Mike McLaughlin

Michael McLaughlin (born October 6, 1956 in Waterloo, New York) is a retired NASCAR Busch Series driver. Nicknamed Magic Shoes, McLaughlin was a perennial fan favorite, winning the Most Popular Driver award in 1997. He also scored several wins and top-5 points finishes in the points standings in the Busch Series.

Early career

Dirt Modified in 1979 or 1980

McLaughlin grew up in New York State and began his professional career at a later stage than most other drivers, competing in his first race at age 20 in a dirt modified he built. He then ran regularly at his home track, Maple Grove Speedway, before moving up into the DIRT Modified series.

McLaughlin lived a few blocks from Maple Grove Speedway and built his first car in the garage at home. According to his mother, he drove the car to the track on his first night of racing.

Move to NASCAR

In 1984, McLaughlin made his Busch Series debut at the Mello Yello 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, driving the #73 Pontiac home to a 14th-place finish. He ran one more race that season, the October Charlotte race. Unfortunately, mechanical problems ended his day early. He raced twice more the next season, posting an eleventh-place run.

He then advanced into the NASCAR Modified ranks for Sherwood Racing, owned by Bill Corazzo and run by Clyde McLeod. His crew included Corazzo's nephew, Greg Zipadelli, who would later win Sprint Cup titles as crew chief, and Greg's younger brother Scott Zipadelli, who is also now a top level NASCAR crew chief. Mike won the 1988 championship in the Winston Modified Tour, now known as the Whelen Modified Tour. He has sixteen career wins in the modified series.

He also drove for Harry and Mike Greci in the Busch North Series, finishing 3rd in points in 1993. Mike became the first driver ever to win both ends of the Modified/Busch North doubleheader at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

NASCAR Busch Series career

In 1990, Mike returned to the Busch Series, driving the #51 Coors Extra Gold Oldsmobile in six races. Despite two wrecks, McLaughlin had two top-five finishes and caught the eye of many in the sport. He ran eight races the following season, but was unable to duplicate his success. After part-time runs in 1992 and 1993, McLaughlin finally ran his first full-time schedule in the Busch Series in 1994, driving the #34 Fiddle Faddle Chevrolet for Cicci-Welliver Racing. Despite not making two races, McLaughlin posted three top-fives and finished 13th in points. He also ran two Winston Cup races for Cicci-Welliver that year, finishing 22nd and 27th at New Hampshire and Watkins Glen, respectively.

In 1995, McLaughlin got his first taste of Victory Lane, winning the GM Goodwrench/Delco 200 at Dover, and collected 13 additional top-tens on his way to a third place points run. After a winless 1996, McLaughlin won twice in 1997 (including at his hometrack at Watkins Glen) and was named the series' Most Popular Driver. 1998 saw him add Goulds Pumps as his primary sponsor, and he won two more races, and matched his career-best finish of third in points.

After going winless in 1999, McLaughlin shockingly announced he would depart from Cicci-Welliver at the season's end, citing a need for a change. He and Goulds left for the #48 Chevy fielded by Innovative Motorsports in 2000. Unfortunately, the season was a struggle and McLaughlin could not get the cars up to speed. Despite two fifth-place finishes, McLaughlin jumped ship just weeks before the start of the 2001 season to the unsponsored #20 owned by Joe Gibbs Racing. McLaughlin shocked the NASCAR world by winning the NASCAR Subway 300 at Talladega, albeit controversially. Despite the win, the team could not continue to run unsponsored, and McLaughlin moved over to the MBNA #18 for the remainder of the season. He finished seventh in points.

In 2001, McLaughlin was Tony Stewart's back-up driver for the Coca-Cola 600. Stewart was running the Indy 500 the same day and McLaughlin was to have started the race if Stewart did not arrive on time. Stewart eventually arrived in Charlotte just minutes before the command to start engines and finished third.

Struggles and retirement from driving

McLaughlin smokes his tires while leaving the pits in his #25 car during the 2004 California race.

In 2002, McLaughlin went winless once again, but was able to muster a fourth-place finish in points. However, Gibbs wanted to move his son Coy into the #18, and McLaughlin was forced to find a new job. In October 2002, McLaughlin announced he would run with a new team, Angela's Motorsports in the 2003 season. The team showed up at that season's Speedweeks, and their Ford Taurus was the fastest in testing. After that, problems began arising, and weeks before the season started, Angela's Motorsports closed its doors. It turned out that the team's owners had been behind in paying their bills, and their debtors took over the operation and shut everything down. McLaughlin appeared to be out of a job, but after word leaked out, fans began donating money to allow McLaughlin to run the Daytona race, and with sponsorship from XM Radio and with Darrell Waltrip's DWStore.com, McLaughlin drove the #39 Jay Robinson Racing Ford at the season-opening event, qualifying 4th but finishing 29th after a wreck in the closing laps. The financial windfall could not get McLaughlin a full-time ride, although he returned to Cicci Racing to run seven races, posting one top-ten finish. McLaughlin went unemployed in 2004 until the end of the season, when he replaced Bobby Hamilton, Jr. at Team Rensi Motorsports after Hamilton left to join Nextel Cup team PPI Racing, posting a second-place run at the Stacker 200 Presented by YJ Stinger.

