Zacary Brooks flipped his 600 non wing sprint for the third consecutive weekend. His most recent came last Friday, when he attempted to qualify for the Turkey Bowl at Delta Speedway Stockton in California. The rookie hit a berm going into the backstretch of the 1/7-mile dirt track.
“I was hurting just a little bit, but I was able to pop right out of the car,” said Brooks, a high school junior from Stockton, California. “It was my worst wreck of the year.”
Brooks said he won’t let the incident deter him from racing.
“Flips are part of sprint car racing,” Brooks said. “Me and my team — my dad, Brent; my uncle Timmy; and my poppa Tim accept that. They make sure I have the best safety equipment and that I wear it properly.”
Brooks’ father understands the value of safety firsthand as he raced sprint cars before devoting his entire attention to his son’s racing effort. Brooks sat in a Kirkey full-containment seat, with the rest of his safety equipment coming from Simpson, including his five-point harness, HANS device, arm restraints, and helmet.
Prior to moving into the 600 non wing class, Brooks cut his teeth racing go-karts at California’s Chowchilla Barn Burner, where they hold races in a covered horse ring.
“I love racing in the 600cc wingless series — the action is intense and driving is fun,” said Brooks. “If I had to assess my rookie year, I would say it went very well. I finished ninth in points — that’s in a field of more than 30 cars.”
The Turkey Bowl at Delta closed the season for the Zacary Brooks. The team will repair the PMP chassis for next year. They also intend to add a second car from Pace Chassis as they expand their schedule for 2021.
“My dream is to be racing a 360 sprint car two years from now,” Brooks said. “I can’t wait to race again. I was born and raised to be a racer.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
