Mike Norris Jr. crushes cars at D&D Salvage during the week and on the weekends, he crushes the competition at local racetracks.

Norris has made a name for himself in the Late Model division. He is a fierce competitor and one of the most respected drivers at the speedway. Currently he leads the Lernerville Late Model points division.

He grew up at racetracks, going there with his mother Anne and grandparents Marlene and Dave Norris. Some of his favorite drivers as a kid were Gary Lyle, David Scott and Nick Jones. He thought that John Flinner created a lot of excitement. His favorite NASCAR driver was Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Mike Norris Sr. raced for 35 years and as a child Mike Jr. enjoyed helping his dad work on the race car. Mike Sr. won the Lernerville Limited Late Championship in 1991. He then took a break from racing to spend more time with Mike Jr. and his sister Mindy.

Racing again in 2003, Mike Sr. garnered the Super Late Model Point Title at Latrobe Speedway in 2006.

In 2007, Mike Jr. was almost 16 when his dad decided to put him in a Late Model. Since this was his first experience in racing, they rented a few tracks to give him some seat time and he raced a handful of races. In 2008, he ran a full season. His goal was to continue to learn and stay out of the way of more competitive drivers.

Mike Jr. was starting to feel more consistent by 2010 and won his first feature at PA Motor Speedway in 2011 and secured the PA Motor Late Model Championship in 2012.

Last year, Mike Jr. traveled to Eldora for the World 100 where 108 “cream of the crop” Late Models competed. Mike said, “All I wanted to do is make the show.” He set fast time in qualifying and everyone was wondering, who is this newcomer? Then he won a B-Main feature, which enabled him to be in the 30 car 100-lap feature.

Norris worked his way up to 13th when the right rear shock on his car broke.

Last week, Brandon Overton of Georgia won the prestigious Lernerville WoO Late Model Firecracker 100 main event. Norris was one of two local drivers to finish in the top ten. He was ninth and Russ King was seventh. To date, Mike has now tallied 19 feature wins.

Guardian maintenance of his car is an important factor. They like to touch every nut and bolt on the car before going to a track. His pit crew consists of his dad, Dakota Brugeman, Mike DeMeno, Kevin Bittner, Brandon Rau, Jessi Boldy and Mindy Norris.

If the opportunity presented itself, Mike would like to take one year and follow a touring series. However, the family business requires a lot of his time. His goal is to win a Lernerville Late Model Championship, since his dad did not do that.

When not racing, Mike Jr. enjoys snowboarding and riding ATV’s. He truly appreciates what he has and is so thankful for his family and crew.

Children pick themes for their birthday parties and Thomas Berafi, 12, picked Lernerville Speedway for his this year. His mother Casey and dad Josh have taken him to the track every week since he was born.

To say that Thomas is excited or amped up about racing is an understatement. His favorite driver has been Ed Lynch Jr., but since Ed’s retirement, Thomas has now chosen Danny Holtgraver as his preferred pilot.

His great aunt Dorrie Young created a masterpiece for his celebration. A large poster of the Lernerville scoreboard was on the wall behind the table. The cake was a replica of the track at Lernerville with the green grass-looking icing on the infield and clay colored icing with crushed vanilla wafers for the track.

Miniature Sprint cars were all around the area. There was a victory lane with a picture of Lynch and Thomas holding the checkered flag. The grandstands were tiered and covered with a cloth. Fans were represented by cupcakes with a straw in the middle and each one had a picture glued to the top of one of the 30 people who were to attend the party. There were more cupcakes representing people waiting in line to enter at the gate.

Everyone enjoyed celebrating this special birthday with Thomas. “This was my all-time favorite cake,” he said.

Carol Gamble is a racing columnist for the Butler Eagle.