Kenny Bräck (born 21 March 1966) is a Swedish former
race car driver. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the
CART,
Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
and the
IROC
International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...
series. He won the
1998 Indy Racing League championship and the
1999 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first Swedish driver to win the race.
He survived one of the racing sport's biggest crashes at
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24 ...
in 2003, where he recorded the highest horizontal
g-force
The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...
ever survived by a human being at . Eighteen months later he made a comeback at the Indy 500 and set the fastest qualifying time of the field. He retired from IndyCar racing after the race.
In 2009, he made a comeback to rally, competing in Rally X at
X-Games 15 and winning Gold. Bräck still drives occasionally and won The Dukerie's Stage Rally in Nottingham, England with co-driver Emil Axelsson in June 2011. The duo also won the Swedish classic The Midnight Sun Rally in July 2011. In September Bräck took pole position and won the
RAC Tourist Trophy
The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's ol ...
race at the Goodwood Revival in a
Shelby Daytona Coupé 1964 together with 9-time
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...
winner
Tom Kristensen
Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967) is a Danish former racing driver. He holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, six of which were consecutive (from 2000 to 2005). In 1997, he won the race with the Joest Racing te ...
. In September 2013 Bräck won The Whitsun Trophy race at the Goodwood Revival in a
Ford GT40 together with
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...
's
Adrian Newey
Adrian Martin Newey, (born 26 December 1958) is a British Formula One engineer. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team.
Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynami ...
.
Early career
Born in
Arvika, Sweden, he grew up in the small village of
Glava Glava AS is a Norwegian industrial company with headquarters in Askim. The name is a portmanteau of the Norwegian word ''glassvatt'', meaning glass wool. Glass wool used as insulation material is the company's main product. Production takes place a ...
, where his father taught him to drive cars on the lake-ice in the winters. A neighbor introduced Bräck to racing when he was 13 years of age, working in his business one summer, buying him a
go-kart
A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance racing ...
. Apart from the beginning of Bräck's career, he has managed his career himself, from finding sponsors, negotiating contracts to winning races.
Formula racing
He raced in Britain and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
in
Formula Ford
Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...
and
Formula 3
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...
(he was Swedish junior Formula Ford Champion in 1986), in Europe in
Formula Opel Lotus
In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwe ...
and the
Renault Clio Cup
The Renault Clio Cup Series is a one-make racing series created and managed by Alpine Racing (until 2020 known as Renault Sport). The championship was born after merge the 4 active Renault Clio national cups at that moment plus the Clio Cup E ...
(Scandinavian Champion 1992) and in the US in the
Barber Saab Pro Series
The Barber Dodge Pro Series was a professional open-wheel auto racing series from 1986 to 2003. It was one of the first professional spec series for open-wheel racecars in North America. The races were primarily on road and street courses in No ...
(Champion in
1993).
In 1994 he competed in the
International Formula 3000
The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...
. In 1995 he finished third in the International F3000 championship for Madgwick Racing. In 1996 he was
Arrows Formula One test driver but decided to leave the team after mid season concentrating on his European F3000 campaign. Despite winning the last race on the road, after a controversial Clerk of the Course decision he eventually was disqualified from the event and had to settle for the runner-up position in the championship, driving for the British team
Super Nova
A supernova is a powerful and luminous explosion of a star. It has the plural form supernovae or supernovas, and is abbreviated SN or SNe. This transient astronomical event occurs during the last stellar evolution, evolutionary stages of a mass ...
. Had he not been disqualified, Bräck would have been champion.
First IRL stint
Bräck debuted in the IRL in 1997, making his first start for
Galles Racing
Galles Racing is a former auto racing team owned by Rick Galles that competed in the CART series, Can-Am and the Indy Racing League. The team won the 1990 CART championship as well as the 1992 Indianapolis 500 with driver Al Unser Jr. The team ...
at
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
, replacing
Jeff Ward, and finishing 11th after an accident. Over seven starts, he had two top-5 finishes at
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
and
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
.
Leading up to his
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
debut in 1997, he showed initial promise early in May. He posted the fastest time on the second day of Rookie Orientation, posting a lap speed of 205.597 mph.
He ended up qualifying 15th for the race, in a unique year in which 35 cars formed the starting grid. Unfortunately, on Race Day, in the final pace lap before the green flag, Bräck was caught up in an accident with
Stéphan Grégoire and
Affonso Giaffone and finished 33rd after being unable to continue.
In 1998, he moved to drive for American racing legend
A. J. Foyt
Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. (born January 16, 1935) is an American retired auto racing driver who has raced in numerous genres of motorsports. His open wheel racing includes United States Automobile Club Champ cars, sprint cars, and midget cars. H ...
