Tommy Brackens


Tommy Lee Brackens is an American former professional "Old School" Bicycle Motocross racer. His prime competitive years were from 1980-1988.
His nickname was "The Human Dragster", so named for his adeptness at getting the "Holeshot", or getting out in front literally at the drop of the starting gate and leading the other competitors down the first straight and into the first turn. The moniker was coined by Bob Hunt, an NBL announcer at the 1982 NBL Grand Nationals that Tommy raced in. Many racers received their monikers from the pithy play by play race announcers.
Tommy Brackens was a former motorcycle motocross racer that made the switch to BMX in 1977. Quiet, shy and highly likable he was believed to have all the talents to be truly a top level racer. If Mr. Brackens was likable he had a strong desire to be liked. One of his goals was to be voted as the fan favorite among kids as their favorite racer; "...to be the people's favorite is my goal." he said. That goal was fulfilled in 1987 When he won BMX Action's Number One Racer Award Cup for that year.
Unfortunately his inconsistency prevented him from winning a national number one plate for any association amateur or professional. The closest was a National No. 2 with the NBL in 1986. He failed to transfer out of his semi while only a few points behind the eventual No.1 for that year, Pete Loncarevich. However, he did win the 1986 IBMXF World Championship. 1986 was a good year by any measure.

Racing career milestones

Note: Professional first are on the national level unless otherwise indicated.
MilestoneEvent Details
Started Racing:August 11, 1978 at 17 years old. Anthony Sewell, who would later become pro BMXer himself introduced him to the sport. As did Turnell Henry and another friend named James Stalworth.
Sanctioning Body:National Bicycle Association
First race bike:Redline.
First race result:Second in 16 novice at the Valley Youth Center in Van Nuys, California on August 11, 1978.
First win :
First sponsor:City of Bicycles.
First national win:
Turned Professional:December 1980 age 20. He did it for both monetary reasons and the fact he was 19 years old in the 16 Expert class.
First Professional race result:Second in "A" Pro Money on January 18, 1981 at the American Bicycle Association Northwest National in Seattle, Washington. It was the very first national in which the new ABA junior "A" pro class was run. He also was second in "A" Pro Trophy. Brackens would be one of the first later to be well known pros to graduate from the new junior pro "A" class which was instituted by the ABA.
First Professional win:In "A" Pro at the ABA Coliseum Classic III national in Detroit, Michigan on February 1, 1981
First Junior Men/Pro* race result:See "First professional race result".
First Junior Men/Pro win:See "First Professional win"
First Senior Pro** race result:First Place in Pro Class at the National Bicycle Association Winternationals in Las Vegas, Nevada in February 1981. Unlike the NBA's rivals the ABA and NBL, the NBA did not initiate a second tier, junior pro division for the 1981 racing season. When Brackens turned pro and competed in the pro class in the NBA he raced seasoned veteran professionals like Stu Thomsen, Scott Clark and Kevin McNeal and others of that quality who also raced in the senior pro divisions of the ABA and NBL. Therefore, Brackens was in effect racing senior pro.
First Senior Pro win:See above.
Height and weight at height of his career :Ht: Wt:
Retired:1990; in part to devote more time to his bicycle frame and fork company Brackens Racing Products.

*In the ABA "A" Pro; in the NBL "B" Pro/Superclass/"A" Pro depending on the era.
**In the ABA it was "AA" Pro, in the NBL "A" Pro. However, the NBA did not have a Junior Pro division. The NBA would merge with the NBL after the 1981 season before it had a chance to create a junior pro class. Therefore, any win in the Pro class of the NBA counts as his first Senior pro win.

Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous ever-changing co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question.

Amateur

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in italics. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Only sanctioning bodies active during the racer's career are listed.

