RICHARD "DICK" BROOKS - 04/14/1942 - 02/01/2006
an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500, becoming the 4th different driver to win the event in four years. Like Richard Brickhouse, this race win was the only career win for Brooks. Brooks made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the first Daytona 500 Qualifying Race in 1969, driving a self-owned Plymouth. Brooks had a solid year and with 12 top-ten he finished 21st in the final standings. This also meant Brooks became the Rookie of the year. He continued to drive his #32 BestLine Plymouth in 1970 (pictured below) and scored 15 top-five finishes in 34 races, improving to 13th in the final points standings. Brooks came close to winning the 1970 Georgia 500, but eventually finished third to Richard Petty and Bobby Isaac after having led
133 laps. Brooks started out his 1973 season when he drove the #6 Owens Racing Dodge to a third place finish at the Daytona 500. He returned to Donlavey and drove eight races for that team in 1973. The highlight of Brooks's career came at the Talladega 500 when he drove the Plymouth of Jimmy Crawford to an unexpected victory. Brooks wasn't even supposed to drive Crawford's Plymouth, but after officials ruled that Crawford did not have enough experience on the big speedway, Brooks took over the ride. The car was #22 and had Micky Mouse on the hood. The story behind Mickey Mouse on the hood was a comment made by Bill France stating that they were a "Mickey Mouse race team", so they put Mickey on the hood. Brooks would pull off the starting grid in 24th place. He would work his way to the front and take the lead for the first time on lap 49. It was an exciting race as there was 64 lead changes. The most
laps in a row any driver lead was nine; all the way up to lap 157 when David Pearson led 12 in succession. On 44 occasions where a lead change occured, the leader would lead 3 laps or less. Brooks would take the lead on lap 181 and head the field for the final eight laps to get the win. Without a ride for the 1974 season, Brooks started to field a self-owned Dodge. From the 16 races that Brooks entered that year he only finished three times. His best finish of the season was at the Volunteer 500 at Bristol International Speedway. Brooks returned to Junie Donlavey for the 1975 season driving the No. 90 Ford once again. In 25 races Brooks scored 15 top-ten finishes of which he finished six in the top-five. His best result that season was a second place in the Delaware 500 at Dover
Downs International Speedway. Brooks also finished in the top-ten in the final points standings for the first time that year. He continued to drive for Donlavey Racing in 1976. Brooks scored 18 top-ten finishes that year and he finished 10th in the final points standings for the second year in succession. Brooks continued his good run for Donlavey Racing in 1977. He scored a total of 20 top-ten finishes that season of which he finished seven in the top-five. He finished sixth in the final points standings, which would turn out to be a career high. Brooks had another good year in 1978 with 17 top-ten finishes. He finished eighth in the final points standings and left the Donlavey team at the end of the season. Brooks moved to the team of Nelson
1975-1978 Cup ride
1979
Malloch in 1979 driving the #05 Oldsmobile and Chevy. Brooks had a lot of mechanical issues during the season and only managed to finish 13 of 27 races that year. Brooks scored eight top-ten finishes during the year and finished 22nd in the final points standings. He stayed with Nelson Malloch for the 1980 season but Brooks left the team after he only finished five of the first 16 races. Brooks entered in three more races that season which he all drove for Banjo Matthews. Brooks only drove five races each season in 1981 and 1982 before reuniting with Donlavey for 1983. After finishing fifth in the Daytona 500, he had several other solid runs. After four races, Brooks led the points standings for the only time in his NASCAR career. Brooks also led the most laps in the third race of the year at Rockingham but retired on lap 384. This was
the only time in Brooks career that he led the most laps during a race. The rest of the season was not as good though and Brooks faded to 14th at season's end. 1984 was more of the same as the Donlavey team struggled to keep up with the higher financed teams and Brooks finished 15th. After driving three races for the Petty Enterprises team in 1985, Brooks left the ride. His final NASCAR race was behind the wheel of a Rick Hendrick owned car in the 1985 World 600 where he finished in tenth place. After he retired, he served as a NASCAR sportscaster for a brief period of time in the 1990s as an announcer on MRN Radio broadcasts, where he often wore
1983-1984
Final Cup start - 1984 Charlotte World 600
a pair of signature blue jean overalls. His NASCAR statistics include the win at Talladega Superspeedway, 57 top fives, 150 top tens, 4 top ten point finishes (1975 through 1978), and 358 career races. Although Brooks only won one NASCAR race, he was a popular figure in that particular league of motorsports; driving for the underfunded Junie Donlavey team throughout his racing career. Brooks survived a couple accidents, including a motorcycle crash and an incident in a small aircraft while he taxied on a runway landing strip on his South Carolina property; when a wheel caught in the grass and turned the plane over throwing Brooks out of the pilot's seat. He was taken to the intensive care unit of the Spartanburg
Regional Medical Center after the crash, but his daughter Stacy Jackson said doctors expected him to recover. After complications from the plane crash in late 2004, Dick Brooks died of pneumonia on February 1, 2006. Some info from Wikipedia.
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