Rowe, RJF Team Reunite for Championships
Whelen All-American Series Titles: Tribute To Fallen Crewman
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A 63-year-old semi-retired NASCAR champion converted an encore part-time appearance into what could be the last full time season of his distinguished career this year. The NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship-winning reprise was in tribute to a fallen friend and crewman.
Mike Rowe of Turner, Maine rejoined the RJF Motorsports team and won the NASCAR Pro Series division track championship and state title racing at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine. The combination previously won the track and state championships there in 2009. He repeated the state title in 2010.
Their part-time schedule for 2013 morphed into fulltime. The championships became a perfect homage to Jason Fowler – a former driver, crewman and son of Rowe’s car owner, Dickie Fowler, who was lost in an automobile accident in November 2012.
“This is the biggest championship out of all of them. This season is a lasting tribute,” Rowe said.
The originally planned schedule was earnest.
“Dickie asked me if I’d race three or four times in 2013 as a tribute to Jason. Jason was part of our championship crew. We decided to run a few times and see how it went,” Rowe said.
“We won the first point race of the season, so we thought we’d try a few more. Then we decided we’d see it through. We accomplished more than we set out to do,” Rowe said. “And I found out racing with these young kids that I’ve still got it,” he said of his undiminished abilities.
Rowe registered two wins, eight top-fives and 11 top-10s in 14 starts. He won the state championship by seven points and the track title by 18. He won the titles over 2010 track champ Dan McKeage, and third-place Kelly Moore, the 1995 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East champion.
“We should have won at least one more,” Rowe said of the one that got away. “I was leading a 100-lapper with two laps to go. Someone spun out right in front of us and I couldn’t avoid him. It was a big disappointment, but that’s part of the game. We took our lumps, moved on and it all came out for the good.”
Weekly fields at Beech Ridge, a third-mile paved oval, were typically between 20-25 cars, according to Rowe. Race distances for most events varied from 40 to 50 laps and drivers highest in points started at the back of the field.
Rowe has enjoyed decades of racing success. He made 111 starts in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East between 1987 and 2002, scoring eight wins and finishing a career-best second in the championship standings to Jamie Aube in 1990. He’s a three-time winner of the prestigious Oxford 250 in Maine, and now has 10 track championships, encompassing several speedways.
In addition to owner Dickie Fowler, RJF Motorsports, team members include crew chief Mike Fowler, Jason Welch, Paul Webber, Chuck Weber, Joey Pastore, Alex Lacognata, Randy Waycotte, Ron Hunt and team manager Karol Hill. Sponsors include Main Street Auto, Rowe & Sons Trucking and Roy’s All Steak Hamburger. Their Chevrolet race car is based on a Distance Racing Chassis and powered by a Bob Bailey-built engine.
Rowe has three adult children, Thomas, Ben and Traci, and nine grandchildren. Grandson Gunnar Rowe competed in the Beech Ridge Whiz Kid division in 2013 and plans to move the Super Late Models at Oxford next year.
Rowe’s own racing plans for 2014 are incomplete, but he said it’s likely he’ll go back to racing on a part-time basis.
Rowe will be taking a special guest to the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards event in Charlotte next month. Joining the RJF team will be Jordan Emerson, 19, who was injured in competition several years ago.
“The banquet is just awesome and we want to show her what NASCAR does for its champions,” Rowe said.
Rowe will be honored for his track and state championships during the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards event on Friday, Dec. 13 in the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
More information on the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series is available at http://hometracks.nascar.com.
Sources: Paul Schaefer/NASCAR PR