Photo: Tyler Rinkin
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BROOKS STRENGTH A LONG ROAD TO A SHOCKING VICTORY
By Doug Kennedy
DESPITE HIS MEMORABLE moniker, Brooks Strength is far from famous, even in diehard dirt track circles. That may be changing for the 34 year old. In late March at the King of America X at Humboldt Speedway, Strength not only scored his first USMTS win but the $20,000 that came with it. The flag-to-flag win in the 60-lapper was very satisfying as he had failed to qualify three weeks earlier for either main event of the Texas Spring Nationals that were held at RPM Speedway in Crandall, Texas. He is a solid contender for this year’s Grant Junghans Rookie of the Year title. A fellow driver who has helped move Strength’s career along is WoO Late Model driver Cade Dillard, who is also Brooks’ car builder and very close friend. Dirt Empire: You come from a racing family and worked your way through
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karts and four-cylinders, correct? BS: Racing has always been a part of my family. My dad raced and my grandpa raced. When I was 12 years old, my dad’s friend loaned us a go-kart and I started racing it. With my dad’s background in racing and setting up cars it was no time before I began winning… I raced modifieds for few years back in 20032007 and decided to move up to a late model. Now all of this was local racing around the state of Mississippi. I raced Late Models for a few years and drove for a few different people and one day just decided it was way too much work and decided to sell out. DE: So, you walked away. What drew you back? BS: I went a year or two without racing and got with another guy and put a Street Stock team together. We raced nine races that year and won eight of them.
DIRT EMPIRE MAGAZINE • ISSUE 03 - 2021
The next year (2015) I was approached by Mr. Pat Sauls to drive for him and compete in the Mississippi Street Stock Series, and I did. This is where I met Cade Dillard. He started doing my shocks. I knew of him but never talked to him. Ever since that year, I think we’ve talked everyday. We had a great year, won a lot of races, and ended up winning the points that year. After that hard year of points racing, I decided to take another break. I got another kart in 2016 and raced a few times and actually won a race in Daytona, which was big for me. In 2018 I went to the track and talked to a long time buddy, John Keith. I asked to hot lap his car and he let me. To this day I don’t know if that was a mistake or not because I was hooked again. Today that business is called Statement Racecars owned by him and his son, Ben. Through 2019 we set out to prove a point and that we did. We won a lot of races that year and came up just one spot short of the biggest race of the year and got wrecked coming to the checkered running 2nd. After going to the Dome in St Louis watching the mods and as expensive as street stock racing is today I had a
