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Burks, Goodwin Still Running Door-to-Door After Making Leap to Sportsmen from Bombers

By Chuck Corder

A 17-year age gap separates Brandon Burks and Gary Goodwin.

On the track, though, Burks and Goodwin have been, to use familiar racing jargon, “hooked up� for a few years now.

The last few seasons their see-saw battles for checkered flags in the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers Series was the stuff of legends, fitting for a short track with as much pageantry as Pensacola’s historic banks.

Sure, oftentimes their rivalry got more overheated than the crate motors under their hoods, but cooler heads prevailed and a mutual admiration society developed between the pair.

This year, as both left the friendly confines of the Bombers to jump to the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Sportsman Division, Burks and Goodwin remain nose-to-tail.

Heading into Friday night’s Double Purse feature, Goodwin sits one point ahead of Burks for fourth in the season standings.

Not that either seems concerned about any finishes other than victories.

“We wanna get that feature win,� said Goodwin, 38, who won the last two Bombers track championships. “Each week it gives us something to work for. We’re not interested in points.  I hope we can get a win before the year’s up.�

Another shot comes this week when the Sportsmen share the stage with the Modifieds, Bombers, a Faster Pastor race and the famed half-mile asphalt oval’s annual Demolition Derby.

The gates open at 5 p.m. Friday and tickets are an eye-popping $5. For everyone!

Wins are in the crosshairs for both Burks and Goodwin. Despite some struggles at the beginning of the season, both former Bombers drivers have posted a pair of top-five finishes in recent weeks at Five Flags.

In fact, it was a podium sweep for former Bombers drivers at the last Sportsman feature July 26. Kenny Williams, who raced the “crunch bunch� as well last year, collected the win with Burks second and Goodwin rounding out the top three.

“It felt like a win, to be honest,� said Burks, 21, who had his share of growing pains earlier this season. “It was pretty cool to see Kenny Williams and Gary Goodwin up there. We were all talking in ‘tech’ (post-race technical inspection) about where we were a year ago and look at us now.�

Burks admittedly was questioning his decision during a March through May run that saddled him with several “DNFs� and a handful of other bitter pills.

He attributes a lot of those initial problems to carburetor issues his No. 12 was having, a woe Goodwin can relate to.

“It’s been an up-and-down season, been a roller coaster,� Burks said. “But I can’t thank Chris Cotto and Curtis Faircloth enough. They make it go around the track for me.

“I’m trying to learn how to drive a car with more power, and that can be tough. There’s a lot more work involved, more time invested in it.�

Goodwin, too, has been mildly tickled with his results while getting a handle on a new car and class compared to the one he thoroughly dominated the last two years.

Then, there was the matter of a ho-hum appendectomy that sidelined him for a race despite Goodwin’s insistence with nurses and docs to release him.

“Just let me go racin’,� he pleaded.

The next race Goodwin showed up at the track, tube hanging out of his right side like it was a mini-exhaust pipe.

A competitive advantage? You be the race director.

Goodwin hopes the unfulfilled finishes and emergency surgeries are all in his rearview now.

“We’re slowly getting there,� he said. “It sure helps that we identified some motor issues we were having. The car felt boggy. It’s no excuse, though. We should’ve had it right.�

Having it right each Friday night is always key with the Sportsmen.

Especially, when you’re driving against an accomplished driver such as current points leader and three-time defending Sportsman Snowball Derby champion Steve Buttrick.

A few races back on a restart, Burks was lined up on the outside of Buttrick’s No. 33. He nearly pinched himself.

“I looked over to see his car,� he said of Buttrick, a seven-time winner this season. “Man, I’ve watched him race the past few years and to be racing him for the win, it was pretty cool.�

Goodwin’s focus continues to be shaving off a tenth or two each week, so he can inch closer to Buttrick’s bumper.

“You’ve gotta have it tuned in to beat that (No.) 33 car,� Goodwin said. “He just needs a little pressure put on him. With us or somebody else in his mirror it’s another race.

“But you’ve gotta get to his mirror first,� Goodwin quickly added, a hearty laugh echoing his words.

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