Brock Pinkerous, aka “Bam Bam,” celebrated his 12th birthday with a qualifier win. The triumph occurred during the crate 602 sportsman portion of the Short Track Super Series event at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, South Carolina.
Pinkerous didn’t receive his nickname “Bam Bam” for bearing a resemblance to the character on “The Flintstones.” Instead, he earned it because he used to run into things when he first started racing at age six. However, it didn’t take long for Pinkerous to find the path to victory lane. He tallied up 43 wins and a few championships in slingshot competition.
Last season, Pinkerous embarked on his first season in full-size car, a crate 602 sportsman.
“My first time running with the big dogs at [Albany-Saratoga Speedway in] Malta [New York], I set fast time.” Pinkerous, of Ellenville, New York, said. “My dad wanted me to run in the rookie division, but I told him I’d be too fast. I was — I almost won twice. I got two seconds against the best drivers in the division.”
When asked what makes him so fast, Pinkerous shot right back with an answer.
“I have a heavy car and I’m not scared of anything,” said Pinkerous. “You can’t be afraid to pass if you want to win.”
To accommodate his small stature as a kid, Jerry Higbie, of Hig Fab Chassis, had to customize the cockpit for Pinkerous.
“I sat in my Kirkey seat, and Higbie and his guys lifted me up, forward, and backward, and marked where I was comfortable and I could still move the gas pedal,” Pinkerous said. “They welded some four-by-four tubing where it was needed and I fit perfectly.”
Back to Cherokee Speedway, Brock Pinkerous drew eighth after winning the qualifier. He finished a respectable ninth in the feature.
“Winning on my birthday was special,” said Pinkerous. “I was so excited that I wanted to jump up and down on the top of the car. I guess I won so much that winning on my birthday was a surprise that made it different than the rest of the wins.”
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.
