One of the all-time greats in Dirt-Track Auto Racing, Kenny Brighbill (DOB: January 20, 1948) of Sinking Springs, Pennsylvania, had what was a remarkable 50-year (1968-2017) career competing in Modifieds, Late-Models, Sprint Cars, SpeedSTRs and in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. And when it was all said and done, he had won an amazing 426 main events at 42 tracks.
Brightbill’s first exposure to Stock Car Racing was in 1956 when the eager 8-year-old (the youngest of 10 children) was taken to the old half-mile-dirt Reading (PA) Fairgrounds to see the Flathead-powered Coupes of the early-1930s competing in the “Jalopy Races” put on by the Reading Stock Car Association.
Then as an 18-year-old in 1966 he lied about his age to get into the pits – you had to be 21 then – and he did some volunteer crew work on what were now the early series of RSCA Modified Stock Cars. And after gaining some experience in that role, he built himself his first Modified.
This machine was created from a well-used 1937 Ford 5-Window Coupe with a roll cage, seat and front axle purchased for $35 and its 4-barrel-carburetor-equipped Small-Block Chevy V-8 was built from a discarded engine block.
Brightbill then did a bit of racing in 1968 with what he designated as his No. 19; his age when he bought the car. But to keep his activities from his mother who didn’t want him to race, he had to hide his pride and joy at his brother-in-law’s house.
All of this, though, was a good experience for the young racer who built a fuel-injected Big-Block Chevy V-8-powered 1936 Chevrolet Sedan for Reading in 1969. And with this unpainted No. 19 RSCA Modified he: won his first heat race on Friday night May 23; was making the feature-race line-up with some regularity; and, was named “Rookie of the Year.”
But things really got going for Brightbill in 1970 when in his fifth start on Friday night April 17 he won his first Reading feature with his No. 19 to become, at age 22, the youngest driver in track history to triumph there. And his efforts at “The Home of Champions” soon found him driving Bob Wertz’s No. 57 Pleasant Hills Golf Course 1936 Chevrolet Sedan (1970-1972); a top ride which became the No. 19 in 1973.
All of this, of course, was a prelude to Brightbill’s outstanding career at Reading where he won an all-time-record of 135 feature races, had 303 top-five finishes and 352 top-10s. He was also a four-time (1974 and 1976-1978) Reading Modified Champion and a four-time (1974- 1975 and 1977-1978) winner of the prestigious Daniel Boone 200.
And on Saturday night Oct. 6, 1973, just like the legendary “Mr. Modified” Al Tasnady did in 1963, Brightbill swept Reading’s 4-25’s Racing Program in his 427-Chevy-powered No. 19 Ford Pinto.
Brightbill was the Modified Champion at: New Jersey’s old Flemington (1978) and East Windsor (1997-1999) Speedways; the then-five-eights-mile Bridgeport (NJ) Speedway (1973); and, the 358-Modified Champion at Pennsylvania’s Big Diamond Raceway (1991) in Minersville and Penn National Speedway (1993-1994) in Grantville.
But of all the wins in his illustrious Dirt-Track Modified career, two stand out: his 1983 triumph in the $50,000-to-win 125-miler at the old 1-mile Nazareth (PA) National Motor Speedway and his Super DIRT Week 300k victory at the old 1-mile-dirt New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, New York.
Both of these were important victories. But Brightbill’s triumph at Syracuse with Eugene Mills’ No. 30 Blue Hen Racing Team also had a historic footnote to it as it was accomplished with a car that Brightbill built in his race shop six weeks before Super DIRT Week and that made him the last driver to win this premier event in Northeast Dirt-Track Modified Stock Car Racing in a car that he designed and built.
However, it would be wrong to think that the 1981 MODCAR Champion’s only success was in Dirt-Track Modifieds as he was also a winner in Dirt-Track Late-Model Stock Car Racing.
When Brightbill first competed in with the National Dirt Track Racing Association (NDRA) in 1979, though, his white and red No. 19 Chevrolet Camaro had a little different look to it as the chassis under this nicely-trimmed/full-bodied Late-Model was built with a great deal of Dirt-Track Modified technology.
But as soon as Brightbill began racing with this national-touring group he was very competitive in the big-money/100-lap races with $100,000 purses that attracted at least 50 cars. And during 1982-1986 – when he raced with more-updated technology, like the Howe Chassis/Malcuit Racing Engines ride – he won 13 main events.
Brightbill’s last years of competition (2013-2017), though, saw him try a new style of Open Wheel Racing; USAC SpeedSTRs on the Action Track USA at the Kutztown (PA) Fairgrounds.
A driver’s car about the size of a regular Midget, it fit well with the 65-year-old Brightbill’s many cockpit skills and in his No. 19 – which he admits was a lot easier to get in and out of than one of his Modifieds – he won the track’s first championship. And in 2015 the fans voted him their “Most Popular Driver.”
The 1980 Eastern States 200 winner at Orange County (NY) Fair Speedway also raced in six NASCAR’s Winston Cup Series events with his best performances being: 10th in the 1974 Purolator 500 at the 2.5-mile Pocono (PA) International Raceway in Vic Ballard’s No. 30 1974 Chevrolet; eighth in the 1974 Delaware 500 at 1-mile Dover (DE) International Speedway in Norris Reed’s No. 83 1973 Chevrolet; and, seventh in the 1975 Mason-Dixon 500 at Dover in Junie Donleavy’s No. 93 1973 Ford.
A low-key racer known as “Mr. Excitement” who was built like an NFL Linebacker and had nine great seasons (1994-2002) driving Ray Carroll’s No. 19 Tabloid Graphics Modifieds, Brightbill was truly one of the good ones; a position endorsed by his additional inductions into the Northeast Dirt Track (2001), National Dirt Late-Model (2012) and New York Stock Car Association (2015) Halls of Fame.
But more than that, Kenny Brightbill was a professional racer who: worked hard at what he did; learned from others and from his own mistakes: and, was always determined to do his best he could every time out.
Yet, maybe the most-important thing about the universally-popular driver is that no matter where he ran or what type of event that he was in, he always gave his fellow competitors the necessary room for them to run their race. And that kind of demeanor in the high-energy atmosphere of Dirt-Track Auto Racing is the true mark of a champion. |
