By Joshua Slate
Parker Brookfield, a 24-year-old Legends car racer from Richmond, VA is a mechanical engineer by day and a racecar driver by Saturday night at Dominion Raceway.
Brookfield currently sits 10th in points three races into the season but looks to keep chipping away and soon find victory lane.
Through high school, Parker and late model driver Mason Bailey worked together at a country club. After keeping in contact with Bailey for a couple years, Brookfield said, “…he asked if I wanted to help with his race team to start getting ready for the season at Southside and I fell in love with the sport.” He always had a passion for racing and after a few UCAR starts, he bought a Legends car and that’s where it all began.
With grassroots racing, comes a lot of great role models. When asked who his role model was, Brookfield said, “Bubba Pollard, the super late model phenom, is a great example of a role model. He’s been doing this for a while and he is known as one of the “elites” of the sport. When he says something, everyone respects and listens to him whether he is right or wrong.” He continued by saying, “I like the way he goes about racing; he races very clean but hard when he needs to. I think the way he races goes a long way with respect.”
In oval track racing, the numbers on the door of the cars typically carry a very special meaning, for Brookfield this number shows respect to one of his favorite racers. His number is 26b, just like the No. 26 that Pollard runs on his cars. “I’ve been following him for a while and I didn’t want to steal his number so we used the 26 and threw a “B” at the end for Brookfield,” he joked. He loves his style and the kind of person he is, one day hoping to find the success Pollard has had.
Parker Brookfield (26) racing at Dominion Raceway
The driver of the No. 26b Legends car spends lots of time in the shop with his brother, Grant. Their inseparable bond creates a really great work environment.
“I took to racing earlier than he did so I was kind’ve just dragging Grant to the racetrack and he wasn’t huge into it but in the last couple years, especially with me driving now, he’s full into it. It’s just so awesome to have the support of my brother on the spotter stand but also in the shop. It’s really a blessing to have him part of the team,” Parker said about working with his brother.
In his first race at Dominion Raceway in 2020, Parker qualified second by one thousandth of a second and said they raced fairly well, but ultimately did not get the finish they would’ve liked. While being able to race, he was also able to be up on the spotters stand for one of his best friends at the track which made this weekend his favorite memory at Dominion thus far.
When he is not in the shop readying his car for the weekend ahead, Brookfield enjoys spending time with his girlfriend or racing on iRacing. “I also like to play golf,” he added. “During the offseason I picked up the clubs and tried to remember how to play golf again.”
Parker is determined and has set some big goals for himself not only this season, but for years down the road. “I think my short-term goal in racing is obviously to win a race. This is really our first season where we are putting 110% into it. We got the car working so I think we have a really good chance to start winning races here soon,” he said.
When looking at long term goals, Brookfield said, “I’d like to be racing for as long as it is financially viable. It’s such a beautiful sport and I love driving. Even when I’m not driving, I just love being around race cars.”
