This year has been a career year for Booger Brooks. He took win No. 40 for the season last Saturday. It occurred during the Red Clay Series’ Blue Collar 50 presented by Quicksilver Engines at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tennessee. (For more on Quicksilver, read “Quicksilver 357 CT: Crate Engine Alternative”.)
“It’s been one of them years — I don’t think we’ll do it again,” said Brooks, 34, of Chattanooga, Tennessee. “It’s like we can’t do any wrong.”
Did luck play a role? Sure. However, some have defined luck as the point where preparation meets opportunity, and Brooks makes a living preparing race cars at Booger Brooks Racing. While he makes it look easy on the track, he puts in his time away from it.
“When we get to the racetrack, our stuff is 100%,” Brooks said. “A lot of people wait until Friday or Saturday morning to work on their race cars. We started on ours on Monday. We won 40 races, but we don’t go into the shop saying, ‘Man, that was a cakewalk.’ We’re always try to get better.”
Brooks won six of those 40 events in Red Clay Series competition. When the series rolled into Smoky Mountain Speedway for the Blue Collar 50 presented by Quicksilver Engines, Brooks had reservations about his chances for a good run, let alone a win.
“It’s been 10 to 12 years [since I last raced Smoky Mountain Speedway],” said Brooks. “I raced a street stock one time [at Smoky Mountain] and we had flipped out of the racetrack. I was surprised we were as good as we were.”
How good? He took fast time, won his heat race and the feature en route to the Red Clay Series championship, the crowning achievement of his season and his career. Booger Brooks has raced since he was 14 years old. He has won in just about every type of dirt-track car — from street stocks to late models to modifieds. However, he still has some aspirations going forward.
(For more on Brooks, read “Booger Brooks: The Racer You Can’t Forget”.)
“Super [late model] racing, that would be something I’d like to do [more of],” Brooks said. “I’ve raced just about everything there is, except a front-wheel-drive. If they got some races that pay [well], I’d get into that. But, I’m really fortunate to be where I’m at today.”
Booger Brooks competing against the likes of Jonathan Davenport or Jimmy Owens? Or, how about Brooks wheeling a front-wheel-drive at the $19,000-to-win SCDRA Winter Freeze at Screven Motorsports Complex in Sylvania, Georgia? There are certainly some who would love to see that but based on Brooks’ long list of wins across several classes, those may not be his competitors.
Source
Quicksilver
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
920-929-5040
quicksilver-products.com
Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Quicksilver paid for the production of this article. The content was not subject to approval of Quicksilver.
The Outside Groove Executive Editor has covered motorsports since 2000. His many awards include the 2019 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Jim Hunter Writer of the Year and the 2013 Russ Catlin Award for Excellence in Motorsports Journalism.
