John Mickel

For the Australian politician, see John Mickel (politician).
John Mickel

John Mickel
Nationality England English
Debut season 2008
Current team Torquespeed
Car no. 5
Engine Vauxhall C20XE
Championships 0
Wins 0
Finished last season 23rd

John Mickel (born 28 January 1971, in Cambridge, England), is a stock car racer and commentator. He has raced in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and Pickup Truck Racing with TorqueSpeed. He was also a commentator for Sky Sports' coverage of NASCAR racing through 2008-9.

Career

Mickel, a second-generation driver, began racing at the age of ten in Ministox and won his first championship two years later. He soon moved to Superstox where he was named both World and European champion. He joined the SCSA-Europe tour in its inaugural year in 2001, where he won the series' first championship.

In 2002, he began racing part-time in the United States. After failing to qualify for two races in the Craftsman Truck Series, he began racing in the American Speed Association in 2004. He also planned to drive the 66 car part-time for Travis Carter Motorsports in the NEXTEL Cup Series that season, but the deal fell through. In 2005, he made his NASCAR debut in the Truck Series at Texas Motor Speedway, driving the #4 Dodge Ram for Bobby Hamilton Racing, starting 35th and finishing 29th. The next season, he ran the final five races of the Truck Series schedule leasing owner's points and equipment from the #07 Green Light Racing Chevrolet. His best finish was 20th at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He was scheduled to run with Green Light full-time in 2007, but instead Tim Sauter got the ride. During testing at Daytona International Speedway, Speed Channel had reported that Mickel will bring sponsorship to the #63 MB Motorsports ride, allowing him to run the full season, but that never came to happen.

For 2008 and 2009, Mickel raced in selected rounds of the UK Pickup Truck Racing series. He ran the multi-race winning truck of Paul Poulter but with a different engine.

On 31 January 2010, Mickel won the inaugural ASA Transcontinental Series Free State 500 at Phakisa Freeway near Welkom, South Africa in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, having qualified fourth for the 207-lap 500-km race. He took the lead on the last lap after a close and clean race.

In March 2010, Mickel (as Mickel Motorsport) started the 2010 UK CPC Legends Cars season in car #4, also running car #14 (the CPC sponsored car, driven by Paul Musselle) and car #39 (driven by Jess Gwynne).

Career history

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
none		 ASCAR Champion
2001 		Succeeded by
Nicolas Minassian
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