CURT MICHAEL EYES A NINTH RISLONE URC SPRINT SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE IN 2014

By Bob Miller

Curt Michael of Ocean View, DE has accomplished something no other driver has, he is an eight time Rislone URC Sprint Series Champion. It’s quite an accomplishment, especially when you look at the roster of driving stars who competed with URC over the sixty-seven year history of the organization. “I’m very proud of this accomplishment”, said Curt Michael on a cold and windy winter night in January. “URC has such a long history and have had some great drivers over the years like Halaquist, Kelly, Fitzcharles Kramer and many, more. I would have been crazy to think I was going to do something these guys never did”, add Michael. In racing, when you are recognized by just a single name, you know you’ve made it. In URC, there is only one Curt.

For Curt, it all started in 1995 when he ran just four races in a car owned by his dad, Al Michael. At that time, they were running a 358 motor against the URC motors. Curt could be viewed as a URC regular, but there were years when he ran a limited URC schedule for various reasons, including wheeling a 410 sprint car, a big brother to a 360 sprinter. In years when Curt did compete in every show, the likelihood of him winning the URC Champion was very high. In that first year with URC, Curt was not thinking about winning a championship, but about how to stay out of trouble and make enough money for his Dad so he could to continue to race each week. That in itself, made Curt Michael the good racer that he is today. The first goal is to finish and remember, you can’t win if you’re not running at the end of the race. Curt starts a race with a plan to be running at the end of the race, and he usually is. As someone who has watched Curt race through all of his career, he also demonstrates an amazing ability to avoid trouble on the track. He usually avoids the crashes with an amazing ability to see them start and know exactly what to do to avoid it. Michael was rather modest stating, “I always look ahead instead of looking at my own front wing, I guess a lot of luck helps also”.

“Winning championships starts in the shop with a great race team. No one is going to win a championship if the car breaks every other week”, said Michael. In speaking with Curt, you quickly hear of his commitment to car owner Bill Gallagher. “It is Bill’s race team and I always try to do my best and at the same time, treat his equipment like I would my own”.

“Thankfully, I have and some great owners and I’m going into my seventh year driving for Bill Gallagher”, Michael continued to say, “This is the longest I have been racing with the same owner in my entire career. I love driving for Bill and we’ve become very close, in fact, we usually talk at least once a day”.

Curt’s first URC Championship came with car owner Mike Bostic in 1988. “That championship meant a lot to me because my Dad was the Crew Chief and we build that team from scratch”, said Curt. “In 2004, I won the championship for Frank Davis, another team we built from scratch and I had my close friend Steve Suchy as Crew Chief”. Michael continued to say, The third, fourth and fifth (2005, 2006, 2007) championships were with Pat and Kathy Palladino and the high point there was winning three championships in a row.

The Curt and Bill team came together in 2008 and Curt won his sixth URC title. This one was especially memorable as it was Bill’s first champion along with crew chief Todd Rittenhouse who also won his first championship. In 2010 and 2011, the Curt and Bill show were at their peak, joined by Curt’s brother Sean, who was the crew chief for the team. There was that point in URC history when one would wonder if anyone else was ever going to win a URC championship.

In all these years and hundreds of races, one would ask, what was Curt’s greatest memory in racing? “Being the first driver to win five URC championships in a row along with winning the most URC championships in my highlight”. Curt went on to say, “Winning the URC sprint feature on the mile at Syracuse was a big day along with topping a seventy-one car field with a last lap pass to win a URC/ESS Challenge event at the Rolling Wheels Raceway”. It goes without saying, Curt is especially proud of his 410 sprint car victories as well.

Looking to 2014, one can only guess that Curt’s goal is to win a ninth championship. This year, Brandon Weibly will join the team as crew chief, a very welcome addition to the Curt and Bill Show. Curt was quick to say, “I don’t worry about the competition. Winning a championship is all about what you do as a team and not what the other teams do or don’t do”. Competition has never been a concern with Curt Michael and it’s no different in the coming season. Michael is happy with the URC Super Series events feeling strongly that you get better as a driver and a team when you race against tough competition.

The familiar green #5G carried a touch of pink in 2013. In March of 2013, Curt’s wife Jenn (A former Ms. Motorsports title winner) was diagnosed with early breast cancer. After a double mastectomy in late April, Jenn is recovering and doing very well. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, Curt and team surprised Jenn with the added pink to the paint job. And there is still another gal in Curt’s life, his three year old daughter, Madison, who you will see attending most of the races. The entire experience with Jenn was scary for Curt. “Thankfully, Jenn was very strong throughout everything and Bill was very supportive with the race team as well”, said Curt. “Having Madison and what we went through with Jenn showed me that there is more to life than just racing. I can have a bad night at the races and when I see Madison, I kinda forget about it all for a while”.

Sponsors play a key role with any race team and for the Curt and Bill Show, they find support from GEI Ent., Valley Forge, Lelands.com, K&N Air Filters, Kruger Trailers, Triple X Race Co., Butlerbuilt and Simpson.

So, it’s all but time to start the 2014 Rislone URC Sprint Series season. For Curt, he likes every track but does have a fondness for racing close to home at both Delaware International and the Georgetown Speedways. As for his competition in the coming season, I asked Curt who he expected to be his biggest challengers, and spoken as a true eight time URC Champion he replied, “I’ve done this for a long time and have raced for wins and championships against some really good guys. It seems like you never know who might be fast”.

The Rislone URC 2014 season will get underway on Friday night, April 11 at the Carolina Speedway in Gastonia, NC followed by a visit to the Lancaster Speedway in Lancaster, SC on Saturday night, April 12. These two event will be non-point races. The first point race of the 2014 URC season will take place at the Selinsgrove Speedway on Saturday night, April 19.

For more information on URC, please visit our website at: www.urcsprints.com

2014

RISLONE URC Sprint Series Schedule

Friday, April 11 Carolina Speedway/Gastonia, NC (NP)

Saturday, April 12 Lancaster Speedway/Lancaster, SC (NP)

Saturday, April 19 Selinsgrove Speedway

Friday, April 25 Big Diamond Raceway

Friday, May 2 Big Diamond Raceway (Rain Date)

Saturday, May 10 Selinsgrove Speedway Jack Gunn Memorial $3,500 To Win

Friday, May 16 Bedford Speedway

Saturday, May 17 Delaware International Speedway

Sunday, May 25 Grandview Speedway (2 Features)