There’s actually no different technique to describe Ben Braden at the moment than as a motorsports mass monster. At 6’7″, 330 kilos, he clearly stands out whereas navigating pit lane on the IndyCar circuit, trying higher suited to defending quarterbacks as an alternative of being a technique-driven specialist fueling Marcus Armstrong’s No. 66 Honda.
And technically, you’d be right. Earlier than his present position as a member of Meyer Shank Racing, Braden was a University of Michigan offensive lineman, who dreamed of listening to his title referred to as on NFL draft, however as an alternative signed as an undrafted free agent, spending six years within the league earlier than a extreme spinal damage pressured him into early retirement.
He’s since made a profitable change to racing, having fun with his first season because the staff’s fueler. He nonetheless will get to placed on a helmet a number of Sundays a yr. Now it’s a completely new position, however with the identical sports activities mindset. “It’s so good,” the gas-toting big says of his new position. “There’s nonetheless a aggressive edge to all this. The depth, consideration to element, and focus are all similar to soccer, which made the transition simpler.”
Braden’s path to IndyCar is a kind of tales the place the burden room by chance grew to become his career-changing boardroom. His first break got here whereas he was coaching in Indianapolis throughout his taking part in days, he would usually run into race staff proprietor Ed Carpenter, who was coaching on the identical gymnasium. When his soccer profession ended, Braden reached out to one in every of racing’s icons, who then gave him his first break in 2023.
He says his solely expertise was engaged on vehicles since highschool. The game was, and nonetheless is, comparatively new to him, however he’s getting the texture for gas, and it’s not too far off from soccer. “I had no concept at first,” he says. “As soon as they form of began explaining to me the way it works, technique-wise, it began clicking. It was stuff I remembered from soccer.”
Now answerable for fueling throughout pit stops, Braden’s noticing much more nuanced similarities between being a lineman in soccer and making a profitable pit cease.
“One of many issues that basically translated from the NFL to this was folks don’t notice fueling is a lot of footwork,” he says. “It’s plenty of the identical footwork. The basics and mechanics switch over, so it was very nice to do one thing that was completely different than what I had finished, however on the identical time felt actually pure.”
His again is now not a priority, which helps his efficiency within the pits, which implies Braden can fear rather less about long-term results from this football-related harm. And whereas the chance of extreme damage is decrease, racing nonetheless stays a high-risk sport. Something can occur at any second. One rookie mistake got here whereas engaged on the automobile in shorts; a fast leg burn ended that behavior, however he’s nonetheless reminded of the hazards by the occasional bout of bloodshed from carbon-fiber splinters.
“Carbon fiber is extraordinarily sharp, and so they’re 10 instances worse than picket splinters,” he says. “They don’t wish to come out. They break very easy, and also you’re sitting there for per week whereas your physique works it out.”
U-M Pictures
Abrupbly Strolling Away from Soccer—However On Ben Braden’s Personal Phrases
Whereas Braden’s huge measurement as soon as allowed him to mix in alongside his band of behemoths on the Wolverines’ offensive line, navigating pit street in Meyer Shank orange and black makes it almost unattainable for him not to attract stares. It additionally doesn’t assist that he bears a slight resemblance to 2018 World’s Strongest Man winner Hafthor Julius Bjornsson.
“They’ve been calling me ‘Thor’ because the NFL,” he says, laughing. “I undoubtedly get that quite a bit.”
He additionally will get peppered with the same old big-man questions. Along with “How tall are you?” he’s usually requested, “What do you bench?”
Braden’s numbers are quite a bit decrease as of late. Being tasked with carrying a 90-pound gas rig and fueling the No. 66 Honda is a a lot completely different accountability than repelling go rushers from school and NFL backfields.
Again when he was making ready for his shot on the NFL, although, the large man was placing up prime numbers. On the 2017 NFL Mix, the second-team All–Huge Ten offensive guard knocked out 25 reps on the bench press whereas additionally operating a 5.04 within the 40-yard sprint at a listed weight of 329 kilos. (For reference, though he recorded one fewer rep, his 40 time was barely quicker than present Buffalo Payments perennial Professional Bowl offensive lineman Dion Dawkins.)
