CHICO, Calif. – After a solid rookie sprint car campaign in California last year, Landon Brooks deployed a wise saying toward his approach to 2022—to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.
“I sat down and said if I want to be the next Shane Golobic or one of the guys out here that are really good, I have to run with them,” Brooks said. “To develop and be a great driver, that’s kind of what I felt like I have to do.”
Brooks’ schedule for this year reflects that mindset. While the Yuba City, Calif. native spent much of 2021 racing local 360 sprint car events at Placerville Speedway in Rick Spencer’s No. 34, Brooks and Spencer intend to chase a traveling series championship in the form of the Sprint Car Challenge Tour 360 sprint car series this season.
Another important avenue opened in Brooks’ racing career this past weekend. A phone call from Jim and Annette Vanlare presented the graduate of the Red Bluff, Calif. Outlaw Kart ranks an opportunity to hone his talents in a 410 sprint car against some of California’s toughest competition. The Vanlares, owners of the No. 5v sprint car, invited Brooks to race a pair of nights with a 410 under the hood at Chico, Calif.’s Silver Dollar Speedway.
Brooks, who only had two 410 starts under his belt before this past weekend, took full advantage to show he’s a name to watch and hopes the chance leads to more opportunities to contend with the region’s best sprint car drivers.
“They kind of just called me on the spot and asked me if I’d like to run some 410 stuff with them,” Brooks explained. “It kind of just happened in a day or two, and those two races we ran was kind of like a trial run to see how we went and we did pretty good.”
Brooks got off to a strong start on Friday by timing in second quick in his qualifying group ahead of names like Ryan Bernal, Tim Kaeding and Bud Kaeding. He went on to lock it into the dash and ultimately ended the night with a solid 11th-place result.
On Saturday, Brooks, making just his third appearance with the NARC Fujitsu General Sprint Cars, qualified a stout fifth out of 30 entries. Brooks again made the dash and lined up third for the feature. While he faded to 13th late, the teenager spent over half the race battling inside the top-three against the top talent the West Coast has to offer.
It’s rare to see a new driver-team combination compete at such a high level with NARC, especially a driver with such limited 410 experience. So, outside of Brooks’ skills, what went in to such a stout debut?
“I know that Colby Copeland also drives for them (Vanlare), and I think that him and I kind of have similar driving styles,” Brooks explained. “Jim has worked with him for a long time, so he kind of just did what he does with Colby, and it pretty much worked for me. The car ran really well. It was a great time, and hopefully we can keep doing it a lot more.”
Fortunately for Brooks, the inaugural outing has already led to his goal of more seat time. He plans to drive the No. 5v with NARC at next weekend’s two-night Peter Murphy Classic.
“We’re planning on running Tulare (Thunderbowl Raceway) and Hanford (Keller Auto Speedway) next weekend,” Brooks said.
After next weekend, Brooks and Vanlare don’t have any other 410 races penciled in quite yet as they plan to look ahead and pick and choose some dates that don’t conflict with Brooks’ obligations in Spencer’s car as they pursue the SCCT title and other major 360 events.
Whenever he does get the opportunity to climb back in the No. 5v, Brooks has high hopes for more impressive drives. If his strength and consistency at Silver Dollar Speedway is any indicator, he’ll be a common sight at the front as he continues to make a name for himself on the bullrings of California.
“If everything keeps going well, we’re going to try to race around my schedule with the No. 34 and race as much as we can. We’re still seeing how things go. We’re new to each other, but it’s gone really well, so hopefully it can keep going.”
Keyword: Brooks Impresses In Chico