The Brinson Family Racing Tradition Continues in Florida Racing
Sunshine State Racing Story:
Most of you are very familiar with the Brinson name in Florida short track racing. Today we are talking about Cody Brinson, a multifaceted and very talented man in the early stages of his career. A career that already has a very bright future.
Cody is typically soft spoken, usually an observer, a man of few words. He comes from a family with a long and rich history of racing in the state of Florida. Both of his great grandfathers and his grandfather ended their careers with a pile of wins.
During the week, you can usually find him at his shop, Mach One Race Cars, where he is the owner. The work coming out of his shop is immaculate, and he has a great style. He has inherited his mother’s relentless work ethic and spends most of his time in the shop.
Cody does not just build and repair race cars though. He is a pretty darn good driver too. He sets up cars and does a little driving to test them as well. It does not matter if he is in a super or pro late model, or a pro truck, he is quick! For a man that does not get to drive as often as he would like, his talent impresses me. He can jump from car to car, sometimes on the same night, and has speed. He is also right there when he gets an opportunity to actually race. He reminds me of guys like Brennan Pletcher, Chase King and Carter Brown. The four of them race smart, clean, and usually find their way to the front. Cody has unfortunately had some bad luck recently. (no fault of his own)
For some time now I heard about Cody as a spotter. People tell me how good he is with drivers, giving them the info they need, when they need it. Also about how calm he is, and makes it fun. This past weekend I was finally able to eavesdrop while he spotted for Colton Bettis. Colton was making his debut in a pro late model. They qualified p1 and started there as well. During warm up laps Cody went over the plan for the start, receiving a yes sir from Colton on each transmission. Once the green flag dropped, I quickly heard and understood all that I had heard about Cody on the radio. Headed into turn one on the opening lap “Great start, drive it in there deep for me, outside, door, door, give me three hard laps to start it off, door, clear. Good job, give me two more hard laps and we’ll settle in.” From there he called out lap times as compared to the car behind. At one point he asked for a little more from his driver, asking for very specific lap times. Cody got exactly what he asked for, lap after lap. In response, Cody let his driver know that if he kept doing that, they wouldn’t catch him. Cody and Colton met in victory lane a short time later. After the race Colton said that he was impressed with how Cody could see exactly what the car was doing and gave great feedback.
Cody has spent a fair amount of time spotting for, and working with TJ DeCaire. I reached out to TJ and he said that He and Cody are very close, almost like brothers. For a while they would Irace after school and work for hours, many days in a row. Even though it was just Iracing, and it is virtual, he really believes that it played a part in growing their friendship, which in turn assisted with their real-world experiences in spotting and driving for each other. They still Irace when the opportunity arises, which has been less frequent lately due to both having busier schedules. TJ Stated he admires how hard Cody works at hanging bodies, repairing parts, and how good of a spotter he is too. He favors Cody’s spotting because of how close they are, and it makes him comfortable in any situation. “I can just tell in his voice when the clear low is a close call. I also like the fact that we motivate each other. He can get me up on the wheel to chase someone down, or when I tell him what information I need, to be better, he gets it for me. It all just clicks when we are together for races, and I am happy that I can call my spotter one of my best friends.”
We often talk about the sport being in great shape with the amount of talented young drivers we have. Well, we are also in great shape with the talent off the track as well. Cody Brinson is a great young man, a talented driver, and a wizard in the shop. The future of the sport, and the family legacy are safe in his hands.
