Jerett Brooks has been a mainstay of the short course off-road racing scene since his childhood and establishing himself as a teenage sensation. After all that he has accomplished, the now-25-year-old father is hanging up his helmet. He announced his retirement on Saturday.
Brooks ends his career on a high note, having won the Championship Off-Road Pro 2 title as consistency rewarded an otherwise winless 2022. It was his sixth professional class championship after the TORC Pro Lite crown in 2014, back-to-back Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Pro Lite titles in 2015 and 2016, and the LOORRS Pro 2 in 2019 and 2020. The lattermost made him the final champion of that class under the LOORRS banner before its demise.
He had alluded to his exit on occasion during the 2022 COR season. At the finale in Crandon in September, he noted he was looking into wrapping up his full-time career now that he had secured the Pro 2 title.
“I would be lying if I didn’t say I shed a tear or two,” stated Brooks. “14 years, 54 wins, 110 podiums. 6 pro title championships. It’s been one hell of a run. Racing has taught me so much in life. Racing has brought me to meet people who I would have never. Including meeting my wife and racing against her at a young age! My goal from day one was to win a pro championship, open up a race shop and have a team to build race cars. At 16 years old I won my first prolite title. I kept the ball rolling with more and more championships and accomplished all the goals I had in short course. With no new goals in short course I felt stuck in a rut. It’s time to focus on my new goals and focus on my family. We will be back soon in a different form.”
The Californian began his career in Junior Karts before ascending through the ranks. In 2013, the 16-year-old Brooks entered the newly formed Stadium Super Trucks. He has competed sporadically in the series in the decade since, winning at Crandon in 2013 and the streets of Long Beach in 2021, along with eight podiums. In 2017, he ran the final round at Lake Elsinore as a substitute for Paul Morris, scoring a runner-up finish in the last race to secure him the championship.