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The season-ending Championship Banquet is a time to reflect and celebrate, but also a chance to build towards the future; and the latter is certainly what brought Brenham Crouch and CJB Motorsports together.
With Brenham’s dad Leighton Crouch looking to slow down operations on the family-owned Crouch Motorsports #1 and Spencer Bayston departing the seat of the CJB Motorsports #5, a conversation at the final event of 2024 is what created this new combination of High Rollers in 2025.
“My dad wanted a break from fielding a team at least full-time, so we were looking to venture out from the family car and try something new,” Crouch said on how the deal was struck. “I think it was originally [David] Gravel who put it in my dad’s ear to talk to Barry [Jackson], and then after a conversation at the Championship Banquet in Texas everyone liked what they heard, and it came together pretty easy.”
The Crouch to CJB relationship was announced back in November and after an off-season of weighing decisions, both parties agreed to another full-time run with Kubota High Limit Racing on New Year’s Eve. Last week at Volusia Speedway Park’s DIRTcar Nationals, the team had a chance to get acclimated with each other across four race nights against the World of Outlaws.
“We gained speed every night down in Volusia, and that’s all you can ask for,” Crouch noted on his CJB debut. “It was a bit of a transition after running for my dad my whole life, so the feel was different to me, but in a good way. If we can hone in on the early portion of the night with Qualifying, our stuff seems to race well so I feel confident that we can put a full night together once we get that dialed in.”
One major benefit of Crouch’s transition to CJB is the wealth of knowledge and experience in the camp, which will be crucial for a 19-year-old in his third full season of Sprint Car Racing.
Along with Erik Coyle and Anthony Bartolo, revered crew chief Barry Jackson is on the wrenches and leading the team. Born and raised in the heart of the Pennsylvania Posse, Jackson has been grooming crew guys and developing drivers for decades now. From Kenny Jacobs, Keith Kauffman, Fred Rahmer and Tyler Walker to David Gravel, Shane Stewart, Paul McMahan, and Spencer Bayston, Barry’s name and crew chief successes have been linked with many of the best in our sport.
Another notch in Brenham’s belt for 2025 is having National Sprint Car Hall of Famer Paul McMahan in his corner as driver coach. If you’re going to be taking notes from anyone, a 27-time World of Outlaws winner like “Paul’s to the Wall” is a good place to start.
“One of Barry’s biggest points this off-season is that we don’t need to get caught up in expectations,” Crouch mentioned on 2025 goals. “I personally don’t have any, my mindset is lets go learn, develop more skills, take our time, that’s what it takes to do this deal and that’s what we’re focused on. I’m not as worried about specific results as much as I want to put quality nights together.”
A champion of the POWRi National Midget League in 2022 and the IRA Sprint Cars in 2023, Crouch feels most comfortable on the bullrings he cut his teeth on but is most excited for the chance to continue learning on bigger tracks since moving up to Kubota High Limit Racing.
“The smaller tracks have always been in my favor because it’s what I’ve ran most of my career, but I really like the challenge of going back to these bigger places now that I’ve learned how to manipulate the car with the wing,” he alluded on his driving style. “I’ve learned a lot listening to other drivers and even having Paul this past week teaching me how to play with it through traffic helped a lot.”
Although he’s back for year two on the Kubota High Limit Racing tour, Crouch will still face many new obstacles – including his first laps at 14 of the 35 tracks scheduled: Las Vegas (NV), Kern (CA), Perris (CA), Central Arizona, Vado (NM), Route 66 (TX), Dodge City (KS), Texarkana (AR), Fremont (OH), Ransomville (NY), Red Cedar (WI), Florence (KY), Bridgeport (NJ), and Path Valley (PA).
What sticks out the most on that list is Route 66 Motor Speedway, an Amarillo, Texas oval that welcomes the High Rollers for the first time ever on Friday, April 4. A native of nearby Lubbock, Texas, Crouch grew up going to Route 66 almost every weekend as young boy watching his dad, Leighton, race. However, he’s never had the chance to compete at the place himself, until he returns in April as a full-timer with Kubota High Limit Racing.
The biggest sign of confidence for Crouch came last month at the Chili Bowl Nationals, when he led the majority of Tuesday’s preliminary before locking-in for his first Championship A-Main on Saturday.
“That was an awesome experience,” he recalled. “It’s cool to have that to look back on and use it as a reminder to myself that I’m capable of this. We raced a ton of great guys and performed on a big stage against them.”
Crouch’s 2025 full-time run with Kubota High Limit Racing 2025 will begin at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with a two-day event on March 13 and 15. The 60-race tour will conclude with All-In Championship Weekend at The Dirt Track at Texas Motor Speedway on October 17 and 18. Tickets for select events are now available here.
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If you cannot join Kubota High Limit Racing at the track, you can watch every lap of every race live on FloRacing, the exclusive broadcast partner of Kubota High Limit Racing.
Article Credit: Brian Walker
