Dirt sticks with him

Published 12:27 am Thursday, March 17, 2011

Earlier this month, veteran dirt track racer Chip Brindle drove his first super late model race for car owner Norman Bryson, finishing fourth in the Modoc 100 at Modoc (S.C.) Speedway.

The 25-year-old Brindle — who grew up watching his father, Leon Brindle, enjoy regular success at North Georgia Speedway and other tracks across the Southeast — said he and Bryson were elated with the top-five finish at Modoc.

But this past weekend at Cleveland (Tenn.) Speedway, the younger Brindle failed to qualify for the 16th Southern All-Stars Shamrock feature event. Brindle said he returned to his shop in Chatsworth and worked on the car until 3:30 a.m. Sunday, awoke at 6 a.m. and got “back at it,” trying to figure out what kept him out of Saturday night’s $10,000-to-win race.

“We just had no traction in the corners,” Brindle said. “The rear tires kept spinning and we couldn’t get off the corners.”

However, Brindle resolved his traction problem and bounced back the next day by qualifying on the pole and finishing fourth in the SLM “Ultimate March Madness” feature race at Cherokee Speedway in Gaffney, S.C.

The even-keeled Brindle, like any other driver, is well aware of the roller coaster ride on a long dirt-track schedule over the course of a year.

He opened the season by winning the crate late model feature in the Ice Bowl at a short track in Talladega, Ala. After that strong showing, Brindle, a 2004 graduate of Murray County High School who spent the next two years attending the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C., finished seventh, 10th and seventh on successive nights at East Bay (Fla.) Raceway, all in crate division races.

“It’s aggravating,” Brindle said of the ups and downs of dirt-track racing. “But Saturday was just our second Super Late Model race and that kind of thing is expected. It’s a whole different playing field. We’ve got a good relationship going with the guys working on the Bryson Motorsports team. We’ll just keep working to get things right.”

Brindle’s next scheduled race is Saturday in the “Cash Cow 100” at Columbus (Miss.) Speedway, a World of Outlaws event that will pay $20,000 to the winner. Those are the type of events Bryson had in mind when he hired Brindle to drive his cars.

“I bought my car first last year and had a guy driving for me on a part-time basis,” Bryson said. “I wanted a full-time driver. I asked Eric (Cooley) if he knew of anyone who he thought would be a good driver for me. He told me about Chip Brindle. I talked with Chip and he started driving for me.

“Chip cares about my equipment; he takes care of it and understands racing. I love him and his family and he’s like a son to me. He does everything with the car. He works on it, cleans it and then drives it.”

The 43-year-old Bryson, a general contractor from Douglasville in his second year as a car owner, drove dirt-track cars as a teenager and his father, Wallace Bryson, 82, still attends races.

“Dad grew up running moonshine, and that’s how a lot of guys from that generation evolved into racing,” said Norman Bryson, who recently completed a $6 million project rebuilding a Nashville, Tenn., post office that was severely damaged by floodwaters.

“I don’t have time to drive anymore because I do jobs — we do a lot of commercial projects and erect a lot of cell towers in the U.S., Mexico, Colombia and Central America. I also own a law firm, which does a lot of collection business all over the world — but I still love racing and we’re serious about it.”

Bryson expects to spend “something in the range of” $200,000 on his three-car racing venture this season and his future plans all include Brindle as his driver.

“My expectation is to have Chip run the Lucas Oil Series in 2012,” Bryson said. “I want to get a set-up guy to work full-time with Chip and we need that one piece in place to be competitive.”

Brindle has been a viable competitor since he drove his first dirt-track car at age 15 after spending a few years in go-karts. He won his first track championship in 1994 in the rookie class at Airport Mini Speedway in Jasper. Brindle won Hobby titles in 2002 and 2003, winning a combined 25 races.

Four years later he won rookie of the year honors and the Ice Bowl championship in Talladega. In 2008, he captured the NeSmith Dirt Late Model championship.

Brindle is grateful be in the driver’s seat for Bryson Motorsports and wants to make the most of a golden opportunity.

“My goal was always to drive on the NASCAR circuit,” Brindle said. “I would still love to do it, but right now Norman is giving me the chance to go against some of the best drivers out there. We’re spending a lot of money and I’m racing for a living. That’s a good thing. I feel like I’m a lucky man to be doing that.”

In 2010, Brindle — who married his high school sweetheart, Rachel Williams, just over a year ago (she now teaches at Spring Place Elementary School) — had a less than spectacular season and finished 11th in the NeSmith national points race with 938 points. Cooley, the guy who put Brindle on Bryson’s radar, won the title with 1,902 points.

After that so-so season, Brindle’s career appears to be back on the fast track, and he climbs into the car each weekend with a renewed vigor about what he’s doing.

“I jokingly told dad I should slap him for getting me into racing,” Brindle said. “But I love it to death. I can’t get it out of my system, I can’t shake it and it probably should be illegal. I really hope this year will be a good one.”