Brayton's story
Early Days
Brayton, like so many other young racers, grew up watching his dad, Dane "Bartman" Laster racing Outlaw Figure 8 cars. Brayton had one goal-to follow his dad's footsteps by becoming a racer. Brayton started racing at 8 years old in what is called a Junior Faskart. Junior Faskarts are basically a go kart with a cage. After learning in the Junior Faskarts, Brayton moved up in the Roadrunner division at the Indianapolis Speedrome. These are full fledged race cars with V8 engines and a 112 inch wheelbase. In Brayton's first race in the Roadrunner division (against grown men), Brayton finished 8th. Who knew what the future would hold.
Getting Dirty
Brayton moved up into Super Dirt Late Models at age 15 and won Rookie of the Year at Brownstown Speedway in 2018. In 2019 Brayton ran a limited Dirt Late Model schedule but ran several other types of cars including Asphalt Late Model Sportsman, Factory Front Wheel Drive on Asphalt, Outlaw Figure 8 on pavement, Thunder cars on pavement and even an endurance race on dirt in a minivan. He finished the season of by racing in the Gateway Nationals.
The Old
In 2020 Brayton made the move back to full time professional dirt late model racing and planned on traveling more than he ever had before with hopes of making a name for himself. The start of the COVID-19 pandemic looked to make the season very short but instead was one of Brayton's most intriguing seasons that saw him travel to 5 different states to a variety of tracks. Brayton did not follow any full series or tracks for points but coincidentally ended up 9th in points at Brownstown Speedway. Brayton also made the move back into Outlaw Figure 8 racing during his off-weeks from dirt racing, Brayton raced in just under a dozen figure 8 races at the Indianapolis Speedrome where he recorded numerous top 10 runs including Jakes 150 Rookie of the Race honors and a top 25 run in the 3-Hour World Figure 8 Endurance Race.
The Recent
In 2021 Brayton looked to grow and expand on his 2020 season where he accomplished so much. That is exactly what he did, Brayton traveled to numerous tracks across the entirety of the midwest and raced with multiple series. Brayton made feature starts with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, World of Outlaws Late Model Series, and the Ultimate Heart of America Super Late Model Series ontop of other touring series. Brayton recorded a 3rd place run in points at Richmond Raceway in Richmond Kentucky and a 3rd place in points in his first attempt of running a full touring series with the Ultimate Heart of America Super Late Model Series. Brayton still raced a variety of classes ranging from hornets on dirt and asphalt to even racing a street stock on asphalt.
The Now
2022 was a breakout year for Brayton and his career. He started off by running in the ARCA Menards Series, a NASCAR touring series, at some of the biggest and fastest tracks in the world, Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Brayton finished 13th at Daytona in his national series debut with Mullins Racing and 26th at Talladega after being involved in a wreck 48 laps into the event while running inside the top 15. Brayton still ran a handful of Outlaw Figure 8 races at the Indianapolis Speedrome and completed across the Midwest in his Super Dirt Late Model where he acquired multiple top-ten finishes across the season, fighting through a plethora of mechanical problems. Brayton also made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Knoxville Raceway with Reaume Brothers Racing in the #33 where he finished 27th without any damage to the truck after starting 31st.
Off the Track
When Brayton is not in the shop working on his racecar or building engines he is a full-time student at Liberty Online University where he is studying business. Brayton also enjoys working and building RC Cars that he races in the off-season. Brayton is also very active on iRacing where he hosts weekly virtual Figure 8 races with his league, the iRacing XTreme Figure 8 Racing Series. Throughout the week though Brayton will sacrifice many normal teenage habits such as spending time with friends, going to parties, etc to instead work on his racecars and build motors throughout the week for his racing operation. Brayton also helps run his family's non-profit Drive For Humanity, which focuses on helping those in need around the Indianapolis Metropolitan Area.
