CARL McKINNEY SURPRISES E MOD SHOES AT TRI-CITY SPEEDWAY

August 17,2007 

   When the 2007 season started at Tri-City Speedway, there were a few favorites in the chase for the E Mod track title. They included last year’s champion car owner Shawn Shingledecker of Franklin, Mike Potosky of Guys Mills, and Jim Frontz of Cambridge Springs. There were a few others, but those three stood out.

   No one anticipated that Carl McKinney would be leading the points into the final week.

   Not that the Cranberry Township driver is undeserving. On the contrary, McKinney’s resume includes two E Mod titles at Sharon Speedway. Simply put, most did not know that the veteran racer would compete weekly at the Venango County half-mile oval. Nor did anyone anticipate that McKinney and car owner Mike Hendrickson would acquire a fast car to boot.

   “We never planned on being in contention for the title,” noted McKinney, who works as a material buyer and planner for Mine Safety Appliances in Pittsburgh.

   McKinney started racing in 1998, but his racing background is rooted in his father.

   “My dad, Wes, worked as a crewman for a driver named Dave Borhman at the old Butler Fairgrounds and Lernerville Speedway. I was real young at the time, and dad eventually got out of it.”

   Despite his family’s absence from the weekly racing scene, McKinney recalls annual trips to Lernerville for the races and Fourth of July fireworks. His love of racing sprouted and grew over time. Then, he entered the pit area full-time in 1993.

   “After I graduated from college, I started to go to races in earnest. I used to sit with Travis Geisler, and one day he invited me to help his dad, Lynn, on his Late Model. The next thing I knew, I was put to work and I learned all that I know from Lynn. I worked for him for about five years before I started to go out on my own.  I was fortunate to be able to be tutored by someone before I learned the hard way money-wise and experience-wise.”

   In 1998, McKinney ventured into E Mod racing for the first time. He ran a half season in 1998 and 1999, and completed a full schedule in 2000. He raced at Challenger Raceway near Indiana at first. He then ventured to Sharon where he won the 2002 and 2004 E Mod titles. Through this hear to date, McKinney has 10 wins, including four at Tri-City.

   “In 2005, I moved to the Late Models. I ran them at Lernerville for two years, and my budget did not let me remain competitive. I was going to sit out this year, and the new FASTRAK Series for Crate Late Models started. With my budget and new family obligations, that series worked out well.”

   Racing his own FASTRAK Late Model, McKinney’s time was free to try other things. That’s how Hendrickson entered the picture. The Pittsfield car owner drove his own car before he installed drivers like John Lacki and Al Cressley behind the wheel. Those drivers captured feature wins at Stateline Speedway near Jamestown, N.Y. Hendrickson, however, yearned for more.

   “Mike and I met a few years ago, and I helped him with some race setups. After his drivers decided to get out of racing with him full-time, Mike asked me to drive. We both raced Throwin Dirt E Mod chassis at the time, and we worked well together. We both love Tri-City. Mike really wanted to do well there, and we decided to give it a shot this season.”

   Although Hendrickson and McKinney raced a Throwin Dirt chassis on the first night, Hendrickson had a new Pierce chassis in his garage. The Pierce car has been the hot setup at Tri-City since three-time track champion Brent Rhebergen introduced them in 2000.

   “We finished eleventh the first night out with the old chassis,” recalled McKinney. “Mike thrashed together the Pierce car in one week. We fired the engine only three minutes before our heat race went out on the second night. I hit the gas and came off of turn two like a rocket ship. I couldn’t believe how different the car was. We finished second that first night and won the following night.”

   With the new car, McKinney and his No. 6M team have captured 11 top five finishes in a row, including three victories, this season. McKinney credits Hendrickson’s entire crew.

   “To win the championship would mean a lot to me,” said McKinney. “Feature wins are great because they are instant gratification. There’s something special about the point title. It’s the whole combination of crew, driver and car putting forth the effort week in and week out. I give all the credit to Mike and his crew.  He pretty much does it himself. His father builds all the motors and he has other guys that help him weekly.  I would love to give him the title. It’s something that he’s wanted for quite a while.”

   Heading into this weekend, McKinney leads the E Mod points by 62 markers over Shingledecker with Frontz only 11 points behind in third.

   McKinney's E Mod sponsors include Townsend Oil & Gas of Homer City, Whitehill's Garage of Pleasantville, Gil Dahlstrom Iron & Metal of Oil City, Holden Precision Machine of Sheffield, Fastenal, Pat's Auto Electric, and Sol Pac Construction of Warren, Impact Web Design of West Hickory, Williams Lumber of Youngsville, Cool Beans Signs & Supply of Pittsfield, North Auto Crushing of Akley, Pennzoil Products Company, American Racer Tires, Dickson  Racing Shocks, and Absolute Powdercoat.

   McKinney's FASTRAK Late Model sponsors include Mikan Motors of Butler, Results Chiropractic Center and Pat McKinney Bookkeeping of Cranberry Township, Strutz Fabricators and Purvis Bros. Inc. of Mars, J&T Tire of Allison Park, Ehrhart Cabinets Inc. of Evans City, Hufnagel-Majors Trailer Sales of Harmony, Impact Design and Images of Tionesta, and Cool Beas Signs & Supply of Pittsfield.