Kid racers from Ontario eager to ascend

Napanee's Raabe, Kitchener's Lichty aim to emulate success of J.R. Fitzpatrick

Mar 07, 2009

Motorsport Writer

Just about everywhere you turn these days, there are young guys plotting out a career in auto racing.

Some are well on their way (J.R. Fitzpatrick, 20, from Cambridge – who's doing very well in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, thank you very much); some are just starting out (Chris Raabe, 17, from Napanee – who has a five-race deal with Peter Gibbons in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), and some are just looking for a way to get started (Mike Lichty, 21, from Kitchener).

Raabe would appear to be a guy who can't miss. Tall, handsome, articulate and intelligent (he boasts a 95 per cent average in Grade 12 at Napanee District Secondary School and plans to attend Queen's University next fall on a full scholarship), he's been winning races – lots of races – since he started in sportsman-modified dirt-track cars when he was only 14.

"Actually, the first time I was in Victory Lane was when I was 3 or 4 and my dad, Mike Raabe, won a late-model race at Brighton Speedway," Raabe said in a recent interview. "I didn't start racing myself until I was 7, in karts. I didn't win until my third or fourth race and then I won 17 in a row. In all, I won more than 200 features in karts and a World Karting Association (regional) championship."

His record in the sportsman-modified division is equally as spectacular. He won the Brockville Ontario Speedway track championship in his second year of competition, when he was 15.

Last year, he won 22 features in 45 starts and won track championships at three speedways (Brockville, Thunder Alley Speed Park in Evans Mills, N.Y., and Rolling Wheels Raceway Park in Elbridge, N.Y.). And he won the DIRTcar Sportsman Series title, making him the youngest champion in that sanctioning body's history.

A guy like that turns heads and one of the people taking a look was the recently retired Canadian stock car legend Peter Gibbons of Stouffville. Now living in North Carolina, where he's involved with a number of NASCAR teams, Gibbons wanted to put a young, fast guy in his car for the Canadian Tire series and settled on Raabe.

"We went down to see Peter in early January and did a test at Hickory Motor Speedway," Raabe said. "It went well and it felt really good to be out there. There's no better person to learn from than him – it's the little things, pointers that he was giving me – and I'm looking forward to working with him.

"Right now, the deal is for the first five races of the 2009 season but we're looking to secure sponsorship for the whole year. It's very possible that we'll run the whole schedule together."

Gibbons was impressed with the rookie.

"So much of what we do at this level is based on communication," said Gibbons, who raced competitively for more than 20 years. "Telling the crew chief how the car feels and what it's doing plays a huge role in being effective on race day.

"In just our brief sessions so far, I'm confident that Chris has the abilities to work well with the team and communicate the changes we'll need to get our car to the front."

The first race of the 2009 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will take place May 23 at Autodrome St. Eustache in Quebec.

"I can hardly wait," said Raabe, who added that he still intends to get a degree in mechanical engineering – just in case.

"My ultimate ambition is to get to Sprint Cup," he said. "I'm the kind of guy who sets the bar high and aims for the top. But you have to prepare for the future, just in case things don't work out."

This guy could be a poster boy for racing and education and how to balance the two.

Over in Kitchener, Lichty is wondering how to kick-start his climb to the top of the racing ladder.

He is a sales representative for 401 Trailers and Patco Transportation – both companies owned by his father (and fellow racer) Brad Lichty. When he is on the track, Mike Lichty is dynamite in a supermodified racing car but knows that if he wants to go anywhere he's got to get down south and into a Camping World truck.

Like Raabe, Lichty got his racing feet wet in karts, running with the Waterloo Region Karting Club.

At 17, he started in the ground-shaking supermodifieds and was rookie of the year with the International Supermodified Association (ISMA). "We ran 15 races and finished sixth in points," he said.

He very nearly didn't.

"My dad used to own Cayuga Speedway," he said. "One day when I was 16 and thinking of running a super, he allowed me to go over there to do some practising. I got out the first time and I have to say that I really didn't know if I wanted to do that – I was scared. But once I got into the rhythm, I was fine."

Lichty has won three ISMA races and also entered some USAC Silver Crown races (dirt champ cars) but he's itching to get into NASCAR.

A couple of years ago, NASCAR star Johnny Benson invited him to a closed Toyota test at Chicagoland Speedway and he ran laps in Benson's truck. "All the Toyota trucks and drivers were there and I set second-fastest time of the day," he said.

Later that same year, Lichty was in Benson's pit at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte during practice for a Craftsman Truck Series race and, on a whim, Benson asked if he wanted to take the truck for a spin.

Unfortunately, the truck wound up in the wall. Speedway officials were somewhat surprised to find that the driver wasn't Benson – and that he didn't have a NASCAR licence, either.

Benson and his crew chief were fined and the team was docked championship points. It was all a little embarrassing but the experience left Lichty aching for more.

"It boils down to seat time," he said. "I know I can drive those trucks. I was really surprised at how comfortable I was at Chicago. I made a mistake at Charlotte – I was going 170-180 miles an hour and I got passed on the outside and I pinched down and lost it.

"But I know what I did wrong. You learn from your mistakes."

Lichty has tonnes to offer. Not only is he a good driver, but "I know how to build and repair cars, I know how to do the set-ups. I can do the engineering. If I get a chance, I can do it all.

"Maybe I'll just head down there and get my face out and talk to people. I have to take a chance – or else I might not get one."

Toronto Star