Richard Broome is is a semi-retired dragracer, mechanic and crew chief. He is a member of the North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame. He worked with Geoff Bodine, Ken Schrader, Steve Kinser, Hut Strickland, Ricky Rudd, Gary Bradbury, and Boris Said.
| Occupation(s) | NASCAR crew chief |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1989-2000 |
| Achievements | North Carolina Drag Racing Hall of Fame (2016) |
NASCAR Cup Series Crew Chief Stats
| Year | Driver | Races | Win | T5 | T10 | Pole | Laps | Led | Earnings | Rank | Miles |
| 1989 | Geoff Bodine | 10 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3748 | 336 | 235900 | 9 | 4148.2 |
| 1989 | Ken Schrader | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 2859 | 106 | 186475 | 5 | 2821.1 |
| 1990 | Ken Schrader | 29 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 8649 | 242 | 529975 | 10 | 10048 |
| 1991 | Ken Schrader | 29 | 2 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 8331 | 440 | 584550 | 9 | 9841.6 |
| 1992 | Ken Schrader | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2278 | 26 | 137280 | 17 | 2094.3 |
| 1995 | Steve Kinser | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95 | 0 | 13409 | 49 | 129.8 |
| 1995 | Hut Stricklin | 24 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 5513 | 45 | 482065 | 36 | 7311.1 |
| 1996 | Ricky Rudd | 31 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 9281 | 151 | 1170373 | 6 | 11400.9 |
| 1997 | Hut Stricklin | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4907 | 6 | 523665 | 34 | 6738.4 |
| 1998 | Gary Bradberry | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 343 | 0 | 73455 | 48 | 515 |
| 2000 | Boris Said | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 36940 | 71 | 51.7 |
| 9 years | 160 | 4 | 35 | 66 | 7 | 46030 | 1352 | 3974087 | – | 55100.1 |
RICHARD BROOME
By Larrie Matthews
Originally published on Facebook
At 16 Richard went to work for Pete Taylor (Bobby Isaac’s NASCAR engine man) at Taylor Automotive in Charlotte. It was a small shop with only 5 employees but they serviced customers in all forms of auto racing. This layout exposed Richard to different forms of racing and that included drag racing. As his interest grew it led Richard to watch his customers run at Concord and other local tracks.
When Richard was 18 his dad bought him a 1962 Chevrolet 409 car. The car never saw street use but was taken home where the race prep immediately was started on the car. Richard visited the drag strip in Concord for his baptism into the sport. His hard work and talent quickly produced success. Richard won a high percent of races at Concord from the start. The Dixie Drag Classic was among these. The Classic drew top competitors from all over the country. At different times that list would include: ‘Dyno’ Don Nicholson, Houston & Hubert Platt, Ronnie Sox, Jake King, Gene Hinson, Noble Hinshaw, Ralph Shaw, Billy West, David Bush, Melvin Yow, and more. This led Broome to success at other notable tracks like: Mooresville, North Wilkesboro, Farmington, Piedmont, Myrtle Beach, and Shuffletown to mention a few. The 62 became widely known and was sponsored by City Chevrolet of Charlotte.
Charles Chapman liked Richard and his talent but wanted to up his game a little so Chapman purchase a new 1963 Chevrolet Z11 lightweight. City Chevrolet stayed on a sponsor for the popular team. Even with the special equipment the Z11 went straight to the shop for more prep. The car’s first outing was at the Mooresville ¼ mile and the win there continued the tradition. For the next couple of years the car raced as many as 2-3 times a week at tracks over several states and is estimated to have won about 30% of its races.
When ‘Dyno’ Don moved to Atlanta and set up shop he remembered the sharpness of fellow competitor and friend, Richard Broome. Richard was hired to build headers for drag races, mostly Chevrolet racers that included Z11 customers. It was only natural for Don to teach Richard how to run the dyno and tune with it. During this time Don was touring nationally and he had more dates than he could fill. Richard would lighten the load by filling in using Don’s 1962 Chevy. On occasion they would swap cars and run. All this was while Richard was running his own Z11.
Even after Chevrolet stopped their support of Super Stock racing in 1963, Richard still campaigned his own Z11 through 1964 but ‘retired’ in 1965.
1966 rolled around and Richard decided to build a 1966 Nova blown fuel funny car using a big block Chevy engine. After completion the car was tested in Florida. First at NASCAR’s Spruce Creek Dragway in Daytona and then at Jacksonville. After the car crashed in Jacksonville it was outlawed because it lacked a frame.
Richard was working for the legendary Holman Moody shop in Charlotte when funny car driver Tommy Grove came looking for help on his SOHC Ford funny car motors. A relationship developed, Richard went to work for Tommy, and they campaigned the Mustang funny nationally. As life would have it, Richard’s family obligations grew and lack of funding for the funny car led Richard to ‘retire’ again around 1971 or 72.
Racing wasn’t in the cards for Richard as formed RBI, Inc. and leased drivers & trucks to companies that covered the eastern half of the United States.
In 1980 drag boat racing brought Richard out of ‘retirement’ again. Rick Hendrick bought Gene Deaver’s retired world record holding blown fuel hydro ‘Blood, Sweat, & Nitro’. The boat was retired because no one was able to run close to its liquid ¼ mile record of 203+ mph. All of that changed when the team of Rick Hendrick, Jimmy Wright, Richard Broome, and Tommy Grove was formed and the boat was rebuilt and named Nitro Fever. It wasn’t long before Nitro Fever was upping the record on a regular basis. In a 2 year period the record was increased from 203 to 222+ mph. The constant record assaults stopped when river Jimmy Wright was killed at Litchfield, IL (a suburb of Chicago) in 1982. A second hull was acquired and built for another driver but didn’t continue and the equipment was sold. A few years ago the hull was found, restored, and is on display in Hendrick’s car collection.
In 1983 Rick decided he wanted to run a fuel funny car and have Richard involved. They bought Dale Pulde’s national championship Miller Warrior Firebird. When the car received a new Corvette body and Richard Broome power, the Nitro Fever funny was born. The car only ran 2 races (Rockingham & Bristol) but made it to the finals in both. Even with the new car’s great start the car went away. Hendrick was having success with his NASCAR efforts and didn’t have the resources to continue both.
Richard was the guy that introduced Rick Hendrick to Harry Hyde. When the Nitro Fever funny went away, he became the crew chief on Rick’s Busch Team that included Robert Gee and Geoff Bodine. The team has a 12 race deal with Levi Garrett and produced 9 poles and 7 wins. Personnel issues led Richard to assume the crew chief position on the Folgers #25 Winston Cup team driven by Ken Schrader. His first race with the #25 was Daytona in February 1989. During the speed week, the car won the Daytona 500 pole, the Busch Clash, and finished second in the Daytona 500. The 1989 season produced 6 poles, a fifth place points finish but no wins.
Although Richard was still the #25 crew chief in 1990 Kodiak became the new sponsor. Again the car had good results that include the Daytona 500 pole, won spring Dover race, fall Charlotte, fall Atlanta, and a tenth place points.
Richard left Hendrick in early 91 to become crew chief on Kenny Bernstein’s NASCAR team. In his 5 years with Bernstein, the team was 2nd in Inaugural Brickyard 400 (Indy), and had numerous poles and top ten finishes.
In 1996 Ricky Rudd had started his own Cup team and Richard became his crew chief. Even though the team didn’t gel, they won at Rockingham and finished sixth in points.
