[1] Nickells, who grew up in Princeton, Illinois,[2] began working with harness racing horses as a groom when he was 13 years old.
[6] At the 1972 Little Brown Jug, Nickells drove Fast Clip to a second place finish, one and one fourth lengths behind the winner Strike Out.
Strike Out, who had been trained by Nickells for two months the previous winter,[7] won the Jug with a time of 1:56.3 which set a world record for a three-year-old pacer on a half mile track.
[8] He also won the 1989 Hambletonian Oaks with Park Avenue Kathy,[9] and drove six horses to Breeders Crown championships.
Brooke Nickells, who is also a harness training trainer and driver, almost became the first woman to drive a horse in the Hambletonian Stakes in 2001.