The 33 year old electrician from Tottenham began his racing career running karts at Formula Kartways in Brampton. Mike had always dreamed about driving a real race car but never thought it could be possible. After a test in a car at Flamboro six years ago, Mike and the team were hooked. They bought a CVM and the rest is history. The car he drives now is the car formerly run by Arnold “Doc” Roper, former club president, sponsor and member of the Canadian Vintage Modified Hall of Fame. The past few seasons have been hit and miss for Williams. He took some time off and raced a partial schedule after his marriage to wife Andrea but is now spending some time behind the wheel of the race car again.
Although some of Williams best runs have been this year at Sauble, he told me Delaware Speedway is one of his favorites. “Some of my highlights racing are any time we race at Delaware Speedway. For some reason it doesn’t matter what we do with the setup, the car always seems to be fast there. Every lap around that track is the most fun I get racing especially when the car works on the outside. Our car was owned by the late Doc Roper and I know Delaware was his favourite track so I think that has something to do with it.”
The best Mike has finished to this point is second, several times. “Other than heat wins I haven’t been able to finish better than 2nd up until this past weekend. At the July race in Sauble earlier this summer we had the fastest car in practice but lost a cylinder in the heat race and was unable to start the feature. The closest I came to winning a race was also at Sauble in August 2011. I was leading with 5 laps to go when I developed a push and drove it in too deep and allowed the second place driver to get under me to steal the win.”
Two weeks ago at Flamboro Williams was running well but bad luck once again managed to hit again. “That last wreck at Flamboro was a tough one, probably the worst wreck I have been involved with in terms of damage to the car. We pretty much bent or broke everything in the front end. Fortunately Ron Easton at Oakville Trailers was able to set aside some time away from his Nascar commitments to work on getting our hot rod back together. We worked together with Oakville Trailers this past winter and Ron has helped us make big strides with our racing program. When we had the wreck at Flamboro we knew there was only one place to call to get us back out on the track just as fast as ever.”
When the #7 car found his way to victory lane at Sauble, I asked Mike what the best part of that experience was. “The best part about winning was to be able to celebrate with my dad and crew in victory lane. It was cool to have my buddy Pat there from my main sponsor (Race Mechanical) to enjoy the win with us as well.” Williams almost experienced a little deja vu however. “The race at Sauble felt a lot faster then most because there was only one caution. The last 5 laps did get a little sketchy because I was fighting a bad push into the corners similar to 2011. In the end I was able to hold off a hard charging #00 car who was literally wearing out the back bumper. Once I saw the checkered flag all I could think about was all the people that helped us along the way and how the win is for all of them. It felt great to finally shake the monkey off my back but at the same time I am hungry to do it again.”
Mike has so many people he wanted to thank. “My crew is my family who sacrifices a lot to be with us at the track and in the garage. The Crew of Dave & Stephen Williams, Brian Henvey, Derek Therrien, Fred Zaffuto and John Donkers has all stuck together with me since the beginning. For our motor program we take the inline Chevy 6 cylinder to Beatty & Woods in Brampton exclusively. So thanks to Chuck and the boys for filling the car up with all those ponies. We have always had the support of the #00 crew so thanks to Ron, Jeremy and Dave. I would also like to thank my wife Andrea and all off the wives/girlfriends/bosses of my crew who make sacrifices of their own to let us play with our car all summer. Finally I would like to thank all my family and friends for their continued support, especially the ones that were at Flamboro and witnessed that last wreck. As you can imagine I was about as happy as a one armed paper hanger after that wreck.”
In closing Mike wanted to thank all of his sponsors as well and tell me about his future plans in racing. “My main sponsors who have been with us as long as we have had the car is Race Mechanical Systems and Ironwood Construction & Millworking. Over the years we have been blessed with many great sponsors which include HollyParkes.com, Arena Pro Hockey, Burlington Krown & Line-X, Stag Automotive, Oakville Trailers, Terrier Excavating & Landscaping, Diplock Floors LTD, and Kevin Minaker Hutchison & Sons LTD. Without the support of these sponsors none of this would be possible so we are forever grateful. I can’t forget to mention Lucas Oil title sponsor of the Canadian Vintage Modifieds. Lucas Oil helps support the club that makes this all happen.”
And your future plans? “I’d like to win more races and support the longest active racing organization in Canada, the Lucas Oil Canadian Vintage Modifieds!!” For more information check outhttp://www.vintagemods.com/
