Frank said he hasn’t been able to race locally as much as he would have preferred to at this point in the year, as his racing business, Chub Frank Racing, has been quite busy. However, he was able to make it out in the spring and score a victory in weekly competition at Stateline on May 11, as well as a win in a Crate Late Model on May 27.
Powered by a Clements Racing Engine aboard a Black Diamond Chassis, the No. 1* has seen a small amount of action with the World of Outlaws so far in 2019, scoring two top-10 finishes in seven feature starts. His best finish came in the most recently contested event, at Sharon Speedway, earning a seventh-place finish.
It’s been more than 10 years since the last time Frank graced World of Outlaws victory lane. Aug. 22 of 2019 at the formerly named K-C Raceway in Ohio (Atomic Speedway) was the date of his last trip, to be exact. But there are parts of his career as an original Outlaw that he looks back on with great fondness.
“The traveling, meeting the fans and things like that, I’ve always enjoyed that part of it,” Frank said. “You just get to meet new people all over the country. That part of it, I think, is the stuff I miss now, because we don’t do as much traveling.”
Briggs’ team elected to skip the pilgrimage out to Ohio for the 49th World 100 at Eldora Speedway two weekends ago, in favor of a testing session at Stateline. Briggs said it went well, and they’ve tightened things up for the weekend ahead.
His business, Briggs Transport, has been growing each year and continues to do so on a scale that has also been throwing him a curveball to manage throughout the racing season – their busiest time of the year. But it’s the support he gets from his large family that allows him to do what he does on a regular basis. It definitely won’t be hard to find them around the Stateline grounds this weekend, because, as Briggs states, it’s home.
“They know this is a big week. We come from a very, very big family. It’s home,” Briggs said. “Because of them, they’ve eased things up to where we can race a little bit more around here the last few weeks and go testing and things like that.”
In a nutshell, Briggs and Frank are more alike than they are different. With their never-say-die attitudes and seemingly endless motivation to keep grinding on race cars each week, it’s the lessons their forefathers instilled in them as young competitors that has stayed with them throughout their careers.
For Briggs, he’s 48 years of age right now and, many years ago, said he would be retired from racing by age 50. He said his mentality is headed in that direction, but for now, it’s still full speed ahead on turning more laps on the national circuit.
He races in memory of his father, the late Rick Briggs, who shared that never-say-die attitude like the rest of his immediate racing family. Boom still has one thing left to prove before he gets to age 50, and that big trip to World of Outlaws victory lane very well could come at the place his family helped build – Stateline Speedway.
“The reason I race is because of my dad, and it’s been two years since he’s been gone,” Briggs said. “He wouldn’t want us quitting, so I’m not ready to quit yet. Because of him.”