Jim Pape was gracious enough to get our November meeting lined up for us at Foty’s café in the bustling Birch Run outlets mall located right off of I-75. We sure picked a day though as it seemed as though the entire population of Saginaw County was there that day. Unbeknown to us was that it was deer hunter widow’s day at the mall so it was packed. For all those that braved the traffic you were rewarded with another very good and informative meeting which focused primarily on the great Go-Kart racing that is held in the State of Michigan.
Scott Packard spoke about his start in racing and how he knew at a very young age that he was destined to be a racer. Scott spoke of the excitement he enjoys racing and related how in today’s racing world at all levels of the sport that family is such an integral part of racing and especially in the go-kart fraternity. He then introduced Mathew Jacot, Purple Plate Achohol champion at the Arthur Speedway in Reese. Mathew gave a fine presentation on where he started and where he intends to go with his racing career. He is a very well spoken young man who fully intends to make it to the top with the support of his family who are behind him 100%. Jim Pape shared a bit about how there are so many leading drivers around the state that have come out of the go-karts that have raced at places like Houghton Lake, Mio, and Reese as well as in the Super Dirt Karting Series.
Kyle “Flipper” Trinklien spoke about his first experiences in racing and shared with us the different steps he has taken in his career from the go karts to a championship winning mini stock on the dirt as well as the asphalt and on into the Short Track Truck Series where he learned what it was to travel to different tracks all the time and learn to set up your racing vehicle to each different venue. Kyle shared a bit about the different tracks he has raced on and how each one was different than the other. Kyle then spoke about how he became one of Michigan’s “Voices of Summer” as this past season was his first season as the announcer at the Springport Motor Speedway. Kyle shared the different steps he has taken in learning this different facet of his racing career and detailed his early days announcing and the fun he had with the announcing duties of the Short Track Truck Series as well. Kyle is another of those racers that comes from a very supportive family that loves and lives for racing as much as he does.
Rick Sigsby was with us as well and if Rick’s name is new to you, well you might want to get used to hearing it as Rick is going around the state and speaking to as many old time racers as he can in his quest to write a book about the history of Michigan Racing. Rick was hanging out with 2 of our Michigan Motor Sports Hall of Fame at the meeting, Cy Fairchild and Larry McLoskey. While I couldn’t coax Cy or Larry to the microphone it was great to watch the interaction between the young racers in attendance and these two greats of Michigan Racing.
Many thanks to Jim Pape for getting this meeting set up for us at Foty’s Café in the Birch Run Outlets Mall and to the owners of Foty’s Café for allowing us the space in their facility. If you are out shopping and you need a quick bite, stop in and see the fine folks at Foty’s Café where they also have a well stocked gift shop that the lady racers will just absolutely love.