Richard "Dick" Brooks was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500. Brooks held off veteran Buddy Baker by 7.2 seconds for the Talladega win. After he retired, he served as a NASCAR sportscaster for a brief period of time. His Grand National Statistics include the win at Talladega Superspeedway, 57 top fives, 150 top tens, 4 top ten point finishes, and 358 career races. Although Brooks only won one NASCAR race, he was a popular figure in that particular league of motorsports. Driving for the underfunded Junie Donlavey team, Brooks finished 10th in points in 1975 & 1976. A sixth place point finish in 1977 was the highest Brooks would finish. After finishing 8th in the points in 1978, Brooks left the Donlavey team and drove for others in 1979 & 1980. Brooks only drove five races each season in 1981 and 1982 before reuniting with Donlavey for 1983. After finishing fifth in the Daytona 500, he had several other solid runs. After four races, Brooks led the point standings for the only time in his NASCAR career. 

April 14th, 1942 in Porterville  /  Died:   Feb 1st, 2006 - apparent heart attack