Lichty Among Top Indoor Drivers
Mike Lichty of Innerkip, ON, Canada has been one of the top performers in indoor racing. His seven top fives in 10 Gambler’s Classic starts leads all drivers.
“That’s some interesting history,” Lichty said. “I wasn’t aware of that. … I think the biggest thing is just obviously being there at the end and having a real good car under you and we’ve taken time over the years and everything on this car compared to a lot of the cars out there is built. It’s specifically built for indoors, you know, so heavier heims. It can actually take a hit compared to most cars out there and we’ve always had success, don’t matter really if it’s just Atlantic City or where the tour has taken us. Indoors we’ve ran well with this car.”
Since his 2006 debut, Lichty has 9 top fives and 14 top 10s in 16 starts at Boardwalk Hall. In 30 indoor TQ Midget starts, he has a 7.1 average finish. He has two wins (Baltimore and Providence), 18 top fives, and 24 top tens.
[Jan. 29 Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
[Jan. 30 Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
“To compare it to a super and the reaction time indoors is you gotta be much quicker than you do outdoors obviously because everything happens so quick and with these things the power to weight ratio. I mean, they’re quick cars. They accelerate like no tomorrow, right? So in a sense, driving is driving. It doesn’t matter indoors or outdoors. You’re gonna use your abilities and your knowledge to do what you can do so. But when it comes to racing procedure and whatnot, it’s definitely different at times and using the front bumper like everybody does.”
“I’ve just always, always give yourself an out and that’s the way I have always raced, you know, in situations. But before they happen, you need to understand what you’re gonna do if you’re in that type of situation and there’s been many of times where there’s been wrecks in front of us and whatnot and we’ve steered clear of it.”
Lichty drive to Allentown was a short distance of seven hours compared to the flight to Atlantic City this weekend. He finished third in the inaugural race January 2. It was his fifth top five in his last six races (since 2014).
Colin Turnbull and the son of No. 1’s car owner Larry raced the car at Niagara Falls (NY) Convention Center, home of indoor racing from 1984-2002.
“They had great success at Niagara back in the days with it and then Colin got out of the car and I started running it probably six-seven years ago. … It just keeps us busy through the winter, and it’s enjoyable, and you’re looking at the series what Lenny has put together. It’s grown into a big deal. You’re racing with top Modified drivers, top dirt drivers, so it’s pretty cool.”
The annual Atlantic City event restarted in 2003 under Len Sammons Motorsports Productions and has visited Baltimore, Providence, and Trenton. The current schedule is Allentown, Atlantic City, and Trenton.
“It’s impressive absolutely. .. (I) can’t thank ‘em enough for putting the series on and each year it seems they’re trying to find more and more venues. … Three weekends, that works out great for us. The winters pass a lot quicker with racing indoor(s) and it keeps you sharp for the regular season with our Supermodifieds and stuff too. So hey if it’s got four wheels and they’re racing somewhere and we got an opportunity, we’ll be there.”
Lichty will be back running the International SuperModified Association (ISMA) schedule full-time. This year’s 14 race schedule visits Delaware (ON) Speedway, Jennerstown (PA) Speedway, Lee (NH) USA Speedway, Lorain (OH) County Speedway, New London-Waterford (CT) Speedbowl, Oswego (NY) Speedway, Sandusky (OH) Speedway, Star Speedway in Epping, NH; and Thompson (CT) Speedway Motorsports Park.
Lichty owns four Supermodified wins (2011-14) at the Steel Palace and has a pair of top fives in the Oswego International Classic. He has 3 wins, 8 podiums, and 9 top tens in his last 9 ISMA Supermodified races at Oswego.
For the first time since 1989, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will run a race at Oswego (NY) Speedway. The Oswego 150 will run September 3 as part of the 60th annual Budweiser International Classic Weekend. Lichty would consider making his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour debut at Oswego if he can find a ride.
“Those cars have always interested me. You know, just they look badass right and being an open wheel obviously the supers are an open wheel car so I kind of relate to that a little bit. But I think it’s going to be huge for Oswego. I’m extremely looking forward to that weekend, and I think it’s going to do a lot for Oswego, and fanwise too, and it will get to showcase our cars in front of a lot of the new fans that may haven’t seen a Super before. As far as a ride, I’m not sure. I wouldn’t even know where to go to start looking for one and we’re pretty busy that weekend anyways depending on what we’re going to do for the non-wing race, anyways. … If a decent ride did come up, yeah I’d sit in one.”
Lichty finished second in points to Dave Shullick Jr. with one win, seven top fives and 10 top tens in 13 races.
Lichty consistently qualified in the top two and finished second three times at Oswego last year. “There was just some small things that didn’t go in our favor. We got screwed out of the win by a lapped car that ran us up into the wall. … That car that we run for our longer tracks I know very well.”
