11 Facts About Earl Brooks

Earl Lee Brooks was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver whose career spanned from 1962 to 1979.

Earl Brooks's career came at a time where NASCAR was less organized than it is today and drivers independently owned their vehicles from the multi-car teams that emerged during the 1970s and 1980s.

Earl Brooks experienced "top five" finishes at the 1963 South Boston 400, the 1969 Fireball 300, and the 1971 Nashville 420.

Earl Brooks managed to finish his career with three finishes in the "top five" 37 finishes in the "top ten," and has led 24 laps prior to retiring from NASCAR.

Earl Brooks has competed in 43,196 laps of professional stock car racing - the equivalent of driving 33,402.1 miles or 53,755.5 kilometres on the back country roads.

The most money that Earl Brooks would make in a single year was $34,793 back in 1969.

Earl Brooks was considered by those who watched him to be more of a dirt racer than a driver who could perform well on paved tracks; especially on intermediate tri-ovals where his average finish was a lowly 28th place compared to the 15th place average that he had on the traditional NASCAR dirt tracks.

Earl Brooks never had the money or the time attract corporate sponsors for his racing team.

Earl Brooks was enshrined in the Lynchburg Area Sports Hall of Fame prior to his death in 1997 for the hard work that he did to promote the local community in NASCAR.

Earl Brooks was a lifelong resident of Lynchburg and never left to pursue his career in a higher-profile location like Charlotte, or Daytona Beach.

Earl Brooks was buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Lynchburg.