Mike Klapak (March 8, 1913 – March 13, 1997) was an American race car driver from Warren, Ohio. Klapak won the first three championships of the NASCAR Sportsman division from which the Xfinity Series is a direct descendant in 1950, 1951 and 1952.

Racing Career

Mike Klapak began racing at the

Sharon Speedway Sharon Speedway is a 3/8-mile dirt oval race track located in Hartford Township, Ohio and named for the nearby city of Sharon, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1929, making it one of the oldest continuously running dirt ovals in the United States. The ...

on the Pennsylvania-Ohio border in 1931, and by 1950 regularly competing with NASCAR, where he won the first of three consecutive NASCAR Sportsman Division (predecessor of currently Xfinity Series) titles in 1950, 1951 and 1952. He also entered 13 events in the Grand National Division (now NASCAR Cup), including multiple times at the

Daytona Beach Road Course The Daytona Beach and Road Course was a race track that was instrumental in the formation of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. It originally became famous as the location where 15 world land speed records were set. Beach and ro ...

. Klapak spent much of his career in the Midwest Association for Race Cars, now ARCA, where he won two more titles. Klapak was the 2009 pioneer selection for the

Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame The Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame was established in 1992 to recognize individual achievements in the sport of stock car racing. It is located at 1 Speedway Dr., Weedsport, New York Weedsport is a village in Cayuga County, New York, Un ...

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.)

Grand National Series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Klapak, Mike 1913 births 1997 deaths NASCAR drivers NASCAR Xfinity Series champions USAC Stock Car drivers Racing drivers from Ohio