The Vault
HUBIE BRAZEAU – THE “DICK TRICKLE” OF CANADA’S SOO REGION
Posted on: Wednesday April 27, 2022
Canadian Hubie Brazeau was a top flight driver from the Soo region of Canada for many years during both the modified and late model eras. (photo courtesy of Greg Brazeau)
(The following excerpt is from the 2019 release “Racing In The 906”)
One man who had a front row seat for man years at Kinross was track announcer Greg Brazeau. The son of local legend Hubie Brazeau, Greg claims to have won more than 300 feature races in his driveway on his bicycle!
The younger Brazeau has emerged as the unofficial “historian” of stock car racing history in the Sault region. “The first asphalt track in the Soo region was Algoma Speedway built in 1954. “Prior to that there was a dirt track called Queen Elizabeth which started up in the ‘30’s and hosted races throughout the ‘50’s,” Brazeau said. “Racing has always been real strong up in this region.”
Greg had a front row seat when his dad Hubie would run the modified circuit in Canada and Michigan. “I remember when I was little the announcer would warn us over the p.a. system to stay away from the catch fence, but we stood up there anyways,” Greg said. “I couldn’t get enough of (racing). I remember getting hit by mud.
“There was actually a pact between the promoters at 5th Line Speedway in the Soo and Escanaba and Norway. The top drivers from each track would make sure they made both tracks regularly. Canadians who would join Hubie traveling across the border to battle at Escanaba and Norway were Wes Beckett, Ed Powley, Johnny O’Reilly, Rick Ellis and Wayne Carter. On the flipside Canadians would see The Iverson’s, Jimmy Peterson, Gene Coleman and the Richer’s tow up from Michigan. It was a real good deal. They’d always try to hustle the show along at Sands on Sunday afternoons and sometimes you’d see those five or six haulers all rolling into the pits a tad late at 5th Line.”
Greg Brazeau doing his thing behind the mic. (photo courtesy of Racing In The 906)
Greg recalls traveling down to Escanaba during the modified years with huge crowds – especially during the Upper Peninsula state fair races. “I remember them starting anywhere from 25 to 40 modifieds for the fair races,” Greg recalled. “The fair night in Escanaba was HUGE. It was a deal where you had to be there.”
According to Hubie Brazeau, the Canadian tracks ran wingless modifieds with Escanaba being the first track in the region to allow wings on the cars in ’73. “The guys who ran the mods raced each other with respect,” Hubie said. “With the open wheels you had no other choice.”
Hubie Brazeau could very well be considered the “Dick Trickle” of the Sault region in the ‘70’s and into the early ‘80’s. The track titles and wins came often for the popular driver. “I remember when we’d score a clean sweep at Escanaba we’d go home with $125 in American money,” Brazeau said. “That would be the equivalent of $1,500 nowadays. But we did have expenses with traveling, too. Unfortunately, promoters these days simply cannot afford to pay out that kind of prize money. During the peak of the modified days it was usually either myself or Bob Iverson who wound up in victory lane. Bob was really tough.”
When the modifieds would eventually die off even at Escanaba Hubie made the switch along with many others to the late models. Brazeau owned his own late model equipment until 1982. After that Brazeau took over the number 33 Harold Ross owned ride. “We always seemed to have good sponsors when I owned my own stuff and even when we ran for Harold,” Brazeau recalled. “We’d race at Escanaba weekly until around ’82 or so and after that we’d never miss the fair race down there.”
One of Brazeau’s most memorable moments at Escanaba came in 1984, and it involved Dick Trickle – sort of. “Dick ran a lot at Escanaba in the early ‘80’s,” Brazeau said. “During the U.P. state fair in 1984 I broke Dick Trickle’s track record in time trials. It was quite an accomplishment. But during the fair race they made you start in the back of the B main if you hadn’t run there weekly. It didn’t matter how you qualified – they wouldn’t exempt it. In three laps I got to the front and won the B main from the back. So, I started in the back of the feature in which they trimmed the number of laps from 50 to 25. I caught the leader Bob Menor from the back and finished second to him at the line. That was a night we’ll never forget.”
Brazeau compares running an open wheel modified versus the fendered late models. “Even when we switched to late models you still had to know what line to take,” Brazeau explained. “You were sitting a bit lower in the late models than you were in the modifieds. I preferred the modifieds because you could see everything. Everything was wide open. With the modifieds, you could make some different moves. You could always tell a guy who came out of a modified. They just seemed to race harder.”
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