Brode Records Riverhead Repeat
Third Career Title At Long Island Bullring
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Howie Brode may not have had as many friends on or off the track in 2014 as he did the previous season, but that didn’t impede his pursuit and procurement a second-consecutive championship at Riverhead Raceway.
Most title defenses don’t go unchallenged. There’s an inherent elevated level of competitiveness, and even jealousy, when challengers size up the crown bearer. Brode, of East Islip, New York, experienced this first-hand.
2014 NASCAR WHELEN ALL-AMERICAN SERIES TRACK CHAMPIONS
So what was the difference for Brode in 2014 as the reigning Riverhead NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champ?
“I didn’t have a big bullseye on my back in 2013 like I did this past year,” Brode said. “I had a lot of people gunning to keep us from getting two-in-a-row, but other than that it was pretty much the same. The seasons almost mirrored themselves.”
Indeed, they mostly did. Brode won five times en route to the 2013 crown and four times this past season. Perhaps the biggest difference between the two – strictly from a numbers standpoint – was that his previous championship was clinched with two dates left on the schedule while the title chase went all the way to the finale in 2014.
As the season went along the defending champ also sensed an atmosphere of elevated competition in the paddock as well as on the track.
“There were just people giving us a hard time this year, I don’t know how else to put it,” Brode said. “If everybody was huddled around and I came up, everybody got quiet. I was kind of by myself a lot.”
Brode, who turned 51 in December, didn’t take it personally. He just turned out one top finish after another. The four wins included, Brode drove the No. 96 Peter Clark Motorsports Chevrolet to 19 top fives and top 10s in all 25 starts in the NASCAR Modified division at the Riverhead, New York, quarter-mile.
The payoff in the persistency was that Brode became the first driver to win back-to-back titles at the venerable Long Island oval since Bill Park in 2007-08. It was his third Riverhead crown overall. The first was earned in 1998, and the latest came by a 53-point margin over Tom Rogers Jr.
A mid-season sweep of twin 30-lap features cemented Brode as a contender to repeat, but it was a close-out performance in the Sept. 20 season finale that sealed the deal. He only needed to finish mid-pack to clinch, but Brode had a one-track mind entering the event. He wanted the checkered flag, and he got it.
“I had a few races taken away from me this year, maybe four or five of them, so I wasn’t going to let that happen again,” Brode said. “I was going for it. I really wasn’t paying attention to the points, I just wanted to go win that race and let the points take care of themselves.”
Brode’s repeat championship was made possible by longtime car owner Peter Clark crew chief Marty Condit. Addition crew help came from Donny Rhall and Greg Klehia, and sponsorship support was provided by Freightliner of Long Island, Fellingham’s Restaurant and On Time Trucking.
Brode may live, work and race on Long Island, but he’s not on an island when it comes to his family’s involvement in motorsports. His father, also named Howie, competed at the former Islip Speedway and provided an influence that eventually drew the younger Howie to the sport. A third generation is also now involved as Brode’s 10-year-old son, Matthew, races champ karts at Riverhead and Poughkeepsie Raceway.
What does that mean for Brode, a middle-aged racer with a son hoping to rise through the ranks?
“According to him, he’s ready for me to stop and for him to get into the car,” Brode joked. “As soon as he gets old enough I think he’s probably going to take over for me hopefully. But I’m going to do this as long as I can. I don’t foresee stopping for a while, so we’ll have to add a car for him when he gets old enough I guess.”
That statement implies that Brode is all-in in a bid to win a third-consecutive championship at Riverhead in 2015, something only Don Howe has previously accomplished (1993-95) during the track’s Whelen All-American Series era.
In addition to going for three-in-a-row at Riverhead, Brode also hopes to once again compete in both NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour dates at his home track. The veteran has 16 top 10s in 57 career starts since 1998 as a part-time tour competitor.
Brode’s 2014 accomplishments were recognized alongside each of the 58 track champions from across North America at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards on Dec. 12 in the Charlotte (North Carolina) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
Sources: Jason Cunningham/NASCAR PR