statistics at Racing-Reference