Mike Hopkins of Hermon had a frustrating 2010 season at Hermon’s Speedway 95.
“We had a lot of front-end and rear-end problems,” explained Hopkins.
That led Hopkins and Anthony Wilcox, who is responsible for his Chevy Monte Carlo setups and is Hopkins’ crew chief, to put their noses to the grindstone in the offseason.
“We tore the car apart. We worked on it every week,” said Hopkins. “We made sure it was the way we wanted it.”
“We spent some time on the front-end geometry,” said Hopkins.
“It has paid off,” said Hopkins.
That would be an understatement.
Five weeks into the race season, the 25-year-old Hopkins is undefeated.
He has won five heat races and five features in the Late Model class and has a healthy lead in the points series.
He will enter Saturday night’s race program with a 77-point lead over Winterport’s Ryan Deane.
Hopkins and Wilcox devised three setups for the car when they showed up for the first practice at Speedway 95.
“We decided to go with the setup that was the most stable,” said Hopkins. “It wasn’t the fastest setup. But the car didn’t fall off during the race. That was the most compatible setup for my style.”
Wilcox concurred.
“The setup we have met his driving style a lot better,” said Wilcox. “The setup that was quicker made the car harder to drive. And the car wasn’t as fast on the bottom. So he would have had a hard time passing people because the preferred groove is on the top.”
Hopkins has been surprised at their five straight wins.
“But it’s something you always want to shoot for,” said Hopkins. “After you win one, you want to win two; after you win two, you want to win three.”
Even though he is leading the points, he said wins are more important to him.
“I race for one reason: to win races. I’m not there to make friends, I’m not there to finish second,” said Hopkins.
Hopkins said he wouldn’t be where he is today without close friend Wilcox.
“The thing that makes us successful is our communication,” said Hopkins.
He said they constantly discuss ways to make the car better.
“He does the adjusting to the car and it’s my job to get it to the front and keep it there,” said Hopkins.
Wilcox spent several years working for Richard Moody’s race team, commuting daily from Hermon to the race shop in Auburn, approximately 110 miles one way.
Four-time PASS North Super Late Model points winner Ben Rowe of Turner was Moody’s top driver. Wilcox held a variety of roles for Moody, including fabricator and crew chief.
Wilcox, who was a part of two of those championships, said there are a lot of similarities between Hopkins and Rowe.
“Mike gives me such good feedback on the car, just like Ben used to,” said Wilcox. “Ben was so good at breaking the car down. He could tell you exactly what the car was doing. That’s what Mike’s doing now.”
Wilcox and Hopkins have been friends for more than 10 years. They became acquainted with each other at Speedway 95.
“He used to come over to my race shop when he was in high school. So I put him to work,” quipped the 40-year-old Wilcox, who builds and fixes race cars in his spare time.
“He taught me how a race car worked. He taught me everything I know. And it has paid off,” said Hopkins. “We’re real tight.”
Hopkins also said Jimmy Goodman and spotter Josh Dow have been important contributors to his success.
Hopkins began racing in 2004 in the mini-stocks and has worked his way up to Speedway 95’s top division.
He would like to win the points title as it would be his first ever.
But Hopkins also intends to enter special races at Unity Raceway and Spud Speedway in Caribou.
“I’ve never won a 75- or 100-lap race in a Late Model car,” he said.
He also said he wouldn’t mind converting his Monte Carlo into a pro stock car and giving the PASS North Super Late Models tour a shot some day.
Double points at Spud
Drivers in the thick of the points race can make some serious headway this weekend at Spud Speedway on Saturday night.
It will be a double points weekend in all five classes: Late Models, Super Streets, Street Stocks, Fast-4s and Northern Lights.
Racing begins at 6.