Dick Brooks dies at 63

Lone career win brought tears of joy for former racer, announcer

Californian Dick Brooks, who created a legacy as a popular Winston Cup driver who went on to parlay that notoriety into a successful career as a radio broadcaster, businessman and humanitarian, died Wednesday at his home near Spartanburg, S.C.

Inside the Numbers Dick Brooks' career Starts 358 Wins 1 Top-5s 57 Top-10s 150 Poles 0 Laps Led 665 Avg. Start 15.0 Avg. Finish 17.3 Earnings $1,250,299

Brooks, 63, of Porterville, Calif., scored his only Cup victory in the 1973 Talladega 500, the second race of the season at the track now known as Talladega Superspeedway.

Talladega Superspeedway president Grant Lynch, formerly an executive with R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's public relations and marketing division, Sports Marketing Enterprises, offered condolences on behalf of the track to Brooks' family and his fans.

"Not only was Dick Brooks a great race car driver, but he was a close personal friend of many of us who worked at R.J. Reynolds," Lynch said. "My fondest memories of Dick are the times we used to fly to and from races with him and [MRN Radio anchor] Barney Hall.

"We had a lot of fun times in those days, and without a doubt he will be missed by all who knew him."

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Brooks' NASCAR career began in 1969 at Daytona International Speedway, and he competed later that season in the first NASCAR-sanctioned event at the former Alabama International Motor Speedway, finishing fifth.

During a career that spanned 17 years and 358 starts, Brooks posted 150 top-10 and 57 top-five finishes. His Talladega victory on Aug. 12, 1973, marked his only visit to Victory Lane in NASCAR's top series.

According to the book 25 Years of Talladega Superspeedway by Clyde Bolton, former motorsports writer for the Birmingham News newspaper in Alabama, Brooks was so moved by the win that he literally cried tears of joy.

"All of a sudden I started snubbing," Brooks recalled to Bolton. "I was crying, and I couldn't even see the turn. That's the reason I went around an extra lap when it was over.

"I didn't want to come to Victory Lane and have everybody see me like that. I've wanted it so long."

According to the history book, Brooks arrived at the track that week only to find that the car he was supposed to drive was not ready. However it turned out on Friday that Georgia natives Pete and Jimmy Crawford needed a driver.

Although that particular car had never finished better than 16th and Brooks had not had a regular ride in two years, he surprised everyone that race weekend when everything went his way.

At the time, Brooks was in the process of financing his own team as he had done few years prior. The winnings from the Talladega victory gave him the extra push he needed, and in the last six races he ran that year, the last two were as a driver/owner.

In addition, he went on to run 16 races for his own team in 1974 before rejoining forces with veteran owner W.C. "Junie" Donlavey in 1975.

Brooks worked for a number of years in the 1990s as an announcer on MRN Radio broadcasts, where he often wore a pair of signature blue jean overalls.

In recent years, Brooks survived a couple accidents, including a motorcycle crash and an incident in a small aircraft while he taxied on a landing strip on his South Carolina property.