Mike Garvey Ready to Take on Snowball Derby
Short Track Veteran Hoping to Rebound from Tough SLM Season with Derby Victory
PENSACOLA, FL — It’s been an up and down year for Mike Garvey in Super Late Model competition. He now has one last shot to put all of the downs in the rear-view mirror with one major high point.
While running in contention in several events on the Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco, Garvey’s No. 1 machine has experienced various mechanical problems that have left him on the outside looking in when the checkered flag flew. Now Garvey hopes to silence the critics by rebounding to round out the year with a win in the 46th Annual Snowball Derby presented by JEGS in December at Pensacola, Florida’s Five Flags Speedway.
“It just seems like we’re coming from behind all the time with various issues,” explained Garvey a Michigan native-turned Pensacola resident. “Anything that can go wrong has gone wrong and today, there’s too much competition for that stuff to happen. But I’m glad all this is happening throughout the year. You can have a bad year, but if you do well and maybe even win the Snowball Derby, the biggest race of the year, then all of the bad stuff goes away and makes the entire season worth it.”
Now Garvey and fellow Pensacola resident, team owner Tracy Goodson, are making sure they have all of their bases covered when it comes to the short track race of the year right in their own back yard.
“We’re doing everything we can to win the Snowball Derby,” said Garvey. “Tracy (Goodson) is from Pensacola, I live in Pensacola now. We’re getting the cars ready. We’re going to start testing soon and it would be so huge to be able to pull it off.”
A recent Gulf Coast transplant, Garvey knows the prestige associated with being the one posing with the Tom Dawson trophy at the end of the year in front of a hometown crowd.
“Now that I do live there, it’s even bigger than it was before,” said Garvey. “Just being there is so much more significant. I know how much this race means to Tracy. It’s just a race you want to win. It would really be a feather in the cap to be able to win it. We’ve had good chances to win it in the past.”
As a veteran of the short track and Super Late Model world and a two-time All American 400 winner, Garvey also knows not to get swept up in the hype. Garvey and his Goodson Racing team plan to prepare for and run the 300-lap event like any other race.
“I try not to make it too big of a deal about it because it can be overwhelming,” said Garvey. “It really is just another race. I do understand the significance of it, but you can’t overdo it. If you do, it always makes it like it’s unattainable.
I almost won the race a couple of years ago, but we had trouble right there at the end. All you can do is dot your I’s and cross your T’s and hope everything is ready. The race changes so much that you hope you’re there at the end to be able to even have a chance.”
Although Garvey and his No. 1 machine have become a staple at Five Flags Speedway in recent seasons, they are not resting on their laurels. The team still works non-stop to stay ahead of the game when it comes to setups for the Florida half-mile.
“We’ve got a base line set up that we know that we can run at least in the top five or the top 10,” said Garvey. “But you’re always tweaking and trying things to make it just a little bit better. For every 100 things you try, maybe one or two will give you that extra something, that extra advantage. We’re always trying to make everything just a touch better.
“We can try more qualifying set ups than race setups,” said Garvey. “We know we’re good race wise. But we want to get into the top 10, top 15 and not have to start so far back in the field. It’s always nice when the temps are a little cooler, but 70 and sunny works for us too.”
The 2013 edition will mark Garvey’s 12th Snowball Derby start and his fourth driving for the Goodson Racing team.
For event information, a detailed Snowball Derby weekend schedule and more, visit www.snowballderby.com.
Sources: Matt Kentfield, 51 Sports