Sadly, whereas NFL commissioner Roger Goodell introduced the names of future stars within the first spherical of the 2017 draft—together with Myles Garrett, Christian McCaffrey, and Patrick Mahomes—Braden’s cellphone remained silent. Following a disappointing draft, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the New York Jets, the place he spent two seasons totally on the follow squad. In 2020 he signed with the Inexperienced Bay Packers, taking part in in 9 video games in 2021, totally on particular groups. The subsequent yr he signed with the Denver Broncos, however an damage pressured the staff to chop him previous to the season opener.=
The damage—a shattered vertebra—was extreme sufficient that it diminished Braden to nothing however quick walks over a four-month interval. With a spouse and two children, together with the specter of paralysis an actual risk if he continued taking part in, the choice to stroll away—whereas he might nonetheless stroll—grew to become a lot simpler.
“You don’t ever wish to admit that you simply’re not invincible,” he says. “However on the identical time, I didn’t wish to be paralyzed at 29. Freak issues can occur to anyone. I’ve two children and a spouse. I knew I had an extended life forward of me. No one performs soccer for his or her whole life.”
INDYCAR
Altering Careers Started by Altering Tires
As soon as he made the choice to depart soccer, getting again right into a routine was tough with out the day-to-day coaching self-discipline the game had at all times offered. “The primary three or 4 months was actually powerful,” he admits. “Everybody will inform you, once you depart the NFL, it’s undoubtedly completely different.”
The abrupt exit pushed Braden to make a quick determination about his future. “My spouse was form of like, you might want to determine one thing out.”
It’s when reached out to Ed Carpenter. who gave a chance to work within the storage and on pit lane.
“Pit crew was one of many first issues they’d me work on,” he recollects. “I used to be fueling and simply altering tires so they may see what I might do and what I used to be snug with. That clearly went very well.”
For 3 years at ECR, he had a blended position, from altering tires to carrying the almost 100-pound gas tank, even doing a little mild mechanic work within the storage. Braden was studying that being on the pit crew was about rather more than simply lifting tires and tanks—it required a excessive stage of athleticism.
Leagues like NASCAR have been already forward in recruiting former Division I athletes to work full-time as pit-crew members, with greater than 90 p.c of its pit crews comprised of ex–school athletes. IndyCar is beginning to catch up, thanks partly to Carpenter and Meyer Shank co-owner Michael Shank, who in 2025 referred to as for groups to start reling less on mechanics doing double obligation and to start flying in pit-crew specialists for races.
Getting a automobile out and in of the pit in roughly eight seconds requires constant timing, footwork, and execution. These have been abilities and strategies Braden had already honed at each Michigan and within the NFL. He’s a first-rate instance of IndyCar’s shift towards former athletes taking part in key roles. Whereas his play rely is far decrease than in soccer, every pit cease carries the significance of a fourth-and-goal. There’s no margin for error.
“The tolerances for getting the probe into the automobile is extraordinarily tight,” he says. “It’s much more contact and really feel and timing versus uncooked energy.”
He loved his time with ECR and was grateful for the chance he was given. However when Meyer Shank reached out with a extra expansive position—together with the full-time fueler spot—it was a proposal he couldn’t refuse. “I made the transfer to Meyer Shank in October,” he says, “and it’s been nice to actually be capable of focus extra on the fueling facets.”
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He Stopped Cross Rushers, Now Ben Braden Rushes His Driver Out of the Pits
In his first yr as anchor of the No. 66 pit crew, Braden is easing into giving his new “quarterback”—5’10”, 142-pound Marcus Armstrong—the most effective shot at victory every weekend. With the following race scheduled for Might 9 on the Indianapolis Street Course, getting Armstrong again on observe as shortly and effectively as potential is the target, particularly with the Indianapolis 500 looming. Though racing and soccer are on completely different ends of the sports activities spectrum, Braden sees clear similarities between a prime driver and an elite quarterback.
