RPW Column: Making A Living As A Dirt Mod Driver During COVID-19; Mike Mahaney Understands How

RPW Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – KINGS FERRY, NY – Making a living as a full-time race car driver is tough for many short track racers. Bring on 2020 and a worldwide pandemic that cancelled event after event after event and things get even tougher.

This season, several drivers whose professions include strapping into 800+ horsepower racing machines, have had to get creative with their event schedules. Almost all of them probably had things basically in place in the months of January and February. However, the racing world basically stopped in the state of New York the following month.

One driver who was smack dab in the middle of this situation for 2020 was Mike Mahaney. Over the winter, Mahaney was hard at work in the shop, preparing equipment to compete in his second year behind the wheel of the Adirondack Auto #35 Bicknell cars owned by George & Julie Huttig.

Then the world basically came to a screeching halt. Coronavirus case numbers began growing by the day and states began imposing restrictions on travel.

That in turn, meant racetracks were forced to cancel events and so went opportunities for Mahaney and many other teams to make prize money.

Once racing finally began again nearly three months later, the Kings Ferry, NY native and his team was ready to go. However, they weren’t just ready to race. They were ready to win, and did that in their third start of the year…which just happened to be opening night at Albany-Saratoga Speedway.

“We came out of the box this year with a win at Albany and that set the tone for our Big Block program,” Mahaney said. “We had consistent runs all season and were able to keep the cars in one piece. That along with avoiding part failures let us build a good point total.”

That lead held solid throughout the entire season at the Malta, NY oval and when all was said and done, the Adirondack Auto team was the champion.

“My team really worked hard this year at Malta and they were rewarded for their hard work with the title,” he said. “I’m proud I was able to bring them the title.”

Even though he didn’t compete in as many events as he normally would, Mahaney went on the road, trying to run whenever possible. With COVID-19 restrictions in place, though, to get back on track, speedways were forced to enact specific regulations they asked teams to follow.

“To be honest, I’m pretty focused on our goal when we’re at the races,” he said. “I’m always working on my car. I don’t wander away from the trailer much and we have a small crew so we made sure to watch ourselves. We washed hands, used normal hygiene and wore masks like they asked. We kept our distance as we were told in the hopes that, one day, things will return to normal.”

Those restrictions also forced the team to run a good portion of events outside of their home state.

“With New York being somewhat shut down, it kind of forced us to travel out of state more often,” he said. “As close as our shop is to Canada (Elizabethtown, NY), it really hurt us having the United States / Canadian border closed. We love running the Canadian tracks.”

It really seemed as though Mahaney and his team were on their game throughout the pandemic-plagued 2020 season…all the while they were trying to hustle to as many events as they could.

“What I figured out was that, in a year like this, we were able to have a little extra time between races to be more prepared,” he said. “That helped with our results.”

How was that idea different from other years when most full-time teams like Mike’s would run well over 50 events.

“When other teams are racing more than you, they are gaining knowledge and experience,” he said. “Then you get behind. However, when everyone has a limited schedule together, it’s easier to keep up with, especially on a budget.”

The 2020 season was a good one for Mike Mahaney and his team. It was challenging at times due to the pandemic, but visiting victory lane, winning a title and finishing the year strong proved that the 35 team had done their homework.

“It was a good year for us and the Albany title was the highlight for our team,” he said. “It was a great accomplishment for all of us…something we hadn’t done before. I’m proud to be able to carry that, and our amazing runs during DIRTcar’s OktoberFAST where we were up front in almost all of the races, into the off-season.”

Running as well as Mahaney did this season not only helped with team morale, but also with keeping equipment in good shape as well as their bottom line…the checking account.

“Just being consistently competitive at most Big Block Modified events was a key for us,” he said. “When you run towards the front of the field consistently and don’t beat up your equipment too bad, you can almost pay the bills racing.”

Mahaney was quick to give credit to his marketing partners and team for their success this season.

“With support of our great sponsors, our team survived this year,” he said. “We will continue to do so because our team never gives up. We will continue to work hard to improve our program in hopes to run even better next year.”