Seth Brahmer
Knoxville is familiar ground for the Nebraska based Brahmer racing family. Seth Brahmer will tackle the half-mile with earnest in this weekend’s 360 Brodix Tournament of Champions representing the Nebraska-based ESTS (Eagle Sprint Touring Series). The Tournament brings together the best 360 racing has to offer, inviting members from Knoxville, ASCS, ASCS-Sooner Region, ASCS-Gulf Coast Region, ASCS-Rocky Mountain Region, ESS, URC, NST, Sprint Invaders, WOW, WISSOTA, MST, SOD, AOAS and ESTS. The top ten competitors in each organization are invited to attend the ToC.
Though the Brahmer name is familiar, it has been a few years since they have ventured east. Seth’s father Rich was a Knoxville regular for years and competed in 20 Knoxville Nationals events. “I remember hiding in the back of the truck to get into the pits. Sometimes I’d get caught and have to watch from the stands,” says Seth of his father’s days towing to Knoxville. The Brahmer’s made the 230 mile tow to Knoxville on a regular basis.
Seth has been running his 360 primarily in Nebraska the last couple of years, at Eagle Raceway and with the ESTS, though he would like to branch out some more. “Running for points is no fun. We’d much rather like to hit and miss with different races,” admits Seth. Though he would rather wander, Seth finished an impressive third behind Billy Alley and Jason Danley in last year’s Eagle Raceway’s point championship. This year, propelled by a July 19 win (his second at the facility) he is running second behind Jeff Lowery after an admitted slow start to the season.
At the ToC he is representing the touring ESTS, and is currently fifth in their points race. “We just would like to make the show, get quicker there (Knoxville), and put it back in the trailer in one piece,” he states. He has good reason to put it back in one piece, as he is also planning on competing in the 410 Ford Dealers of Iowa Knoxville Nationals next weekend. The driver for the family’s trucking business is renting an Eckley 410 to run the event. “It’s the same motor we used against the Outlaws at Eagle,” he says. The team managed to qualify for the feature and ran 19th in the preliminary event. Seth previously competed in the Nationals in 1997 sporting his father’s familiar #26.
Other than a “go-kart in the pasture”, Seth has known no form of racing but the sprint cars. Both Seth and Rich set out to compete together in 1995, but Seth ended up on his lid at the former I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE, slowing his progress. After a political tussle between drivers and Eagle Raceway in the late 1990s, the Brahmers spent their Saturdays at Jackson, MN. “We just went up there so we could race and get some laps in,” says Seth. The last couple years have seen mended fences between Eagle and its drivers, and the team has stayed closer to home. Seth would like to get a 410 program going in the near future. The 29 year-old hopes to compete in more 410 shows around the area. “There are more 410 shows closer to home now, and we’d like to hit some of those,” he states.
Brahmer’s 2003 Stevenson chassis is powered by a 360 Weseman motor. Helping Seth is his father Rich, mother Pat, sister Sheila, Duane Goree and Steve Hurst. Sponsors include Freedom Lending, LLC, Stern Oil, Graham Tire, Quality 1 Graphics, Automotive Art and Collectibles, Adams Oil and, of course, Brahmer Trucking.