“Being an elite athlete, you must be very aggressive and pushed,” he says. “Marcus and I are nonetheless attending to know one another. After our first race collectively, we talked afterward and it was good to form of get an concept of what you do and don’t like. Will it hassle you if I do that or that? Simply beginning that line of communication was essential as an athlete.”
Serving to him together with his change to racing has been one other soccer staple: movie examine. It’s been an off-track coaching aspect he’s leaned on since highschool. His work within the movie room was elevated to a brand new stage throughout his time at Michigan beneath then-coach Jim Harbaugh. “You have been operating 65 or 70 performs, and each little element will get simply completely torn aside,” he recollects.
Incomes second-team all-conference honors, the additional effort paid off. In racing, he’s doing it over again. “We even have a digicam that information our pit cease,” he says. “It’s similar to watching follow. You will get completely different angles. You may watch your ft and your arms and the timing.”
After movie, he goes again to footwork. Identical to anticipating an oncoming go rush, each pit cease is meticulously damaged down step-by-step to shave worthwhile day without work Armstrong’s go to. “Throughout follow, I’ll be looking for the place I wish to place my ft, the place’s my start line, after which from there, do I want to regulate if there’s a automobile behind us,” he says. “Identical to soccer, my inside foot is the place to begin. I wish to ensure that earlier than I plug in, my ft are the place they need to be, after which I’ll scoot towards the wall in order that there’s clearance for the automobile to come back in.”
Ben Braden Stays a Lot of Energy with a Little bit of Finesse
Along with his decrease again now absolutely healed, Braden says he can deal with his new position at Meyer Shank at one hundred pc full effort. However, at age 32, Braden’s discovered to coach sensible, eliminating high-risk strikes that will set off a relapse. “I don’t again squat anymore an entire lot anymore due to the accidents from taking part in soccer,” he says.
That doesn’t imply Braden skips leg day. As a fueler, core and lower-body work stay the important thing components to executing a profitable pit cease every timer Armstrong pulls in.
Whereas he provides leg presses and hack squats as alternate options, lunges have turn out to be the coaching staple that finest simulates his work within the pits:
“I’ll at all times do ahead and lateral lunges,” he says. “Numerous what I’m doing is transitioning and twisting my decrease physique and having the ability to push off. I’ve to have the ability to maintain that weight and be capable of transfer my legs whereas holding it.”
He nonetheless hits the bench—albeit a bit lighter now, once more because of soccer put on and tear—as a part of his Monday upper-body routine, which additionally contains delts and shoulders. “I’ll both do incline, decline or flat bench,” he says of his chest work. “And I at all times try to do some upper-body stretching and a few form of shoulder work.”
He’ll cap off his coaching day with capped with a 20-minute, low-intensity treadmill stroll. The remainder of the week features a again day, a cardio-focused day, extra shoulder work, and his ultimate exercise devoted solely to arms. “Friday’s a enjoyable day,” he says.
Along with his measurement and his historical past of opening holes for operating backs together with his huge energy and precision approach, including his soccer abilities to the racetrack has been eye-opening alternative the fueler often called “Thor” isn’t taking as a right, Whereas it nonetheless takes pro-athlete-level energy to carry out his position, Braden, IndyCar has lastly starting to grasp the high-quality particulars of his craft. together with his football-driven intangibles, h’s even added little bit of savviness in serving to push the No. 66 out of the pits—and hopefully into the winner’s circle.
“Some folks suppose the more durable you possibly can throw the hose into the automobile, the higher—that’s truly not the case,” he says. “It’s actually extra of really feel and finesse. The outdated saying that ‘gradual is clean, clean is quick’ may be very true. You wish to be as gradual and clean as you possibly can. as a result of it’s form of bizarre, but it surely feels just like the hose will simply discover its method in there.”
