Memphis a resume builder for young, new NBS drivers

Objective: To use my driving skills and personal attributes to better position a race team in the NASCAR market both on and off the racetrack.

Skills: Public speaking, ability to be hands-on with engine program, car control, positively represent sponsors, strong communication with team.

Experience: Made Busch Series debut at Memphis Motorsports Park.

That could be a small excerpt from any of three drivers' resume after Saturday's race at the three-quarter-mile track in West Tennessee. Chase Austin, Colin Braun and -- perhaps more famously known -- Dario Franchitti will all buckle in for their first race in NASCAR's No. 2 series when the green flag flies for the Sam's Town 250 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Among them they have a combined two starts in NASCAR's national series; Braun and Franchitti both raced in last week's Truck race at Martinsville.

By the Numbers

Go inside the scenarios that Carl Edwards must meet to clinch the 2007 Busch Series championship at Memphis.

• Complete story, click here

So this week, with the near certainty that Carl Edwards will finally clinch the under-dramatized series championship, it's the new guys who may steal headlines -- at least going into the race.

"I ran my first Craftsman Truck race at Martinsville last weekend, so this month has been quite a learning curve for me," said Braun, who will drive Roush Fenway Racing's No. 16 Ford. "Don't get me wrong though, I've loved every minute of it."

That's a good thing because Braun has only started his engine on a NASCAR career. Literally. Despite spending this season in the ARCA series, he's got just one start in NASCAR's national series, which came last weekend in the Martinsville Truck Series race. He finished 34th.

Braun went testing last week to get acclimated to the car. Crew chief Eddie Pardue and gang took the 19-year-old to tiny Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C. "He gave us great feedback and worked well with the team," Pardue said. The team will be taking the same car to Memphis.

Austin is on a different pathway, one that will require a little more speed. Running a second car for Rusty Wallace Inc. (Steve Wallace will drive the team's primary car), Austin must qualify for the race on time. Other weekends wouldn't come with as much pressure as this one, where 49 cars are on the entry list.

"There are usually a lot of cars at Memphis, but if we just do what we know our team is capable of, we'll be fine," said the 18-year-old Austin, who will attempt to become the second black driver to qualify for a Busch race; Bill Lester was the first in 1999. "If we get past qualifying, then my focus is on running all of the laps, gaining respect from my competitors and maybe even being on the lead lap when all is said and done."

Austin comes from the Busch East Series, where he competed this season. Braun has raced ARCA this season for Roush Fenway, collecting a top-five and three top-10 finishes.

Then there's Franchitti.

His resume glares with words like "Indianapolis 500", "IndyCar" and, most notably, the word "champion" right behind both terms.

Franchitti is already locked into a Cup Series ride next season with Chip Ganassi Racing. His transition to stock cars is mirroring that of Juan Montoya, who also made his Busch Series debut at Memphis last season.

Notice a theme?

"I raced there before I made it to the Busch Series and it's a place that I was able to adapt to real quick," said RCR driver Scott Wimmer, whose Memphis debut came in 2000. Wimmer has three top-10s in his four starts, including a victory in 2002. "I think it comes down to the fact that it is short-track racing. It is what us as drivers love to do and what we grew up doing."

Perhaps it's that way for Braun and Austin. For Franchitti, not so much. But the open-wheel veteran warned last week that progressing through the European ranks wasn't served on a silver platter.

"I think any driver, whether you grew up in Europe racing or in South America, you struggle to get that break," Franchitti said. "Sometimes it's a matter of luck. I put myself in a position where team owners wanted to pick me. I definitely came up the hard way in racing."

With the tight, flat turns of Memphis, it only gets harder.