McLaughlin became a test driver and development driver coach for Joe Gibbs Racing, and opened his own racing fabrication business. As of 2009, McLaughlin is also building bobsleds for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Project, supplier of sleds to the US Olympic team.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1994	Team 34	34	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA 22	POC	TAL	IND	GLN 27	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	55th	179	^[1]
1996	Team 34	34	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	DAR	BRI	NWS	MAR	TAL	SON	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	DAY	NHA	POC	TAL	IND	GLN DNQ	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	PHO	ATL	NA	-	^[2]

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	NBSC	Pts	Ref
1984	Boehler's Racing	73	Pontiac	DAY	RCH	CAR	HCY	MAR	DAR	ROU	NSV	LGY	MLW	DOV	CLT 14	SBO	HCY	ROU	SBO	ROU	HCY	IRP	LGY	SBO	BRI	DAR	RCH	NWS	CLT 36	HCY	CAR	MAR						67th	176	^[3]
1985		73		DAY 33	CAR	HCY	BRI	MAR	DAR	SBO	LGY	DOV																										62nd	194	^[4]
1985		03											CLT 11	SBO	HCY	ROU	IRP	SBO	LGY	HCY	MLW	BRI	DAR	RCH	NWS	ROU	CLT	HCY	CAR	MAR								62nd	194	^[4]
1990	H&H Motorsports	51	Olds	DAY 39	RCH	CAR	MAR	HCY	DAR	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	HCY	CLT	DOV DNQ	ROU	VOL	MYB	OXF DNQ	NHA 6	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH 29	DOV	MAR	CLT 17	NHA 3	CAR	MAR 4				47th	633	^[5]
1991	H&H Motorsports	51	Olds	DAY 37	RCH	CAR	MAR	VOL	HCY	DAR	BRI	LAN	SBO	NZH	CLT 41					GLN 19	OXF 39	NHA 14	SBO	DUB	IRP	ROU	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT 32	NHA 12	CAR	MAR				45th	620	^[6]
1991	Shoemaker Racing	64	Pontiac													DOV 34	ROU	HCY	MYB																			45th	620	^[6]
1992	H&H Motorsports	51	Olds	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	MAR	DAR	BRI	HCY	LAN	DUB	NZH 30	CLT	DOV	ROU	MYB	GLN 13	VOL	NHA 30	TAL	IRP	ROU	MCH	NHA 29	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT 14	MAR	CAR	HCY 27				49th	549	^[7]
1993			Olds	DAY	CAR	RCH	DAR	BRI	HCY	ROU	MAR	NZH 9	CLT	DOV	MYB	GLN 12	MLW	TAL	IRP	MCH																		NC²	0	^[8]
1993			Chevy																		NHA 22	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	ROU	CLT	MAR	CAR	HCY	ATL							NC²	0	^[8]
1994	Team 34	34	Chevy	DAY 29	CAR 22	RCH 11	ATL 39	MAR 21	DAR 21	HCY 12	BRI	ROU 16	NHA 10	NZH 5	CLT 9	DOV 18	MYB 31	GLN 19	MLW 6	SBO 15	TAL 7	HCY 16	IRP 3	MCH 4	BRI	DAR 6	RCH 11	DOV 28	CLT 27	MAR 11	CAR 35							13th	2986	^[9]
1995				DAY 37	CAR 13	RCH 4	ATL 31	NSV 7	DAR 16	BRI 30	HCY 3	NHA 4	NZH 31	CLT 20	DOV 1*	MYB 8	GLN 4	MLW 5	TAL 32	SBO 2	IRP 3	MCH 10	BRI 21	DAR 10	RCH 17	DOV 7	CLT 5	CAR 13	HOM 24									3rd	3273	^[10]
1996				DAY 31	CAR 2	RCH 38	ATL 11	NSV 30	DAR 41*	BRI 27	HCY 25	NZH 29	CLT 35	DOV 32	SBO 2	MYB 6	GLN 3	MLW 2	NHA 9	TAL 25	IRP 2	MCH 13	BRI 38	DAR 38	RCH 11	DOV 6	CLT 5	CAR 4	HOM 27									10th	2853	^[11]
1997				DAY 33	CAR 8	RCH 27	ATL 17	LVS 24	DAR 33	HCY 10	TEX 5*	BRI 2	NSV 13	TAL 35	NHA 1	NZH 8	CLT 33	DOV 23	SBO 8	GLN 1	MLW 13	MYB 2	GTY 5	IRP 37	MCH 13	BRI 16	DAR 2	RCH 32	DOV 10	CLT 13	CAL 9	CAR 7	HOM 22					4th	3614	^[12]
1998				DAY 18	CAR 5	LVS 27	NSV 1	DAR 8	BRI 6	TEX 11	HCY 21	TAL 3	NHA 7	NZH 3	CLT 7	DOV 5	RCH 34	PPR 20	GLN 2	MLW 6	MYB 3	CAL 24	SBO 3	IRP 18	MCH 15	BRI 17	DAR 3*	RCH 28	DOV 4	CLT 1	GTY 12	CAR 41	ATL 29	HOM 18				3rd	4045	^[13]
