For the McCurley family, racing is what they do.
So it is no wonder that 18-year old driver Stephan McCurley and crew chief/dad Mike McCurley will be together on Father’s Day weekend doing what they do — racing.
Stephan will be making his eighth start of the season when the ARCA RE/MAX Series rolls into Mansfield Motorsports Park in Mansfield, Ohio for Saturday’s Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA RE/MAX 200.
Stephan and Mike have been working at racing together the past 12 years.
Through karts, Allison Legacy cars, Late Models, the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour and now the ARCA series, the two have been together.
After success racing around the Houston area, the two went for broke as an independent team in the ASA Southeast Asphalt Tour last season.
That led to father and son spending hours together at home in the shop in Humble, on the road to different races and at the track, where Stephan finished second in the points standings while also winning the Blue Ridge regional championship and finishing second in the Carolina Clash regional championship.
“Dad and I spent a lot of time on the road last year.” Stephan McCurley said. “It was hard work, but that’s what we both love to do. We talk about what we could do to make the car better. When you spend that much time together, you get to be really close, and Dad and I know what each other is thinking sometimes without even saying it.”
Because of the impressive run by the duo, ARCA RE/MAX Series team owner Donny Kelly hired Stephan to pilot his No. 03 ARCA Chevrolet for the 2009 season.
“Stephan and I work all day on the ARCA car, over at the shop in Porter, and drive back to our shop in Humble every night to work on the late models, which we also maintain for other drivers. That’s actually our day job that we do at night.” Mike McCurley said. “Stephan is my first priority. He knows that I am going to make sure every bolt is tight on the car, and I’m going to go over everything twice. We work together to get the car better, and he trusts that I am going to keep him safe at all times.”
That kind of connection wasn’t lost on Kelly, who also hired Mike to continue in his familiar role as Stephan’s crew chief.
Only this time, Mike would oversee an actual crew on race weekends.
“I will do whatever is needed for me to do,” Mike said. “I’m willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to make sure Stephan succeeds in racing, even if that means working around the clock, and Stephan’s working hard right beside me. We can only hope that hard work pays off for him. I don’t care if I move on, I just want him to.”
While Stephan and Mike are in the shop and on the road, mom/wife Kristy McCurley is keeping an eye on the two younger McCurley children — Destin and Dustin.
“Sometimes it’s hard when Stephan and Mike are gone, and they’re gone a lot.” Kristy said. “But I fully support what they are doing, and I’m very proud of what the two of them have accomplished together. ”
In seven starts this season, McCurley has a best finish of 11th in the Menards 200 on May 17 at Toledo Speedway.
But despite not having a top 10 finish and not qualifying for the opening race of the season, McCurley sits 13th in points, just 250 points out of 10th place.
“We are getting better every race,” Stephan McCurley said. “We are both learning with this experience. It would be great if more opportunities come for me from this, so my dad could get a break. But I don’t know if he would know what do with himself. He has always been there for me, wrench in hand ready to do whatever. ”
Success at Le MansThe Houston area was well-represented at last weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Risi Competizione, a Ferrari team run by Houston Ferrari dealership owner Giuseppe Risi, won the GT2 Class for the second straight year while Krohn Racing, owned by Tracy W. Krohn of Houston, finished third.
“This is a very special day; winning this again after what we did last year makes it even more so,” Risi said . “To have 10 Ferraris here and have two of our cars placed in the top three is a simply magnificent result. These are the best teams in the world who race here so it is extremely special to have achieved this outcome .”
Drivers Jamie Melo, Mika Salo and Pierre Kaffer piloted the No. 82 Ferrari 430 GT to a two-lap advantage on the GT2 field.
Krohn’s team, including Nic Jonsson and Eric van de Poele, made the podium for the second time in three years.
Racing and fireworksHouston Raceway Park will have a lengthy fireworks display Saturday night after the third Annual Texas Outlaw Fireworks ASCS Sprint Car Nationals.
Racing starts at 6:30 p.m. with the fireworks show scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m.
For more information, call 281-383-7223.
russ.goodall@chron.com
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