Teamwork is the name of the game for Mike Kekich
 

By Mike Leone
 

Mike Kekich is the epitome of local short-track auto racing. Work all week, maintain the car on weeknights, and go racing on the weekends. "You’ve really got to love racing and be willing to sacrifice time and money," said the 37-year-old sprint car driver. "It was something that I always wanted to do right out of high school." Kekich works at Operating Engineers Local 66 as a heavy equipment operator, while wife Shelly works in the Hermitage school district. They have two kids and reside in Hermitage.

Racing is truly a family sport and that’s definitely the case for the Kekich family. Mike’s dad, Paul "Putsy" Kekich, was a well-known figure in the sprint ranks. Mike’s brother, Doug, also competes in the sprint car ranks and his sister, Lori, is married to World of Outlaw driver Dale Blaney, whose family needs no introduction. Shelly Kekich’s uncle, the late Otis Coulter, was a former owner of Mercer Raceway.

Mike got his start in go-karts in 1979 at his father’s Woodland Speedway located behind his house. Here he raced against some of the best names that have come out of this area such as Dave and Dale Blaney, Tommy Quarterson, Jimmy Hawley, and World of Outlaw driver Tim Shaffer to name a few.

After competing in go-karts for three years, Kekich took 11 years off before getting into the growing micro sprint division at Hickory Speedway in 1992. His first full year was 1993, and by 1995 he claimed the Hickory track championship along with six feature wins as well as the Pittsburgh Circle Track Club Championship. He also traveled over four hours to K-C Raceway in Chillicothe, Ohio and won an event there. "When I first got into micros, never did I think I would get a sprint car," said the 1981 West Middlesex High School graduate. In his last season of running micros, a sprint car was purchased and 1997 was his first season in the big cars.

Seat time is so important in racing; you can never run enough laps. The more races and laps the better one gets. According to Kekich, speed and expense was the biggest adjustment from micros to full-size sprints. "You have time to think in a micro, where in a sprint everything just happens so fast. My first time in sprint at Sharon everything was flashing so quickly. Things slow down the longer you run."

Kekich bounced around in ’97 and ’98 getting valuable experience before settling down 1999. "I like racing at Sharon because of the speed, and at Mercer because you don’t have to have the best of everything to be competitive," said Kekich. "Dad always said, ‘if you could run Mercer you could run anywhere’."

Kekich was the most consistent sprint driver in western Pa. and eastern Ohio last season. He put together an incredible season at Mercer Raceway Park and Sharon Speedway. At Sharon, he finished a career-best second in points with 11 top 10s, while at Mercer he was third in points with 15 top 10s in 16 races. His worst finish at Mercer was an 11th on August 14 when there were 46 sprints in the pits.

"I have to give credit to the crew," when asked what he attributed his consistency to. "They worked all winter, summer, and all week. Consistency stops when the maintenance fails. You have to trust them. You can’t second guess if they tightened or bolted something." Mike noted that the crew works three nights a week, five to six hours a night, if nothing severe happened on the weekend, and all week if something happened to the car. Crew members include John, Squeak, Kenny, Dave, and Tony.

Kekich was quick to credit his loyal sponsors that have been with him a good six years. "If I didn’t have sponsors, I wouldn’t be able to race. I couldn’t afford to do it on my own." Kekich added, "They not only support me financially, but also by going to the races, and getting involved." Kekich’s list of sponsors includes Sunburst Environmental Services, Rent-A-Dumpster Inc., L&M Tire, Hermitage Agway, Totin Contracting, Select Body Services, and Pit-Stop Café. "Success is only possible if the crew, driver, and sponsor all click," added Kekich.

Kekich currently wheels a ’99 J&J chassis powered by a 410 Zipay engine. His #5K can be seen in action on Friday nights at Sharon Speedway and Saturday nights at Mercer Raceway Park. An occasional visit to Tri-City or Sportsman’s speedways is not out of the question if Sharon or Mercer gets rained out. "My goal for this season is to win my first sprint feature and be consistent," said Kekich.

What does the future hold? Hopefully two motors for next year. "If I could race for a living, then racing would be #1," said Mike. Wife Shelly added, "I think it would be fun on the road. I’d like to give it a try."

In closing Mike added, "I can’t forget my wife. She sacrifices just as much as I do to do this sport."

All of the ingredients are there for success-a hard-working crew, loyal sponsors, a supportive family, and a driver who has the fire. Keep an eye on the white and red #5K.