Amateur

National Bicycle Association
National Bicycle League
American Bicycle Association
National Bicycle Association
National Bicycle League
American Bicycle Association
United States Bicycle Motocross Association
International Bicycle Motocross Federation
Pro Series Championships and Invitationals
The 1984 European Challenge Cup was a comparatively small race that drew a select portion of racers, professionals and amateurs, Europeans and Americans held on June 10, 1984 in Slagharen, the Netherlands. Though small, it was well received.
The Kellogg's Frosties BMX Championship held in Birmingham, England was a series of six races held on three days total that was centered on the invited 12 top pros of the United States and 12 British pros and tailored for British television broadcast. There were also eight amateurs class races held but the race focus was meant for the pros.
The 1985 Paris Yoplait BMX Challenge was an invitational race sponsored and promoted by the Yoplait Yogurt company in which American and English pros as well as French pros were brought together to compete in a single race. As is typical in Europe, the public had greater enthusiasm for BMX than the American public, in part because bicycle racing of any type was and is much more popular in Europe than in the United States. A staggering 18,000 spectators attended the sell out event and it was covered live on French television.
The Scorpion International Spring Classic was an invitational race held at Lowestoft, a town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England on May 4, 1986. Four American pros were invited: Eddy King, Scott Clark Travis Chipres and Tommy Brackens. They raced at least four respected English pros in the main including Tim March, Geth Shooter, Garry Llewellyn Jamie Vince and Charlie Reynolds. Other nationalities were invited but did not make the pro main. Brackens was pro champion.

Notable accolades

He was the 1986 winner of the "King of the Mountain" outlaw Gravity Powered Vehicle Championship.* This win was the beginning of a career in GPV racings. His enthusiasm was reflected in this quote:
"That, by far...and I'm serious, meant more to me than winning ANY BMX race I've ever won! THAT was intense."----BMX Action March 1987

GPV racing had been around since the late 1970s but achieved wide notoriety among BMXers beginning in early 1985. Many BMXers both retired and active, participated like Jeff Bottema, and Scot Breithaupt among the retirees and Eddy King, Harry Leary, Kevin Hull the active racers. Freestylist as well participated in the discipline like Dave Vanderspek, Eddie Fiola, Ceppie Maes and Rich Sigur. There were racers who participated which their specialty was downhill road racing like Dan Hanabrink as well. Most racers used converted pedalless BMX or Freestyle bicycles, often with the handlebars turned almost completely down. Often so was the bicycle frame with the bottom bracket pointing toward the racer's chest to lower the profile of the bike for greater stability. In later, fairings were added and also bicycles built specifically for downhill runs. They raced down courses that were from 1.3 to seven miles long, hitting speeds of 50 to 90 mph. The outlaw aspect was that during the early days they would race down open to traffic roads which, while not illegal, was not sanctioned by a formal sanctioning body either, like the NBL sanctioning BMX races. At the beginning of the 1988 GPV season they started getting highway department permission to block off roads, therefore removing the outlaw characteristic of the activity. The sport is still around but the initial faddish aspect of it lasted from mid-1985 to approximately late 1989.
In mid-2000 he qualified for an ESPN X Games GPV race in Saint George, Utah event on a bike he purchased from a Target discount store, beating custom bikes costing US$2,000 to $3,000. It was his very first GPV race since a 1990 race in Palm Springs, California where he set the course record of 90 mph. Scott E. Burdick who made a fairing out of cardboard, and still was able to reach speeds of more than 100 mph in the final straight away of the palm springs California tramway hill. You can find the race as seen on ESPN or on VHS video.
*The table of contents page has it mislabled No.1

BMX related product lines

He started his own BMX bicycle company Brackens Racing Products. This is ironic given the answer to a question in a BMX Plus! interview about owning his own company one day:
BMXP!: What are your ambitions after racing? Have your own company, maybe?
Tommy: No! It's too much hassle having your own company!
----BMX Plus! April 1983 page 60.

The company lasted two years from 1988 to 1990 sponsoring racers including Eric Carter along the way. The company went out of business due to competition from overseas. He worked for Huffy Service First a division of Huffy that assembled bicycles for department chain stores. He worked there from his time as part timer while he ran his own bicycle business. When his business folded in 1990, he worked at Huffy Service First full-time up through the early 2000s. Brackens returned to his Motorcycle Motocross racing roots for a time, which he was involved in prior to his BMX career. Proving that BMXers typically like almost all type of racing, during his BMX career he has also dabbled in Outlaw Drag Racing, in which participants participate in illegal urban street racing. This was in addition to his GPV racing which he still participated in through the first decade of the 2000s.

BMX and general press magazine interviews and articles

Note: Only magazines that were in publication at the time of the racer's career are listed unless specifically noted.
Bicycle Motocross News:
Minicycle/BMX Action & Super BMX:
Bicycle Motocross Action & Go:
BMX Plus!:
Total BMX:
Bicycles and Dirt:
Bicross Magazine :
NBA World & NBmxA World )The NBA/NBmxA official publication):
Bicycles Today & BMX Today :
ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer :
USBA Racer :