Ahhh, sweet victory! Here is Michael's first Strictly Stock win at Orlando.
The 1/4 mile clay oval of Orange County Raceway was the scene of Michael's first years in a stockcar. Starting around age 13, Michael ran in the 4 Cylinder kids class.
Orange County had an excellent racing surface, although the rest of the track was kind of a mess!
Here is a new Pontiac Strictly Stock ready to go at Orlando. This is an odd class, it allows small 4-cylinder cars like this to race against big 8 cylinder cars that weigh twice as much. Michael was very competitive with the big cars and often beat them. They would outrun him down the straights, but Michael drove through the corners like a mad man and gained it all back, and more.
Michael shows off a new creation in front of Jerry's Italian Restaurant, owned by a long-time friend and supporter.
A fateful trip to New Smyrna finished off this Sunbird. Witnesses, who were sitting in the turn 3 grandstands where Michael hit, say that he smacked the wall so hard the stands shook! As Terry and Sue wondered if he was ok, they noticed that Michael was trying to get the car to crank up!
