Brooks was born with a love of the automobile. He bought his first car at the age of sixteen by working summers on a New England farm. He grew to appreciate motorcycles while stationed in Japan with the Air Force. Upon returning to the USA, he indulged both his car and motorcycle interests. Then he started racing… Brooks is a former national racing champion. driving Lotus formula cars. He later went on to own and manage a highly successful team (Brooks Racing) for Ford Motorsports. Brooks' team unveiled the slogan “Have you Driven a Ford lately?” on his race cars. Some of his drivers have included European National Touring Car Champion: Klaus Ludwig of Germany, Bobby Rahal, Scott Pruett, and Willy T. Ribbs. Brooks also owned/managed a racing team for the Chevrolet division of GM. See Camaro photo below in scrapbook. Brooks has also participated as a team owner in the 24 Heures du Le Mans in France with driver Bobby Rahal. Brooks driving his Porsche RS in the race at Laguna Seca during the Concours d'Elegance. See photo below. While taking time away from racing, he has raised Arabian horses...never completely abandoning "horsepower", pardon our pun. Brooks is an avid race fan, and still enjoys all forms of motorsport.