- Dick Brooks
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For the magician, see Dick Brooks (entertainer).
Richard Brooks Born April 14, 1942
Porterville, CaliforniaDied February 1, 2006 (aged 63) Cause of death Pneumonia Awards 1969 Rookie of the Year NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career 358 races run over 17 years Best finish 6th - 1977 Winston Cup Series season First race 1969 Daytona 500 Qualifier #1 (Daytona) Last race 1985 Coca-Cola World 600 (Charlotte) First win 1973 Talladega 500 (Talladega) Last win 1973 Talladega 500 (Talladega) Wins Top tens Poles 1 150 0 Richard "Dick" Brooks (April 14, 1942 – February 1, 2006) was 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. After he retired, he served as a NASCAR sportscaster for a brief period of time.
1983 racecar
1984 racecarHis Grand National 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, Brooks finished 10th in points in 1975 & 1976. A sixth place point finish in 1977 was the highest Brooks would finish. After finishing 8th in the points in 1978, Brooks left the Donlavey team and drove for others in 1979 & 1980.
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, Dick Brooks led the point standings for the only time in his NASCAR career. The rest of the season was not as good though and Brooks faded to 14th at season 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 complications from a plane crash in late 2004, Dick Brooks died of pneumonia on February 1, 2006.
NASCAR Rookies of the Year Sprint Cup 1954: Pitt | 1957: Rush | 1958: Rollins | 1959: R. Petty | 1960: D. Pearson | 1961: Wilson | 1962: Cox | 1963: Wade | 1964: Cooper | 1965: McQuagg | 1966: Hylton | 1967: Do. Allison | 1968: P. Hamilton | 1969: Brooks | 1970: Dennis | 1971: Ballard | 1972: L. Smith | 1973: Pond | 1974: Ross | 1975: B. Hill | 1976: Manning | 1977: Rudd | 1978: Thomas | 1979: Earnhardt | 1980: Ridley | 1981: R. Bouchard | 1982: G. Bodine | 1983: Marlin | 1984: R. Wallace | 1985: Schrader | 1986: Kulwicki | 1987: Da. Allison | 1988: K. Bouchard | 1989: Trickle | 1990: Moroso | 1991: B. Hamilton | 1992: Hensley | 1993: Gordon | 1994: J. Burton | 1995: Craven | 1996: Benson | 1997: Skinner | 1998: Irwin | 1999: Stewart | 2000: Kenseth | 2001: Harvick | 2002: Newman | 2003: McMurray | 2004: Kahne | 2005: Ky. Busch | 2006: Hamlin | 2007: Montoya | 2008: Smith | 2009: Logano | 2010: Conway | 2011: LallyNationwide Series 1989: K. Wallace | 1990: Nemechek | 1991: J. Gordon | 1992: Craven | 1993: H. Sadler | 1994: Benson | 1995: J. Fuller | 1996: G. Allen, Jr. | 1997: Park | 1998: Santerre | 1999: Raines | 2000: Harvick | 2001: Biffle | 2002: Riggs | 2003: Stremme | 2004: Ky. Busch | 2005: C. Edwards | 2006: O'Quinn | 2007: Ragan | 2008: Cassill | 2009: Allgaier | 2010: Stenhouse, Jr.Camping World Truck Categories:- 1942 births
- 2006 deaths
- 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
- American racecar drivers
- Deaths from myocardial infarction
- Motorsport announcers
- NASCAR drivers
- NASCAR owners
- NASCAR Rookies of the Year
- People from Tulare County, California
- Racecar drivers from California
- Sportspeople from California
- NASCAR people stubs
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