Michael Ciochetti Jr. (born April 23, 1959) is an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver and aviation entrepreneur. He is a former competitor in the

ARCA Racing Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

, and planned to compete in the

NASCAR Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

before suffering a career-ending injury.

Racing career

Mike Ciochetti Jr. began his racing career in South Florida in the mid 1970s racing at both Hialeah Speedway and the South Florida Fairgrounds Speedway in West Palm Beach. In the early 1980s he competed on the NASCAR All Pro Series traveling circuit throughout the Southeastern U.S. In 1992 he worked as a mechanic on

Alan Kulwicki Alan Dennis Kulwicki (December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993), nicknamed "Special K" and the "Polish Prince", was an American auto racing driver and team owner. He started racing at local short tracks in Wisconsin before moving up to regional ...

's 1992 Winston Cup Championship-winning team. Following Kulwicki's death in a 1993 plane crash, Ciochetti transitioned to

Precision Products Racing Precision Products Racing (PPR) was a NASCAR team that competed regularly from 1990 to 1998. It was owned by Richard Jackson (racing), Richard Jackson and based in Asheville, North Carolina. The team officially closed after the 2001 season followi ...

and driver

Rick Mast Richard K. Mast (born March 4, 1957) is a former NASCAR driver. He competed in both the Winston Cup and Busch Series before retiring in 2002. He holds a business administration degree from Blue Ridge Community College. Early and Busch career M ...

where he worked for the 1994 season before resuming his own career as a driver on the ARCA Racing Series. Between 1996 and 1999, Ciochetti competed in 41 ARCA Racing Series races, posting a best finish of third twice in 1998, at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

and

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

.Mike Ciochetti - ARCA Racing Series Results
''Racing-Reference''. USA Today Sports Media Group. Accessed 2014-04-18. In 1998 he attempted to make his debut in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, driving the No. 80

Hover Motorsports Hover Motorsports was a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series team. They last attempted a race at the 2006 Daytona 500, when they fielded the No. 8Roadloans.comFord Taurus for Carl Long, but failed to qualify. They were planning to partner with Peak Fitness R ...

Ford in qualifying for the

1998 Daytona 500 The 1998 Daytona 500, the 40th running of the event, was held on February 15 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It was memorable in that it marked Dale Earnhardt's ...

, but he failed to make the race due to an accident on the final lap of the Twin 125-mile qualifying race.Mike Ciochetti - 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Results
''Racing-Reference''. USA Today Sports Media Group. Accessed 2014-04-19. He won one

pole Pole may refer to: Astronomy *Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets *Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...

in the ARCA series, at

Pocono Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...

in 1998. Towards the end of the 1999 season, Ciochetti signed a deal to drive for

Cale Yarborough Motorsports Cale Yarborough Motorsports was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series team that ran from 1987 to 2000. Ownership In 1986, The Race Hill Farms owner Jack Beebe sold his No. 47 Team to Cale Yarborough who wanted to drive part-time. He bought the team and sw ...

and run for NASCAR Winston Cup Rookie of the Year in the 2000 season; planning to run the No. 39, the team planned to make its debut in the season-ending race of the

1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 51st season of professional Stock car racing in the United States, the 28th modern-era Cup series, and the last Cup season of the 1990s and the 20th century. The season began on Sunday, February 7, and ...

season at Homestead-Miami Speedway. However shortly after the announcement, Ciochetti's shoulder was broken in an ARCA crash at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

;Halvatgis, Jenna.
Rudd is beginning to understand the importance of teamwork
October 17, 1999. Fredericksburg, VA: ''

The Free Lance–Star ''The Free Lance–Star'' is the principal daily newspaper distributed throughout Fredericksburg, Virginia, United States, with a circulation area including the city of Fredericksburg and all or parts of the counties of Spotsylvania, Stafford, ...

''. Page B6. Accessed 2014-04-18. the injury forced him to undergo multiple surgeries, and sidelined his racing career.Brown 2008, p.102. Ciochetti would return for one final ARCA race, at Talladega in 2007 driving for

K-Automotive Motorsports Keselowski Motorsports, formerly known as K-Automotive Racing and Brian Keselowski Motorsports, is a stock car racing team in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. K-Automotive previously raced in ARCA and the Nationwide Series. K-Automotive is own ...

, where he was very competitive, running as high as 6th, but finished 39th after blowing a tire in the late laps of the race. Mike Ciochetti Jr. is now the developer of a "Fly-In Community" named Heaven's Landing which is located just outside of Clayton, Georgia. He is an avid pilot with a continued interest in NASCAR.

Aviation career

A long-time flyer, following his injury Ciochetti developed property he owned in northern Georgia as Heaven's Landing, a fly-in community. Ciochetti is also active with the Liberty Foundation, maintaining the

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

bomber '' Liberty Belle''.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

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

Winston Cup Series

References

;Citations ;Bibliography *Brown, Mike. "Flyer of the Month: Five Aces: Mike Ciochetti's Winning Hand at Heaven's Landing". ''Aero Trader''. Volume 32, Issue 2: February 2008. Accessed 2014-04-18.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciochetti, Mike Living people 1959 births People from Clayton, Georgia Racing drivers from Georgia (U.S. state) ARCA Menards Series drivers NASCAR drivers