1999	Cicci-Welliver Racing			DAY 15	CAR 6	LVS 19	ATL 12	DAR 16	TEX 4	NSV 7	BRI 27	TAL 21	CAL 41	NHA 40	RCH 14	NZH 28	CLT 27	DOV 28	SBO 15	GLN 3	MLW 11	MYB 12	PPR 15	GTY 9	IRP 17	MCH 24	BRI 39	DAR 38	RCH 43	DOV 9	CLT 3	CAR 16	MEM 7	PHO 16	HOM 20			9th	3478	^[14]
2000	Innovative Motorsports	48	Chevy	DAY 26	CAR 15	LVS 43	ATL 21	DAR 33	BRI 42	TEX 40	NSV 2	TAL 14	CAL 41	RCH 25	NHA 33	CLT 32	DOV 10	SBO 24	MYB 30	GLN 5	MLW 28	NZH 34	PPR 8	GTY 36	IRP 34	MCH 5	BRI 28	DAR	RCH 30	DOV 34	CLT 39	CAR 16	MEM 24	PHO 15	HOM 31			24th	2690	^[15]
2001	Joe Gibbs Racing	20	Pontiac	DAY 6	CAR 14	LVS 9	ATL 11	DAR 5	BRI 13	TEX 37	NSH 9	TAL 1	CAL 10	RCH 22	NHA 10	NZH 17	CLT 11	DOV 21	KEN 25	MLW 18	GLN 17		GTY 12		IRP 23	MCH 5		DAR 3										7th	3962	^[16]
2001		18																				CHI 25		PPR 14			BRI 16		RCH 32	DOV 31	KAN 10	CLT 19	MEM 10	PHO 31	CAR 3	HOM 12		7th	3962	^[16]
2002				DAY 38	CAR 5	LVS 12	DAR 6	BRI 2	TEX 18	NSH 20		CAL 6	RCH 14	NHA 5	NZH 9	CLT 4	DOV 8	NSH 33	KEN 39	MLW 8	DAY 7	CHI 27	GTY 7	PPR 7	IRP 14	MCH 17	BRI 4	DAR 8	RCH 19	DOV 2	KAN 31	CLT 8	MEM 16	ATL 3	CAR 13	PHO 19	HOM 20	4th	4253	^[17]
2002			Chevy								TAL 24																											4th	4253	^[17]
2003	Jay Robinson Racing	39	Ford	DAY 29	CAR																																	61st	615	^[18]
	Santerre Racing	01	Ford			LVS DNQ	DAR	BRI	TEX
	Frank Cicci Racing	34	Chevy							TAL 39	NSH	CAL	RCH 13	GTY	NZH	CLT 30	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY 9	CHI 30	NHA 26	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM
2004	Team Rensi Motorsports	25	Ford	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	NSH	TAL	CAL	GTY	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI 12	CAL 11	RCH 24	DOV 2	KAN 11	CLT 12	MEM 18	ATL 41	PHO 36	DAR 39	HOM 16	38th	1140	^[19]

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	NCTC	Pts	Ref
1996	Chesrown Racing	66	Chevy	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	TUS	CNS	HPT	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	I70	IRP 9	FLM	GLN	NSV	RCH	NHA	MAR	NWS	SON	MMR	PHO	LVS			91st	138	^[20]
1997	Ken Schrader Racing	53	Chevy	WDW	TUS	HOM	PHO	POR	EVG	I70	NHA	TEX	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	CNS	HPT	IRP 5	FLM	NSV	GLN	RCH	MAR	SON	MMR	CAL	PHO	LVS	91st	155	^[21]

² Competed only in companion events with Busch North Series as BNS driver and ineligible for Busch Series points

References

↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1996 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1984 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1985 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1990 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1991 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1992 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1993 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1996 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1997 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1999 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 2004 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
↑ "Mike McLaughlin – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved January 3, 2015.

External links

Official website
Mike McLaughlin driver statistics at Racing-Reference

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