A few minutes with Mike Blackmer

Mike gave me a few minutes to ask a few questions to get to know the man behind the name. Anyone in racing knows the name Mike Blackmer, but now we have the opportunity to get to know more about him

First Mike, thank you for taking the time to do this and my first question basically is -

Are you nuts ? To go from being a successful business man with Boyne Machine and a successful car owner, what the heck made you take the plunge to being the new Promoter of Berlin Raceway ?

I love racing, not just being a car owner and I felt this to be my true calling. The opportunity came up and I saw it as a chance to own what has been known as one of the finest short tracks in the United States. Not having teams will be different, but I think this will be real challenging and could be a lot of fun. It is still being competitive, but in a different way.

Lets take a minute and try and put some rumors we have been hearing to rest.

OK-
1 - Dogs are going to be allowed in the pits. ? No, definitely not. I have a great love of Dogs and I and many other people would be devastated if a Dog got loose and ran out on the track and something happened. It would be tough on the dogs owner, the driver, the fans in the stands and me, so there will be no dogs in the pits

2 - Kids of all ages will be allowed in the pits ? Again, No. The youngest allowed in the pits will be 14 years old. With the new Young Guns class we had to work it out with the insurance company so they could race.

3 - We cannot stand on the trailers in the pits ? Not true. We will allow it and we ask that the crews are not all standing up all the time, but I know if you have a car in a race, you want to be able to see what is going on, and depending on where you are pitted it can be tough. So we will allow it.

4 - You have not announced the Track Photographer yet. Can you tell us who it will be ? There will be no Track Photographer. All Photographers will be welcome and we have made it easier for them to sell their pictures and that will allow the racers and fans to buy pictures taken by their favorite Photographer, and I think this will be the best solution for everyone.

Now back to some other questions -

What was your best moment as a car owner ?
The night Dewey won his first Pro Stock race. I was very proud of that win. Another great memory was Brian Campbell winning my last Boyne Machine race. There were a lot of great memories and a lot of time shared with drivers and crews that were great, but the best part was the respect people had for Boyne Machine. Did we win a lot, no, but the teams all made me real proud to be involved with them and to have them represent Boyne Machine.

What are some of the goals you have set for yourself ?
Build the crowds back and to earn the respect of the drivers and team owners so we can accomplish that together. With the tough economy and the tough times we are going through, I am going to have to make some hard decisions and I want the teams to see what I am doing and for them to see me as a good promoter. The decision to not do the Saturday night broadcasts on the radio is a good example. It is very expensive to do the radio and I think if we promote it properly people will come out and see great racing instead of listening at home. The Tuesday night show is very expensive also, but I think it is good to have it and we are excited to be back on WMUS every Tuesday night.

What do you see 5 years down the road ?
I see Berlin Raceway back as THE Premier short track in the country. We are going to take baby steps, but we have started with the changes in the pit area, the new pit road and the Tech area. We are going to be adding some new aluminum seats as you come out of turn 4 just past the pit entrance with backs on them to start with, and we will continue to improve the racing and the experience for the fans.

How did you get started in racing ?
My Dad raced in Cadillac and at Merritt, so I have been involved for most of my life, but about 23 years ago I came to Grand Rapids and met a guy named Rusty Parker and went with him to practice at Berlin and I knew this was no Merritt Speedway and I was hooked.

What are your other interests besides racing ?
Bowling is a big one and that is how I ended up owning Paragon Lanes. We tried last year to get some leagues going at Paragon with the racers and fans and we are going to do it again this year.

What is your favorite music ?
Christian, that may surprise some people, but it is my favorite. I used to listen to Brian Nelson on 99.3. I also like old Rock & Roll. KISS, Ted Nugent etc.

Favorite Food ?
Pizza

Favorite Beverage ?
Coke

What is a car you would like to have someday if you could have any one you wanted ?
A Corvette

What is your Favorite Short Track other than Berlin ?
Kalamazoo

Who was your biggest influence in racing ?
Marty Jones. The Promoter of Kalamazoo Speedway before Gary Howe.

Who is your favorite National driver ?
Rusty Wallace

Favorite Short Track driver, not including anyone who has driven for you ?
Johnny Benson Jr.

Everything that you have done has been in partnership with Rusty and Randy Parker. Are they part owners of the race track also ?
Good question. They are Engineers and their love is Boyne Machine and they are a big part of Boyne Machine, and we need them to continue to do what they do best and continue to grow Boyne with their talents, and my job will still be to be part of Boyne and then to go and grow Berlin Raceway.

Your biggest challenge has to be the economy and making things happen. How ?
I admit 2009 might not have been the smartest year to take on the challenge of the track, and if we knew how tough it was going to be I might have had to think about it more, but I still would have done it. You will see a lot of changes. The biggest challenge is to get the crowd back and we need everyone to help promote the track. We have family packages available, we dropped the ticket prices, we have Season Ticket prices under $300.00 for the whole season and there is more to come, so stay tuned. We are going to make the good racing better.
We are not going to be as tough on Tech as everyone thinks we are going to be. The racers ALL will have to race within the rules. I know being a former car owner we would spend all winter working on the cars and being creative, but now we need to make sure the playing field is level for all. We can't have a track with no Tech. We need to make the track available to all teams and drivers, not just the High Dollar teams. They can go to other tracks, but here we want it to be fair for all. I have a passion for Late Models and we are one of the only tracks in Michigan that has a TRUE Late Model that runs on slick tires. We need to tech those cars so we don't lose that class. We have to make it more affordable for the regular guy. We used to have 2 or 3 teams move up every year to Late Models and we don't see that happening anymore and we need to so the class continues to be the best in the Midwest.

I know Mike that it is hard to sit still this long, and I appreciate it, and before I let you escape, any final thoughts ?

2009 is going to be challenging and I am going to make mistakes, but my goal is to make it a good experience for the Racers and the Fans and we invite everyone to come out and try Berlin Raceway again. You won't be disappointed.

Thanks Mike, and we will see you at Shots Grill on Feb. 17th to kick off the 2009 season and have a little fun and do some bench racing. Racers and Fans, if you can't make the first show, tune in to WMUS 106.9 for the "Berlin Raceway Rewind" show, and I know you are very proud to be on a strong FM station this year.