Funny Side of the Track

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CAPTURE

“Just going to hang out at the track”. - J.R. Berry Photo: Dan DeMarco Dueling 32s of Danny Bouc (inside) and Brandon Grosso in Deleware. Photo: Dave Pratt

short track

STARS

Lonsdale, Minnesota

CELEBRATING VIKING ROOTS

By Ashley Zimmerman

IT ALL STARTED ACROSS THE SEA

when a young man took a summer job painting his grandmother’s house in Norway to help fund his dream of racing cars. That project has grown into generations of the Broty family racing sprint cars. Family roots and vacations spent in Norway allowed Scott Broty to build relationships like the one that brought Eide Entrepreneur across the ocean and to be the title sponsor for Broty Racing last year.

Along the way, the need to utilize building and repairing their own race engines to keep up with the rising costs of racing began the family business Broty Racing Engines, master minded by Scott Broty, and rounded out with assistance from sons James and Scotty Broty. “We celebrate together and we lose together. It’s not just me getting to drive the car - it’s the whole family’s hard work,” said James.

Days around the Broty Racing Engine shop are quite busy, producing ten to fifteen fresh engines a year for customers, leaving Scott and James to find a balance between preparing their customers for their upcoming races and ensuring the cars for James, and little brother Scotty, are ready for their schedule as well. James has a large goal for the Broty Racing Engine shop, starting with finishing up his certification in CNC machining. He plans to hone his skills toward creating custom parts to market to potential racing engine customers. “I’m lucky my dad has built a strong foundation for this to no longer be a dream but a goal for us. I want to have the ability to do everything under one roof – building engines, dyno services, machining, repairing rear ends, steering gears, plumbing, welding, and chassis repair. I want it all with our name on it. Making parts is simply a component; we’re building an empire here.”

While at the core, the Broty family comprises the foundation of the Broty Racing Team, there are two additional members of the team that play integral parts in both their success and passion in racing, “Greg Parent helped my dad when he was winding down his career

Photo: Jeff Bylsma

and has went on to help Scotty and I. His philosophy is that the young guys are the future. Through this relationship, he has become family. Nick Reed has been my best friend since middle school, he was the only person with an interest in racing at that age and has been a member of the team since I started racing.”

During the 2020 race season, the Broty Racing team saw both James and Scotty fielding sprint cars in the #33 and #33B, respectively, where they ran the Midwest Power Series and the five state region in both 410s and 360s. While goals in 2020 found the team looking to build confidence, consistency, and develop fast set ups using unfamiliar and new equipment, James still finds himself dreaming for the future of Broty Racing, “I have 2024 Knoxville Nationals written on my refrigerator at home. I will be 33, and the number 33 is obviously special in our family. It’s a reminder every day of what we’re working toward, and I feel like we might be ahead of schedule. I had a few other things on

A throwback to 2012!

there [the list] I wanted to cross off first, so when we went, we could do it right. That way if we get our butts kicked, I can still say we did it right. Being able to see that goal everyday keeps me motivated to just keep working hard, it’ll be here sooner than later.”

The schedule changes from COVID-19 last season left the Brotys facing off with many reputable names and teams, all while still configuring a new set up and making his first freshman laps in a 410 engine. James Broty contributed the source of his drive and perseverance from a Facebook message from the late Jason Johnson, “After Jason won the Knoxville Nationals, I sent him a message [on Facebook]. In his interviews he always talked about visualizing. I said, I’m just a kid from Minnesota, wanting to make a dream

Photo: Scott Gulbrandson

Photo: Bill Taylor

happen, you always talk about this [visualizing], what do you mean by it? How can I apply this to my life? Ya know what, he responded, he talked to me about how he thought about each lap, each win. How he visualized it happening.”

One thing is very certain, regardless of the outcome of each race, the Broty Race team comprised solely of family makes each memory that much sweeter, “when you have your family behind you supporting you every night, it makes the bad nights a lot easier, but it also makes the good nights that much more fun. Sprint car racing is all I have ever known and it’s what I feel I’m meant to do; after watching how smooth and fast these guys are, carrying on the family tradition is all I’m ever going to want to do.”

BATTLE ARMOR

Shell Shock brought Broty’s Norwegian family roots to a place of constant reminder by creating this unique lid. With Eide Entreprenor from Oslo, Norway as their title sponsor, James wanted to show support not only to his roots, but to their important sponsor from across the pond. After James consulted with Shell Shock, they brought this unique Norwegian Viking/Norseman theme helmet to life. This was a special way for James to pay homage to the place Broty Racing first began when his father Scott started saving money with summer jobs to build his first kart. A dream that once started simply by painting houses has now grown into two sprint car drivers and a 1500 square foot engine shop.