JAMIE WEAKNECHT: Chad Brachmann...from a Fan Point of View

We all have a favorite driver. Whether that driver is still actively racing is a different story, but we all have that one guy or girl that we cheer for over anyone else. We look up to them, they're our heroes, the people we look up to. No matter how they're running, when it's race day, we're proud to display their hats, shirts, and sweatshirts, to show the world who we'll be cheering for. My personal favorite driver races weekly at a track more than five hours away from me. I've probably only seen him race 35 times in my entire life. So, what sense does it make for Chad Brachmann to be my favorite driver? As an eight-year old boy, I made my first ever trip to Super Dirt Week. I had been a die-hard fan since I was two years old. Victory lane pictures with Jack Follweiler and Richie Tobias, with myself in diapers, and home videos of myself running around as a toddler, wearing a Kenny Brightbill shirt about four-sizes larger than what I'd fit in, running around the house yelling "Big Diamond, Billy Pauch, Kenny Brightbill," and my personal favorite at the time, "wheel fall off! Get the hook!" prove my prior statement. Yet, every October for the first seven years of my life, my dad and the "Club Wago" guys would head up Syracuse for Super Dirt Week, and leave me behind. When it was time for my to finally make my maiden voyage to the historic dirt mile, I couldn't sleep out of excitement. When arriving at Super Dirt Week, despite my dad's wishes of having a good time and downing a few rum and Cokes with the guys, I wanted to watch everything from the bleachers, including the sportsman division, which otherwise my dad would've never watched. Since I didn't know many sportsman drivers from my area, let alone all the drivers that were running at Super Dirt Week, when it came time to pick who to cheer for, the sharpest paint scheme was going to be the guy to cheer on. My pick ended up being a yellow and blue number three sportsman, starting towards the front, driven by Chad Brachmann. Chad went out and dominated the race and collected the win, since I picked him, I cheered and bragged as if I'd won the race myself, and made sure to tell everyone that my favorite won the sportsman race. From then on, Chad Brachmann was my favorite sportsman driver. I'd only see him race once a year, at Super Dirt Week, but I was proud to have a favorite driver in the sportsman division that nobody knew about. However, when it came to big and small block modifieds, Kenny Brightbill was my man. I grew up liking him, he was my dad's favorite driver, and since I wanted to be like my dad, and see him happy, I'd cheer for Brightbill right alongside him. By the time 2002 came, Chad Brachmann moved up to small block modifieds, which was a division I was a much bigger fan of. While I was undoubtedly excited to see Brachmann running a division I enjoyed watching more, disappointment also filled my body. Now, I didn't have a favorite in the sportsman division, and, Chad was now going to be racing against my favorite modified driver, Kenny Brightbill. Who do I cheer for? The legend? Or the rising star? Chad Brachmann made that decision for me that off-season. After a solid run at Brewerton Speedway during Super Dirt Week, I asked to have my picture taken with Brachmann, he was more than happy to. My dad decided for Christmas that year he'd look up the Brachmann Racing website, and get me some merchandise for Christmas. When dad got ahold of Chad, he remembered who we were. Instead of dad buying the merchandise for Christmas for me, Chad saw the opportunity to help a new race fan fall even more in love with the sport. He sent me (at the time, a twelve year old boy) a t-shirt, hat, and a personalized autographed picture. While drivers have been nice to me in the past, nobodies ever done anything like that for me. Instantly, Chad Brachmann surpassed Kenny Brightbill as my favorite modified driver. The next season, Chad remembered who I was, and whenever he'd see us, he'd make sure to say hello and ask how we were doing. Despite being an annoying little kid, he'd always make time to talk to me, show me the car, and introduce me to the crew. His personality didn't change when he moved up to big block modifieds, when he started running the Super Dirt Series, when he took over the H&H Motorsports ride, when he claimed his first modified track championship. He continued to be a class-act, and continued to get me involved in racing. Chad Brachmann helped make me the obsessed super-fan I am today. While I was a young fan before, after that Christmas, I started following dirt modifieds throughout the east coast, not just at my home tracks of Big Diamond Raceway and Grandview Speedway. After becoming a Chad Brachmann fan, the crew I go to the races with started attending tracks we never had before up in New York, attending races at tracks at Ransomville, Fonda, Fulton, Cayuga, Rolling Wheels, Canandaigua, and so on. As I've grown up from the annoying little kid, to the annoying college student, Chad Brachmann continues to be a hero to me. From posing for pictures with me, to always answering my e-mailed questions, to giving us Pizza Logs at our Club Wago parties, to pointing out my freshman fifteen, to being my partner for last year's Super Dirt Week big wheel races, he's gone from being a sportsman driver with the sharpest paint scheme, to someone I call a friend. The racing world needs more drivers like Chad Brachmann to help bring young fans into the racing world. Personalities who understand how to attract young people to the sport, and give them someone to cheer for. Taking a couple seconds a night and being sure to actually talk to a young fan, give them the opportunity to connect with a driver, give them someone to cheer for, give them someone to get excited about going to see. Todays elementary school students are the people who are pivotal in making dirt racing succeed into the future.