Milton Pro Trucks Driver Brandon Burks Enjoying Go-Kart Racing with Sons During COVID-19

Milton Pro Trucks Driver Brandon Burks

Enjoying Go-Kart Racing with Sons During COVID-19

 

By Chuck Corder

In this new self-isolated reality, local drivers are finding innovative ways to hone their skills.

Most have turned to virtual racing and gaming platforms to keep their instincts sharp.

Others, such as WCIparts.com Pro Trucks driver Brandon Burks have gone back to their roots quite literally to pass the time during the COVID-19 pandemic. The 27-year-old wheelman is hopping in go-karts on a small dirt track in his Milton backyard. And, he’s always sure to bring some competition with him.

“I’ve got two young boys, and we’re just making laps during the day,” said Burks of his 5-year-old son Spencer and two-year-old toddler Bentley.

Spencer, like his daddy, is adjusting to life without short-track racing. Just as the elder Burks’ season has been delayed at Five Flags Speedway because of the virus, Spencer Burks’ inaugural year racing go-karts at Oak Grove in Baker has been shelved for the foreseeable future.

Five Flags officials, led by General Manager Tim Bryant, continue to monitor all local and state guidelines for public safety. An adjusted schedule is pending and will be released once it is determined that the track can offer a safe environment for drivers, fans, and employees.

“We’re taking it one day at a time just like everybody else,” Burks said. “I’m ready for the world to get back to normal just so we can sit down and eat somewhere, much less get back to racing. But there’s nothing I can do, so I’m embracing it.

“Thanks to the Bryant family for giving us a place to race eventually.”

Burks started racing at the famed half-mile asphalt oval when he was 14, coming up in the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks class before climbing to The Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen division and finally elevating to Pro Trucks in 2015.

No matter the series, he has never missed competing in the Snowball Derby for more than a decade now.

“I’m having a ton of fun,” Burks said. “It’s fun in a totally different way than (Pure Stocks) cars. Most of our (Pro Trucks) races were green flags wire-to-wire. It says a lot about the talent of the drivers in this class and the respect we have for one another.”

After a few years of growing pains in his truck, Burks came into his own last season. He finished second in points to Josh Hicks, attributing much of his success to teammate Chris Cotto.

Cotto, who won the Faith Chapel Outlaws track championship a season ago, helps Burks out on racing night and it’s Cotto’s shop in Milton where Burks keeps his No. 12 truck.

“It’s a testament to what we’ve done,” Burks said. “Our whole program has been making huge strides.

“We still are working very hard to get better and better. We definitely stepped it up last year, and we were going to the track to try and win races instead of just riding around. I feel like (Hicks and other drivers) knew we were there last year.”

Burks & Co. continued to make improvements in the offseason. They completely rebuilt the truck to upgrade their technology, and Burks brought on board a new sponsor – A-1 Home Inspections – on the hood of his truck to go along with longtime sponsor West Florida Coatings.

He and his crew that includes his father John Burks, grandfather John Hutchins, Cotto and a few friends were hard at work in March, just a few days before the season’s first yellow flag flew in the form of COVID-19.

“We were working night and day to get the truck done right until the virus hit,” said Burks, who works as a mechanic for Gulf Power. “I’m raring to go and hoping to go race soon. When that day eventually comes, I hope everybody will keep a calm head, and not destroy the world getting into Turn 1 on Lap