While the short track car set a track record at Lorain County and won at New-London Waterford, Lichty sees room for improvement.
“There’s just some things that I still … don’t totally understand on the car yet. So this winter’s gonna be key on doing some things to it and making some adjustments so it goes smoother next year.”
The 2012 champion is seeking his second championship.
“We ran second last year in the championship had a win, lot of second places lot of top fives and whatnot, so making some few changes this year and looking forward to it.”
One growth problem Supermodifieds face is that the cars are handmade. Everything is designed for a specific car except for the front hubs and rear end. The frame and rear torsion arms cannot be ordered from a catalog. Car builders are based near Oswego and another company “out east.”
It is important to understand what you’re building and work to make the car handle. The variety of the cars makes it interesting for Lichty.
“There’s a lot of smart people involved with the Supermodifieds and that always makes it extremely interesting to run with ‘em . … Clyde Booth, he used to be involved with NASCAR, he’s down in North Carolina. Jim Bodnar, which built the cars for the fella that won the championship Dave Shullick Jr., very smart man built unbelievably quick racecars. You’ve got a lot of good fabricators out there and smart people. So there’s nothing worse going to a racetrack and not having extremely good competition. You look at Vic Miller back in the day with Chris Perley and there’s one year I think they won like 14 out of the 16 shows or something like completely dominated. (They won 10 of 16 in 2007) … They’ve been struggling the last couple of years so it’s kind of nice passing that 11 car now.”
“If you do your homework, and maintain your stuff properly, and you’re smart enough to understand the stuff, it will pay off.”
Lichty is a fan of new tracks as an equalizer.
“Nobody’s tested there before and it’s always new. And if you go out there and you’re fortunate enough to find an advantage basically within your driving on lines and stuff, and I seem to pick up on some of those traits pretty decent and apply ‘em in the race time and it’s paid off for us.”
One track Lichty excelled at was Stafford (CT) Motor Speedway, which hosted ISMA from 2004-13. He had an 8.9 average finish with 4 top fives and 6 top 10s. He also won the last 2 races there.
“I love that racetrack, a gorgeous facility, put on an awesome show. You could run right down to the bottom, right up top.”
Lichty has 2 wins, 8 top fives, 12 top 10s in 15 starts at New London-Waterford Speedbowl. He also has 6 consecutive top 10s and called the track “very racy.”
The ISMA Supermodifieds will return to Jennerstown for the first time since 2007. Lichty enjoys the quick ½ mile oval, where he finished third in the last doubleheader.
Lichty said the series is growing thanks to new people getting involved.
“Everybody that sees the cars love ’em, and you talk to anybody from NASCAR to IndyCars they all have some sense of what a Supermodified is, and everybody wants to drive one.”
Lichty began his career in Go Karts at his local track for about four years. He moved to Supermodifieds at age 17. He finished sixth in points during his first full season 2004.He also has competed in the PRA Big Cars and USAC Silver Crown.
“We actually had pretty decent success right off the bat. I … was always contending, top tens, top fives. I grew up around ’em. I understand the racecars. I’ve always been around ’em so I think the transition and it definitely helped.”
His father Brad owned Dave McKnight’s Supermodified and Cayuga Speedway when Lichty got into the Supermodifieds. He visited Cayuga with McKnight and received “good coaching.”
Reports circulated in November-December 2014 of work being done to the track. It was on ISMA’s tentative 2015 schedule, but the race was removed from the schedule. Mark Sammut won the last ISMA race in 2009.
Lichty is unsure of Cayuga’s future. He visited last July and the asphalt was removed. Lichty heard the operators of Ohsweken Speedway were involved in revitalizing the track.
“It’s such a …nice facility for a short track operation. It would be probably one of the best in Ontario, so it’s unfortunate that it’s not up and running. … I’ve heard some big things what they want to do to it, so if it all comes through it will be cool to go back.”
Lichty is happy running the Supermodifieds regularly and does not add much to his schedule.
“We’re used to a huge tire, big downforce. When they’re on they’re fun to drive, but granted when they’re off they’re a handful. They’re not fun at all.”
Lichty said the travel is draining but calls it “part of the gig.” He prefers racing on a tour over racing weekly at the same track.
“To run a non-winged at Oswego year after year, after year, after year. There’s nothing new about it. … I like going to new race tracks. I like running a traveling series. You get the new and half the time is you go to new cities or whatever or new towns. You’re always meeting people and having a good time with our crew.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com
JakesSite.com/08/stats/index.html#ismawins
ISMASupers.com
Oswegospeedway.com/HOME/tabid/36/ctl/ArticleView/mid/427/articleId/1485/NASCAR-Whelen-Modified-Tour-Set-to-Return-to-Oswegos-International-Classic-Weekend.aspx
TheThirdTurn.com
UltimateRacingHistory.com