. The new team paid dividends, as he won three consecutive races on his way to the IRL championship in 1998. In his 1999 title defense, he finished runner-up to
Greg Ray
Gregory Ray (born August 3, 1966) is an American former race car driver.
After winning the SCCA national Formula Atlantic championship in 1993, he moved up to the CART-sanctioned Toyota Atlantic series in 1994.
In 1997 he made his Indy Raci ...
, including a win at the
1999 Indianapolis 500. After the 1999 season, he left Foyt's team to compete in the
CART FedEx Championship Series.
CART career
In 2000 he switched to the
CART series, joining
Team Rahal
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winn ...
and being awarded the Rookie of the Year. He finished 2nd in the driver's championship in 2001, winning a season-high 4 victories and 6 pole positions. However, he did not have much success on road circuits which is what ultimately cost him that year's title to
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
.
In 2001 Bräck also had a minor role in the
Hollywood motion picture
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
''
Driven'', which starred
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
and
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture.
Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...
.
In 2002, Bräck raced for
Chip Ganassi Racing, and he ended the season by winning the CART season finale Mexico City G.P., which turned out to be his only win in major North American open-wheel racing on a road or street circuit.
IROC
In 2001 he competed in the
International Race of Champions
International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...
series in the season called
IROC XXV. The series is a stock car invitational in the United States. He finished third in the championship, the highest points position for a non-stock car driver.
Return to IRL
Bräck moved back to the IRL in 2003 with previous CART team owner, Bobby Rahal and his
Rahal Letterman Racing
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 win ...
team. Bräck scored 2nd place at the
Twin Ring Motegi
Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport race track located at Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally named Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the circuit's name came from the facility hav ...
circuit in Japan. In the final race at
Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24 ...
, he suffered a serious crash that almost cost him his life. His car locked wheels with
Tomas Scheckter
Tomas Scheckter (born 21 September 1980) is a South African former racing driver best known for his time in the IndyCar Series.
Early years
Scheckter was born in Monte Carlo to 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter and his first wife ...
's, flew into the catch fencing, and broke apart leaving the cockpit still intact. Bräck's crash saw the highest recorded g-forces since the introduction of crash violence recording systems, peaking at 214 ''g'' (while death may occur at >50 ''g''). This was the highest recorded g-force ever survived. He suffered multiple fractures, breaking his
sternum
The sternum or breastbone is a long flat bone located in the central part of the chest. It connects to the ribs via cartilage and forms the front of the rib cage, thus helping to protect the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels from injury. Sh ...
,
femur
The femur (; ), or thigh bone, is the proximal bone of the hindlimb in tetrapod vertebrates. The head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum in the pelvic bone forming the hip joint, while the distal part of the femur articulates with ...
, shattering a
vertebra
The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...
in his
spine and crushing his ankles. He spent eighteen months recovering from his injuries. Though Bräck would return for one additional race, the Texas wreck essentially ended his racing career in IRL.
Bräck made his comeback at the
2005 Indianapolis 500, replacing an injured
Buddy Rice
Buddy Rice (born January 31, 1976) is an American former race car driver. He is best known for winning the 2004 Indianapolis 500 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing, and the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona for Brumos Racing.
Career
Early years
...
(who, coincidentally, had replaced Bräck in 2004). He set the fastest qualification time in the field with an average speed of , but started 23rd due to not qualifying on the first day. He retired from the race with a mechanical problem, finishing in 26th place.
Retirement
As of 2011, Bräck lives in England and has retired from open wheel racing. Since 2015 Bräck has helped
McLaren Automotive
McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars) is a British luxury automotive manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The main products of the company are supercars, which are produced in-house in designat ...
working with dynamic car development for their road cars. In May 2018 he took the role as chief test driver. In May 2017 Kenny set the lap record for road legal cars at the
Nürburgring Nordschleife
The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...
with a lap time of 6'43.22, in a
McLaren P1
The McLaren P1 is a limited-production mid-engine plug-in hybrid sports car produced by British automobile manufacturer McLaren Automotive. Debuted at the 2012 Paris Motor Show, sales of the P1 began in the United Kingdom in October 2013 and all ...
LM, a project he helped develop with Team Lanzante. He continued to occasionally drive in rallying.
For a time he managed future Formula One and IndyCar driver
Marcus Ericsson
Marcus Thorbjörn Ericsson (; born 2 September 1990) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 8 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing and is the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner. Ericsson previously ...
, who became the second Swede after Bräck to win the Indianapolis 500 in
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
.
