Per Cenny "Kenny" Bräck (born 21 March 1966) is a Swedish former
race car driver. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs.
A handcart ...
,
Indy Racing League
IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...
and the
IROC 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 in 2003, where he recorded the highest horizontal
g-force
The g-force or gravitational force equivalent is a Specific force, mass-specific force (force per unit mass), expressed in Unit of measurement, units of standard gravity (symbol ''g'' or ''g''0, not to be confused with "g", the symbol for ...
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
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, 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 o ...
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 () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
winner
Tom Kristensen. 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, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...
's
Adrian Newey.
Early career
Born in
Arvika, Sweden, he grew up in the small village of
Glava, 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. 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, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
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 have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...
and
Formula 3
Formula Three (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 drivers.
History
Formula Three (adop ...
(he was Swedish junior Formula Ford Champion in 1986), in Europe in
Formula Opel Lotus and the
Renault Clio Cup (Scandinavian Champion 1992) and in the US in the
Barber Saab Pro Series (Champion in
1993
The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as:
* International Year for the World's Indigenous People
The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...
).
In 1994 he competed in the
International Formula 3000. 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. 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 at
Phoenix, replacing
Jeff Ward, and finishing 11th after an accident. Over seven starts, he had two top-5 finishes at
Charlotte and
New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders 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 shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
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. 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, including a win at the
1999 Indianapolis 500. After the 1999 season, he left Foyt's team to compete in the
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs.
A handcart ...
FedEx Championship Series.
CART career
In 2000 he switched to the
CART
A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs.
A handcart ...
series, joining
Team Rahal and being awarded the Rookie of the Year, finishing fourth in the overall standings.
In 2001, he finished second in the driver's championship, winning a season-high four races and taking six 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.
In 2001 Bräck also had a minor role in the
Hollywood motion picture
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...
''
Driven'', which starred
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
and
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor most famous during the 1970s and 1980s. He became well known in television series such as ''Gunsmoke'' (1962–1965), '' Hawk'' (1966) and '' Dan Augus ...
.
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 American-motorsports equivalent of an all-star game. Despite its name, IROC was primarily ...
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 team. Bräck finished second place at the
Twin Ring Motegi circuit in Japan. In the
final race at
Texas Motor Speedway, he suffered a serious crash that almost cost him his life. His car locked wheels with
Tomas Scheckter'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 (very Impressive)'' (while death may occur at >50 ''g''). He suffered multiple fractures, breaking his
sternum
The sternum (: sternums or sterna) 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 bl ...
,
femur
The femur (; : femurs or femora ), or thigh bone is the only long bone, bone in the thigh — the region of the lower limb between the hip and the knee. In many quadrupeds, four-legged animals the femur is the upper bone of the hindleg.
The Femo ...
, shattering a
vertebra
Each vertebra (: vertebrae) is an irregular bone with a complex structure composed of bone and some hyaline cartilage, that make up the vertebral column or spine, of vertebrates. The proportions of the vertebrae differ according to their spina ...
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 (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 industry, automotive Manufacturing, manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The main products of the company are sports cars, ...
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 with a lap time of 6'43.22, in a
McLaren P1
The McLaren P1 (codenamed P12) is a flagship sports car produced by British marque McLaren Automotive. Styled by American car designer Frank Stephenson, it is the second installment in McLaren's Ultimate Series after the McLaren F1. Considered ...
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, who became the second Swede after Bräck to win the Indianapolis 500 in
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
.
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
''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London, England. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship.
Autosport began life as a we ...
'' 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 (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
X Games 15 in Los Angeles. Bräck drove a Ford Fiesta prepared by Swedish team
Olsbergs MSE. 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 athlete known for his success across multiple disciplines, including freestyle motocross, rally racing, NASCAR, and stunt performance. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s ...
. Bräck became the first specially invited driver to win the Rally Gold Medal. The late
WRC star
Colin McRae 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
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, 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.
Racing record
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
American open–wheel results
(
key)
IndyCar Series
CART
Indianapolis 500
Complete FIA European Rallycross Championship results
Division 1
International Race of Champions
(
key) (
Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
External links
Official web site*
Kenny 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
Racing drivers from Värmland County
Super Nova Racing drivers
A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers