The Long Road Back…
J.D. Kammerer Jr
CHICAGO –
It’s a little after midnight on a sweltering, muggy night, as Mike Affarano closes and locks the door to his race shop.
Even in the glow of a nearby streetlight and what little bit of light from a moon peeks through sparse clouds, the weariness is evident on the face of the owner to NASCAR’s #03, Gander Outdoors truck team.
After a forty-five-minute drive home, he’ll have just enough time to get four hours of sleep, before he starts his day again.
“The things we do…” He mutters to me, climbing into his double cab dually, “…the things we do.”
Climbing into the passenger seat beside him, it becomes kind of clear that he is talking more to himself than he is to me.
We are silent as we pull out onto the nearly abandoned service road that will take us to the interstate and back to his house and my car and I watch as the headlights of Mike’s Crew Chief, Dave McClure’s vehicle peel off as he heads back to his place.
“A couple of weeks and this will all have been worth it.” Mike Affarano announces with a sigh, breaking me out of my own thoughts. “Couple of weeks, we’ll be at the track; Jake will be in the truck and it will all be worth it.”
For going on, nearly two years now, the small truck series team owner has been working two jobs to get him and his team back to the track, grinding ten to twelve hour days away, six to seven days a week, working in Calumet City’s Salvage Yard with his friend and Crew Chief, trying to earn the money he needed to get back to the track.
Then, when the work day is done, the two of them would pack up their vehicles and make the trek to their race shop, to put several more hours in… building their fleet of trucks, welding roll bars, installing suspensions and transmissions, or working in a paint booth.
Each paycheck earned on a late Friday afternoon is one step closer to getting back to the track, it is another fuel bladder, a radiator, bell housing or a chunk paid off on new motors.
This is the work and sacrifice that my teammates make on a daily basis, all for a dream that is finally coming within reach and will be fully realized at Eldora Speedway on August 1, 2019.
“I think we can win it.” Mike tells me, as we make the long drive back to his home, the wind screaming through the open window of his cab. “With Jake behind the wheel and our new stuff, I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people!”
Mike turns and looks at me, despite the tiredness I noticed earlier, there is now a smile broadly on his face and a sparkle in his eyes; it is infectious, that smile, as is his optimism.
Despite our poor showings in the past, I have to admit, we’ve never been closer to the finish line and checkered flag as we are right now… it’s nearly impossible not to have lofty dreams and expectations going into Eldora next month.
As I said, it’s hard not to feel that burst of excitement… heck, I drove nearly five hours to see firsthand, everything that Mike and Dave have worked and accomplished.
When other teams have shuttered, or relegated themselves to simple ‘start-n-parks’, Mike has always held loftier goals in mind; never giving up, working crazy-mad hours, to build a competitive race program.
And, he hasn’t done it alone… he’s had the help of many other teams in the garages back in North Carolina, he’s had the support of his friends, boss and family, and… he’s had the support and dedication from his many fans on Facebook and at the tracks.
All with the hope and intention of building a great team and race program that his two children, Zach and Kyle, can depend on in their own desire to be like their father and drive in NASCAR.
But, as Mike has often said, this is a ‘young man’s game’ and that ‘I am too old to be doing this, myself’.
Which is why, Mike made the decision to put Jake Griffin inside of his truck for the race in Eldora.
“The kid is talented.” Mike has told me on many of occasions, “I seriously think with the right equipment and opportunity, he could be the next Jeff Gordon.”
Admittedly, after previewing Jake’s stats, it’s difficult not to see that the kid oozes all kinds of talent.
An hour later, heading back to my home in Michigan, I couldn’t help but feel excitement cutting through my own tiredness from a long day.
While, right now, our sights are solely focused on the race in Eldora, but it is hard not to look beyond and at the other races that follow it.
Mike Affarano has a plan, we intend to stick to it and we believe the fruit of all of our hard work, his many long hours and sacrifices, that those goals are within reach and obtainable.
With all new equipment, a fleet of trucks all lined up neatly in the new race shop, the long hours, the dedication and money being poured into the program, it is hard not to feel that optimism and excitement…
Man, I can’t wait till Eldora… people are about to see a side of us that they’ve been aching and wanting to see.
We’re going RACING!!! ... See more
