Veteran Late Model Stock Car racer Mike Darne is one of the most respected drivers in the region and has always been a methodical contender. Last season, however, Darne did not look like himself.
Darne, 44, from Mooresville, North Carolina started out the season running in the Championship Auto Racing Series (CARS) Late Model Stock Tour. In the first three races, he had a 14th place finish at Southern National Motorsports Park, was involved in an accident at Orange County Speedway and dropped out at Hickory Motor Speedway. He ended up scoring a top-five finish when the series returned to Southern National in May but his next two appearances in the series resulted in two more crashes.
“When we did have a chance to run well, we’d get caught up in a wreck,” Darne stated. “Last year was just a bad year all the way around.”
Darne is hoping for some better luck this time around. Instead of racing for Jim Dean, Darne will race with longtime friend Ronnie Wolfe. The combination of Wolfe and Darne was potent at Old Dominion Speedway where Darne won several races – many of which being big money races.
“It’s funny because, the car I’m driving is Ronnie Wolfe’s car, the car that I ran at Old Dominion,” Darne said. “We brought it out of the pit and got it back going. It’s an older car and we’re a little bit underfunded but we’ll do the best we can. That car has won a lot of race s but it’s a little outdated now. It’s definitely won races. We might struggle a little bit but we’ll give it a shot and see how it goes.”
Old Dominion Speedway closed in 2012, but when it was open, Darne had a lot of success at the rough, 3/8-mile track, winning the championship there in 2002. Following the track’s closure, Darne traveled to Southern National Motorsports Park, where he has scored three career Late Model victories – including a win last summer. Darne’s victories at Southern National in 2014 had actually snapped a two year winless streak.
The experience of racing at Old Dominion Speedway, which ran on eight inch tires until 2011, made Darne a potent racer when it comes to tire management races. That experience has given Darne confidence heading into the CARS Tour race at Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday.
“I’ve got a lot of laps there and I know what to do to be there at the end and tire management’s going to be key.”
Sunday’s race will be the first time the CARS Tour has run on Hoosier tires. While many competitors preferred the American Racer tires, Darne is glad to be running on the softer Hoosier tires which tend to degrade quicker.
“I don’t want to run on anything but Hoosier tires,” Darne explained. “I love Hoosier tires. I like the fall off, it gives you a better race with drivers having to manage tires. You’ve got guys you didn’t think would stand a chance in the middle of the race there at the end knocking on the door.”
Darne is not planning on racing in the CARS Tour full-time or racing full-time at all in 2016. Along with racing this weekend, Darne hopes to make some trips to the brand new Dominion Raceway complex in Thornburg, Virginia – the track being opened by former Old Dominion Speedway owner Steve Britt.
“We’re not sure if we’re going to run the opener,” Darne commented. “We’ll be up there at some point. Me and Ronnie have been good friends for a while. We won’t race a ton. We’ll get to Dominion before the year ends.”
One reason Darne won’t be racing full time in 2016 is because he keeps busy preparing cars for other racers – most notably David Polenz, who Darne raced against at Old Dominion Speedway for several seasons.
“I think he’s going to run a lot of the Dominion races and some of the races at Southern National this year,” Darne remarked. “He’s in the same boat as me, got an older car and do the best he can with it. It’s hard to beat the newer stuff with the latest and greatest technology but we’ll put our best effort out.”
Polenz competed in a CARS Late Model Stock Tour race at Hickory Motor Speedway last season, scoring an impressive 14th place finish after starting near the rear of the field. Polenz got through the field by patiently passing drivers as he saved his tires while competing in an older car – which is Darne’s strategy for Sunday.
“That’s what I hope happens to us,” Darne said. “We probably won’t qualify that great but we’ll stay in it and hopefully we’ll go to the front when cars start fading away.”
Along with racing in a Late Model when he can, Darne will also race a Super Late Model throughout the season as he hopes to begin racing in Supers more often. Darne keeps busy as he also prepares Late Models driven by reigning Southern National Motorsports Park track champion Jonathan Findley and Southern National Motorsports Park competitor Andrew Grady as well as the Pro Late Model driven by Mason Diaz.
For those unable to attend Sunday’s CARS Tour race at Southern National Motorsports Park, RACEFEEDX.com will have live, streaming, pay-per-view coverage of the race.
