Brinkley Switches Gears from Driver to Crew Chief for 2012

NASCAR PR Report

Sanford, NC(March 30, 2012) — Knowing when to switch gears comes naturally to race car drivers. Brad Brinkley is an expert at shifting through cycles on and off the track. For the third consecutive season Brinkley is changing his racing focus to start the season.

Last year Brinkley, 37, of Sanford, N.C., returned to full-time driving and won his second NASCAR Late Model division championship at Caraway Speedway, a .455-mile paved oval in Asheboro, N.C.

The 2012 season dawns with Brinkley stepping out of the driver’s seat again, and taking on a new role as crew chief and mentor for driver Harrison Rhodes at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va.

Caraway will kick off its season Saturday with the Spring Classic 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour – postponed from last week – and a slate of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races that include twin Late Model features. Brinkley’s new track, Motor Mile, also opens Saturday with a card headlined by a 150-lap Late Model race.

In recent years there have been twists, turns and some bumps in the road for Brinkley, his wife Tara and their family.

Instead of returning to Caraway to defend his 2006 Late Model championship in 2007, Brinkley reduced his schedule. His family roles took priority over his duties as a racing owner-driver. When it made sense to return to full-time racing at Caraway in 2009, he was a contender again and finished second in points.

After a competitive start to the 2010 season, Brinkley made a decision to stop racing and sell his race car. His infant son Bryson required surgery to correct potentially brain-damaging skull formation. The surgery was a success, but staph infection and serious illness followed. It took six months, but Bryson, now 2, fully recovered. The Brinkleys have two additional children including Morgan, 13, and budding Bandolero driver Blaise, 9.

For 2011, friend Tommy Smith offered a car and sponsorship from his Smith Residential Builders to get Brinkley back on track.

“We planned to race on a week-to-week basis on a really tight budget,” Brinkley said. “We had a surprisingly great year.”

Brinkley won the 2011 Caraway track championship based on consistency. While he didn’t win a feature, he posted 10 top-fives and 17 top-10s in 17 starts. He won the track title by 42 points over Dan Moore Jr.

At season’s end, Brinkley and Smith’s championship combination concluded with the sale of the race car.

For the big races last fall, Brinkley became a crewman for Rhodes, a young Late Model driver, in races at Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Speedway, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va. Rhodes brought home a sixth-place finish at Motor Mile and fourth-place at Myrtle Beach. Brinkley’s racing knowledge and his chemistry with the Rhodes team sealed his position as crew chief for 2012.

Rhodes made nine starts that produced four top-fives and seven top-10s at Motor Mile in 2011. His best finish was fourth-place twice, and he placed 10th in Late Model track points. He plans a full season effort at the track this year.

“I have to back-burner my own racing for a while, but I still get to go to the track every week with a great team,” Brinkley said. “Harrison has a good feel for a race car. He knows what he wants and our thoughts usually match.

“I’m 37 and I think I still have a few good years left in me as a driver. If I don’t get to drive again, then I’ll have gone out a champion,” Brinkley said.

In addition to his two Late Model titles, Brinkley won the NASCAR Mini-Stock division championship at Caraway in 1996. He began his career there in 1993.