My love of short-track dirt racing began 28 years ago, when I was 8 years old and attending Mt. Pleasant Speedway. I went with my late grandfather Carl McCrumb, who drove the No. Y4 at various local Michigan tracks, including Owosso, Mt. Pleasant and Spartan, in the 1950s and '60s.
Twenty-eight years later, I am still going strong and rarely miss a Friday night of racing at my local track. In fact I can even remember in 1999 coming to the track straight from having a liver biopsy in Ann Arbor.
None of this great love for the best sport in the world would have been developed if it were not for my grandfather, who was always there to tell me how great racing was for him and what a great sport it was. I went with him, my grandfather and mother to the Friday night races; my dad worked nights, and couldn't go. And when no one else could go, grandfather would change his Friday plans to make sure I did not miss a night of racing action.
Racing has brought me many fond memories, especially forming a strong bond with my grandfather.
I recall an instance in 1989 when I was preparing to undergo a total hip replacement on my right hip from severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis several months later. During the '89 racing season, unknown to me, my mother had set up with Mt. Pleasant Speedway owners Dick and Betty Crook for me to ride around the track with my favorite driver, Dennis Boyce, who drove the Late Model No. 100. Since I was unable to get up into the back of the car myself, and I was somewhat scared, truck safety crew member Chris Pego lifted me into the car, and my cousin Mandy Endres accompanied me. I still remember the thrill of sitting in Boyce’s car and holding on tight as he seemingly flew around the track.
Afterward, Boyce and his family were nice enough to give me a racing jacket of his, and we became instant friends.
From then on, the racing hook became a pure addiction.
As the years went on my addiction has increased to the point where around 1999 I approached the Crook family about starting a web site for Mt. Pleasant Speedway and eventually launched www.mtpleasantspeedway.com, which I still operate and update.
I have also built several strong friendships at the racetrack including with Betty and her late husband Dick Crook, their son Mario, track announcer and Michigan Motorsports Hall of Famer Leo Pego, and many of the drivers.
Aside from my grandfather, my local racing heroes are guys like Boyce, David Hilliker, Steve Hilliker, Mike Harvey, Alvie Haynes and other guys who have the passion to give it 100 percent night in and night out. As a youngster I always followed the NASCAR career of Darrell Waltrip and distinctly remember his 1989 Daytona 500 victory and the “DW shuffle” in victory lane. Today my NASCAR favorites are guys like Tony Stewart, Ken Schrader, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick.
With the 2009 racing season right around the corner, I have a sense of excitement because Mt. Pleasant Speedway is embarking on even more great races and promotions, including the second Xtreme 100 on Aug. 23. I'm excited to see how the speedway’s change to the UMP sanction for the Late Model and Modified divisions will go. I am also thrilled to be a part of the Marc Times & Michigan Racing Scene staff and bring my knowledge of the newspaper field and racing scene to the paper.
I was a 1999 graduate of Central Michigan University and former Sports Editor for the Central Michigan LIFE college newspaper, and I have worked as a reporter/editor in the daily newspaper profession for the last 7 years at the Morning Sun in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.
I am a lifetime resident of Mt. Pleasant, where I reside with Debbie, my wife of nearly five years, and our beautiful daughter Maggie, who was born April 18, 2008.
I can be found every Friday night from May through September at the Mt. Pleasant Speedway just waiting for the cars to fire up.
