Currently ranked third in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Division’s points, Mike Speeney is poised for perhaps his best chance yet at a Bowman Gray Stadium championship.
“A lot of it is luck,” Speeney said. “You know, in 100-lappers, you get the draw and the qualifying. I think as far as speed-wise and team-wise, I think we got a championship-caliber team. It was a little frustrating last year that, it was getting to be between me and Brandon (Ward) and then Burt (Myers) took us out that one race. That kind of ended up being a three-race deal because I had to go back after him to show him that he can’t pull those stunts. So that kind of took us out of the championship last year. So, I’m hoping to just continue to put up good finishes and slowly make my way back into the points run.”
At the time of this writing, the Tobaccoville, North Carolina native in the QRC HVAC & Solutions No. 10 has two wins and 10 top 10s through 10 weeks this season. 33 points behind Burt Myers, Speeney is within shouting distance of the championship lead.
“Actually, we’re kind of flipping the car upside down this week. We really haven’t been happy with how it’s been running. So, I’m kind of anxious to get in the morning practice and see what it’s got. We’re supposed to pull a new car out this week if we can get it finished. So, I’m kind of anxious to see how that one goes too.”
Speeney’s racing career at The Madhouse dates back four years, after spending time competing in the Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
“We were racing the tour back then, and we just got tired of having to travel, and doing all day races. We didn’t want to stop racing, but we didn’t want to continue what we were doing. So we came over to Bowman Gray, since it didn’t take much to swap the cars over. And kind of just found a home since then.”
“It’s the cheapest place to race. It’s 20 minutes down the road. And then you can get sponsors there. So, you know, we’ve got QRC HVAC & Refrigeration, Sharp Loans, Harper, P3 Power Washing, RahMoc Engines, and Buzze Racing. So you know, when you go on the tour, it’s hard to get any kind of sponsorship. Because it just doesn’t have the same pull marketing-wise as Bowman Gray does.”
Presently a crowd favorite for some of The Madhouse’s faithful fans, Speeney touched on what he thinks makes him so popular.
“From what I’ve been told by the by the fans we’ve accrued already, they like the way I drive, you know, every time I get in the car. I don’t want to ride on. You know, you only get 16 or so chances to drive a racecar in a year. I want to go forward as much as I can. I want to drive it as fast as I can go every single lap. So if somebody’s in front of me, I’m going to do my best to get around them, even on the Twin-25 nights.”
Earning a career-best fourth-place championship result in last year’s Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Division, Speeney hopes to be a few steps higher this year. The seven-time Stadium winner aims to add a few more prized pieces to his trophy case over the second half of this season.
“Just thank all the guys that work on my crew. Jason Taylor works on the car with me during the week. Yeah, we got a great, great team. You know, we have a lot of fun together and it’s been a blast working with everybody. I just want to make sure that they get their credit because it’s due.”
Don’t miss the blue and orange No. 10 every week in the Modifieds trying to write his own history against some of the titans of Bowman Gray Stadium in its most revered division.
