Stock car ace

Geoff is the rst to admit he’s no ‘Good ol’ Boy’, but from 1989 to 1994 he was able to mix it with stock car legends Dale Earnardt (Senior), Bill Elliott and Darrell Waltrip – in the famed International Race of Champions (IROC), driving identical stock cars with Chev and then Dodge bodywork.

“They took four NASCAR guys, four Indycar guys and four road racing guys who were standouts from the year before. I was there as a road racer. I did six years in a row and I won two races – two oval races actually (both at Michigan).

“It was fun because you’d run against all the top NASCAR guys and they would team up on you. One race at Talladega, Waltrip and I were at the back, and I got right up behind him and we started to pass everybody. We went right past the whole eld and when we got to the front he just ducked in the front and left me out there; he didn’t leave me enough room to come in behind him and I just went straight to the back again! I was so pissed off.

“One of the Michigan wins was the highlight of my career because I had a huge race with Dale Senior and Bill Elliott and ended up beating them. That was one of the biggest thrills I ever had. I felt really good about that – what I was driving, where I was driving and who I was racing against.” Brabham’s performances on the ovals led to a drive in the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994 for rookie team owner, former Ford motorsport boss Mike Kranefuss. Geoff had raced for the German in the works IMSA Ford Mustang in 1987, which was “a bit of a disaster because the (Zakspeed 1.7-litre turbo) engines blew-up all the time”.

Although he had plenty of experience at Indianapolis, tyre restrictions meant minimal practice laps, yet he somehow quali ed in the top 20. But in the race the car simply wouldn’t turn in and Geoff eventually hit the wall and was t-boned.

That was the end of his wonderful American adventure.