Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – ELLENVILLE, NY – Last season, Brock Pinkerous and his team dipped their toe in the water of Late Model racing.
In 2024, they’re swimming for the deep end.
Pinkerous turned plenty of heads last season behind the wheel of his #555 XR1 Rocket Late Model, finishing fourth in RUSH Late Model Touring Series points on the strength of three top 5’s and five top 10’s in 16 starts.
However, it was a trip to New Stateline Speedway for their 2023 opener that really made people stand up and take notice that the 13-year-old from Ellenville, NY could wheel a Late Model.
He went out and won the RUSH Late Model Weekly Series main event, becoming the youngest in the history of the track to ever grace victory lane.
“It was just amazing to get that first win in a Late Model,” Pinkerous said. “It just meant that our hard work looked like it was going to be worth it. It just meant the support my Mom, Dad, my team and all of our sponsors had given me was starting to pay off. However, most of all, it meant that I believed in myself that I might be able to do this.”
A shot of confidence can do amazing things for any driver and Pinkerous is no exception, but that also worked to build the connection between himself and his crew chief, Russ King.
“Russ and I had a good relationship to begin with, but once he saw how hard I was trying to work at the Late Model thing, and was willing to put in the effort to be a winner, our relationship just took off,” he said. “Not only did he help with making the car better, he helped with making me better and that was the biggest thing to me. He knows these cars and he’s been taking the time to get me better with every lap I’m on track. That’s huge.”
It was also racing against his RUSH competitors that really sped up the learning process for Pinkerous. Competing against the likes of the Wonderling’s (Jeremy and Mike), Joe Martin and the like really helped the youngster.
“There are a lot of good guys that run RUSH Late Models,” he said. “I learned from drivers like Jeremy, just following him around some of these tracks in hot laps, just going off what they’d be doing and soaking up as much as I could. It just takes laps in these cars to get better and that’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
From the beginning of the season until the end, you could see a transformation in Brock.
“I’m going to be completely honest,” he said. “Last year, when we started, I’d say I was full of myself and a little too co*cky. As the season went on though, I really began to learn just how much work goes into being successful in a Late Model and buckled down. By the end of the season, I had a greater understanding and respect for the drivers who run these cars and I’m going to go into 2024 a little more humble and just try to do the best that I can.”
Over the rest of 2023, Pinkerous and the #555 team continued to get better and better and better, becoming more and more consistent and collecting multiple top 5’s and top 10 runs at a host of RUSH-sanctioned tracks.
Speedway’s like Outlaw, Georgetown and Potomac, Pittsburgh PA Motor Speedway all helped the youngster gain experience but there’s one track that he feels really gave his learning curve a big shot in the arm.
“Michael Norris is probably the best Late Model driver at Lernerville Speedway,” he said. “Last fall, we raced during the Steel City Stampede the two of us had a great battle for the main event. He threw a slider on me and I tried to go around it and he ended up bumping me off the track. It was a racing deal but every lap I made around that track showed me that if I want to get better in these cars, this is the type of track I need to race at with the caliber of drivers that compete there.”
So, for 2024, when not on the road with the team’s RUSH Late Model program, Pinkerous and crew will be touring around the Sarver, PA track, albeit in a different class.
“We had a team meeting to discuss what we should do for this coming season,” he said. “While our focus will be on chasing the RUSH Championship, we decided we should buy a Super Late Model engine and try and run that class at Lernerville as much as we can. I want to gain as much experience as possible so racing these cars any chance I get is the only way to do that.”
It’s also a track that is really familiar to his crew chief, someone who has plenty of laps at Lernerville himself.
“We might run a couple local places here and there with it, but we’re not going to travel,” he said. “We’re just going to concentrate on a place like Lernerville where Russ is comfortable and I believe he can help me get better as a driver.”
This is something Brock’s dad, Paul, was nervous about doing but believes, if taken slow, can really help his son progress as a racer.
“I’m not going to lie but I’ve had some big reservations about putting together a Super,” Paul Pinkerous said. “However, when we went to Pittsburgh (PPMS) this past year, the 604 Crate Late Model guys were actually running faster lap times than the Supers. When I saw those guys ripping around the track I thought they were flying but then on the times, we were like a tenth faster.”
It was then that Paul believed that his son could do it, and concentrating on Lernerville was key.
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“I know it was a different track and different surface, but if we run at Lernerville, with Russ there to help, I believe Brock and learn so much,” he said. “That is the track that he first raced at and I don’t know how but he really took to that place. Lernerville is a big stage where guys like Michael Norris made a name for themselves. If we can run a few races there and then maybe qualify for one of their bigger shows, we’ll have already won.”
While the team has designs on racing the Super Late Model as much as possible, Brock’s eyes are set squarely on his RUSH program for 2024.
“We’d ideally love to pick up the RUSH Championship and win every race I show up to,” Brock said. “Ultimately, I’d love to be able to get our first Series win and be in the hunt for the championship. I believe we have the team to do it and I will do everything I can possible do to give my team the best shot at being successful.”
While Pinkerous’ plans are to stay on dirt this coming season, he’s still got eyes on the future. Brock’s developing a podcast where he can bring different people from the industry into his home studio to chat and discuss the sport of racing. Also, it can show the personality of the 13-year-old who is very outgoing, especially with his fans.
“I don’t want the podcast to be about me and my racing,” he said. “I really want to bring people on who can talk about their love of racing that in turn may get kids that listen interested in the sport.”
There’s talk that one pretty big name may find his way to the podcast hosted by driver 555.
“Over the last few months, I’ve really become good friends with Rico Abreu,” he said. “We started talking a few months ago about doing some stuff together but it never quite worked out until we reconnected at Charlotte last fall. We then caught up with each other again at PRI (The Performance Racing Industry Trade Show) and talked about the show and he said he’d do it.”
The likes of Max McLaughlin and Kyle Strickler have also agreed to be on the show so big things are on the horizon for Pinkerous.
However, there’s another big piece to the puzzle that is out there.
“We have a meeting with an ARCA team that’s going to take place within the next couple of weeks,” he said. “ARCA might be the next step. I’d love to see if I can get into NASCAR because I believe that’s the ultimate goal for any racer. I mean, who doesn’t want to be a NASCAR driver so if that happens for me some day, it’d be incredible, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work. I’m ready for the challenge.”
There’s the word that Brock Pinkerous has been facing his entire racing career…challenge. He’s faced uphill battles from his first green flag. Some have been self-inflicted, but every time that happens, he’s learned from it and tried to become a better racer for it.
While his eyes are looking towards the future, Pinkerous knows the task at hand…be as consistent as possible, try and contend for wins and at the end of 2024, maybe hold the RUSH Late Model Series championship trophy.
In Brock’s words, he’s ready for the challenge.
