Jerett Brooks Wins Big in Pro 2 Debut

In what was easily the most anticipated race of Jerett Brooks’ career, the 19 year-old rookie decided that he wasn’t going to just dip his toes in or get his feet wet, so to speak. Instead he dove in head-first against the best short-course off road drivers in the world. With 3 practice sessions on Friday that showed that Jerett would indeed have the speed to battle with the best to go along with a respectable 5th place qualifying run, Jerett felt confident. The crew has worked for 6 months on a complete rebuild of the 8 year-old Steve Barlow-built race truck and all of the hard work paid off in a big way on Saturday in Round 1.

With a 6-truck inversion, Jerett would start on the outside of row 1 next to Bryce Menzies. As the green flag dropped, Jeremy McGrath made a quick pass on the inside of turn 1 and Jerett settled into 3rd position. He’d run his lines for the duration of the opening laps. With Brian Deegan behind Jerett in 4th, and defending Pro 2 champion Rob MacChachren in 5th place, Jerett was amongst the very drivers he’s been looking up to since he was a kid. After a close fought battle within the top 3 with Menzies and McGrath, Jerett managed to close in on McGrath with only a handful of laps to go. Jerett made a dive on McGrath in the right hander and eventually got around. With only a couple of laps to go, Jerett and Menzies battled through the right hander and around turn 4. Unable to get by, Jerett followed the veteran Menzies and stalked him for another lap. In the same sequence as the lap prior, Jerett managed to pull up next to Menzies in turn 3 setting up a turn 4 pass for the ages. On the outside, Jerett managed to hang on as him and Menzies both held it wide through turn 4 banging doors.

Carnage ensued on the exit and Menzies spun through the infield. As the white flag waved, Jerett held the lead with MacCachren and McGrath behind him. Right rear flat, no brakes, and the big dogs right chasing him to the finish, Jerett manages to hold his lead and finishes his very first Pro 2 race with the win!

After the race, Jerett had this to say: “I’m just speechless right now.. I can’t believe we just won our very first Pro 2 race. The team has put so much into this truck throughout the entire offseason including our final test with our brand new motor on Easter Sunday. After a good qualifying run, we got to start on the front row and I just knew I had to run my lines. I threw everything I had at these veteran drivers and went for it. I can’t thank my team enough.. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I did without them. And my sponsors have been huge in this. From General Tire, Bilstein, KMC Wheels, Rigid, and everyone else that supports my program. It’s such an amazing feeling to go out and win for them.”

Capping off a great day after taking 2nd in the Pro Lite class in the Rigid Industries #77, Jerett is confident and motivated going forward. The Pro Lite felt great and he picked up where he left off last October. Jerett knows it’s a long season, and there will be bumps along the way. That’s to be expected racing two classes with stacked fields in each. But the momentum is building quickly and hopefully he can stay up front and drive with the best.. where he belongs.

Round 2 of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series kicks of on Sunday, April 23rd at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, AZ. Opening ceremonies start at 2:00pm.

Jerett Brooks Sponsors include include General Tire, Rigid Industries, Bilstein Shocks, KMC Wheels, Maxima Racing Oils, Optima Batteries, FK Rod Ends, K2 Coolers, Black Rhino Performance, Magnaflow Exhaust, Factory Canopies, Fortin Racing, Casper’s Concrete Busters, Eibach Springs, Howe Performance, Kroyer Racing Engines,Jones Racing Performance,Camburg, NoGrady Racing Engines, Adidas Motorsport, and Impact Safety.