Bräck also spends his time currently as the lead member and songwriter of his rock band "Bräck", together with lead singer Franc Aledia. At the
2007 Indianapolis 500 the band Bräck cooperated with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in celebrating American racing legend A. J. Foyt as part of his 50th anniversary at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In May 2007 the band released its first album "Greatest hits, volume 1" featuring the song "Legend of the Speedway". A rock video, featuring Foyt's Indianapolis winning cars including the car Bräck won the race with in 1999 while driving for Foyt was also recorded. The video was directed by Allen Farst of Niche Productions, Dayton, Ohio.
Bräck is also on the board of directors of
Mekonomen, Scandinavia's biggest distributor of car spare parts, listed on the Swedish stock exchange.
In July 2013, ''
Autosport'' named Bräck one of the top 50 greatest drivers to have never raced in Formula One.
Other racing
Bräck was employed by
Lanzante Motorsport to drive one of the most prestigious cars, a 1964 Shelby Daytona Coupé, in the RAC Tourist Trophy race at the Goodwood Revival in September 2011. Only six original cars exist. Sharing the driving duties with 9-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, Bräck qualified the car on pole position. The duo also won the race.
In September 2013 Bräck, in partnership with Red Bull F1 Racing's Adrian Newey won the Goodwood revival 50 year anniversary The Whitsun Trophy, where Bräck performed a rain qualifying that went viral on social media. The duo went on to win the race. Also in September Bräck co-drove Christian Glaesel's Ford GT40 in the Spa 6-Hours race, together with the owner and Olivier Ellerbrock. Bräck qualified the car on pole. Eventually the car finished in 5th place.
X Games
In 2009, four years after retiring from IndyCar racing Bräck made a surprise return to the wheel after receiving a special invitation to compete in the annual
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
X Games 15
X Games XV was the fifteenth annual X Games extreme sports event. It took place from July 30 – August 2, 2009, in Los Angeles, California, at the Staples Center and the Home Depot Center. It was broadcast on ESPN networks, ABC, and EXPN.com.
T ...
in Los Angeles. Bräck drove a Ford Fiesta prepared by Swedish team
Olsbergs MSE
Olsbergs MSE, which also competes under the title OMSE, is an auto racing team founded by Swedish former rally champion Andréas Eriksson as Motorsport Evolution (MSE) in 2005. In 2008 it ran under the name ''Ford Team RS Europe'', while in 2009 ...
. Bräck was the fastest qualifier and went on to win the competition outright in a head-to-head final against previous Rally Gold Medal winner and nine time overall X-Games Gold Medal winner
Travis Pastrana
Travis Alan Pastrana (born October 8, 1983) is an American professional motorsports competitor and stunt performer who has won championships and X Games gold medals in several disciplines, including supercross, motocross, freestyle motocross, a ...
. Bräck became the first specially invited driver to win the Rally Gold Medal. The late
WRC
WRC may refer to:
Broadcasting stations
* WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States
* Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area:
** WTEM, a radio station (980 AM) l ...
star
Colin McRae
Colin Steele McRae, (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver. He was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion, and in 1995 became the first British driver and the youngest person to win the World Rally Championship ...
previously held the top spot with a second-place finish.
Rally
In 2011 Bräck won his second stage rally in his career, Dukerie's Rally outside Nottingham, England, in a Ford Escort Mk II BDG with Swedish co-driver Emil Axelsson.
In July 2011 the duo won the Swedish classic The Midnight Sun Rally in the same car, in front of the previous year's winner Kenneth Bäcklund and rally world champion
Björn Waldegård
Björn Waldegård (12 November 1943 – 29 August 2014) was a Swedish rally driver, and the winner of the inaugural World Rally Championship for drivers in 1979. His Swedish nickname was "Walle".
Career
Waldegård, who came from Rimbo, had a ca ...
.
Racing record
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
American open–wheel results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
IndyCar Series
CART
Indianapolis 500
Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results
Division 1
International Race of Champions
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (
Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Official web siteKenny Bräck's crash at Texas Motor Speedway in 2003Band website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bräck, Kenny
1966 births
Living people
People from Arvika Municipality
Swedish racing drivers
British Formula Three Championship drivers
Champ Car drivers
IndyCar Series champions
IndyCar Series drivers
Swedish Formula Three Championship drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Indianapolis 500 winners
International Race of Champions drivers
International Formula 3000 drivers
British Formula 3000 Championship drivers
Swedish expatriates in Belgium
Swedish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Barber Pro Series drivers
Chip Ganassi Racing drivers
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers
Sportspeople from Värmland County
Super Nova Racing drivers
A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers