John Mickel (born 28 January 1971) is a British professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of Auto racing, automobile racing run on oval track racing, oval tracks and road courses. It originally used Production vehicle, production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifical ...

driver and commentator. He has raced in the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

in the United States and the

Pickup Truck Racing Series Pickup(s), pick-up, or pick up may refer to: Film * ''Pick-Up'' (1933 film), a crime film starring Sylvia Sidney and George Raft * ''Pickup'' (1951 film), an American film noir directed by Hugo Haas * ''Pick-Up'' (1975 film), an exploitation f ...

in the United Kingdom. He was also a commentator for

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

' coverage of NASCAR racing in 2008 and 2009.

Racing career

Mickel, a second-generation driver, began racing at the age of ten in Ministox and won his first championship two years later. He soon moved to

Superstox Superstox is a type of single seat formula racing, similar to Sprint car racing developed in the 1960s in the United Kingdom. Racing is 'contact' whereby drivers can use the front bumper to help dislodge any car in front. Like most other forms ...

where he was named both World and European champion. He joined the SCSA-Europe tour in its inaugural year in 2001, where he won the series' first championship. In 2002, Mickel began racing part-time in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

. After failing to qualify for two races in the Craftsman Truck Series in the No. 09 for Midgley Racing, he began racing in the

American Speed Association The American Speed Association (ASA) is a sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States formed in 1968. The Association was based in Pendleton, Indiana, Pendleton, Indiana, and later in Daytona Beach, Florida. The ASA sanctioned asphalt a ...

in 2004. He also planned to make his

Nextel Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

debut that same year in Travis Carter's No. 66 car for the renamed TorqueSpeed Carter team in select races throughout the season, but the deal fell through. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Mickel returned to the Truck Series and did make his debut in the series after qualifying for the race at

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, driving the No. 4 Dodge Ram for

Bobby Hamilton Racing Bobby Hamilton Racing-Virginia is a disbanded NASCAR racing team. It was owned by four-time Winston Cup winner and 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton until his death on January 7, 2007. Bobby Hamilton Jr. was given owners ...

, starting 35th and finishing 29th. Mickel had attempted to make one other start that season for Hamilton's team at

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in the team's No. 05 truck, but failed to qualify, in part because it was a fifth part-time team for BHR with no owner points. The next season, he ran the final five races of the Truck Series schedule leasing owner's points and equipment from the No. 07

Green Light Racing SS-Green Light Racing is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, fielding the No. 07 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation), Chevrolet Camaro SS for multiple drivers and the No. 14 primari ...

Chevrolet. His best finish was a 20th at Atlanta. He was scheduled to run with Green Light full-time in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, but instead

Tim Sauter Timothy Saibot Sauter (born October 13, 1964) is an American race car driver. He has competed in the American Speed Association, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the Busch Series, and the Winston Cup Series. He is the son of Jim Sauter (racing ...

got the ride. During preseason testing at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

Speed In kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a non-negative scalar quantity. Intro ...

had reported that Mickel would instead begin the season in the No. 63

MB Motorsports MB Motorsports was an American professional stock car racing team that competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. The team was based in Foristell, Missouri, and was owned by Mike Mittler until his death in 2019. The team was one of few to ...

truck, and the sponsorship he brought would allow him and the team to run the full season, but this did not end up happening. For 2008 and 2009, Mickel raced in selected rounds of the

U.K. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. He ran the multi-race winning truck of Paul Poulter but with a different engine. On 31 January 2010, Mickel won the inaugural ASA Transcontinental Series Free State 500 at Phakisa Freeway near Welkom, South Africa in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo, having qualified fourth for the 207-lap 500-km race. He took the lead on the last lap after a close and clean race. In March 2010, Mickel (a
Mickel Motorsport
started the 201

season in car No. 4, also running car No. 14 (the CPC sponsored car, driven by Paul Musselle) and car #39 (driven by Jess Gwynne). On 28 March 2010, it was announced that Mickel would make his NASCAR comeback, returning to the Truck Series again with the TorqueSpeed team, but running by themselves instead of partnering with SS-Green Light or another existing team. No other details were announced besides the fact that the team would run a part-time schedule of around ten races that year with a full season run planned in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. This also never ended up happening, and Mickel would not make another start in NASCAR.

Career history

*2019 Legends Racing UK - 3rd place *2018 Legends Racing UK - Champion (becomes UK career top points scorer) *2017 Legends Racing UK - Champion *2016 Legends Racing UK - Champion *2015 Legends Racing UK - Champion *2013 Legends Racing UK - 2nd place *2012 Legends Racing UK - 3rd place *2011 Legends Racing UK *2010 CPC Legends Racing UK - 4th Placed Overall *2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck SS-Green Light Racing *2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Atlanta Motorspeedway Texas Motorway Speedway *2004 ASA races Charlotte & Atlanta Raced British built SCSA car (shipped from the UK) *2001-2006 SCSA-Europe Inaugural Champion in 2001 *1999-2001 Legends Car Championships Champion - World and British Legends Cars Champion - World Series Legends Cars World Legends Champion (Sears Point, CA)

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

References

External links

*
Driver Profile at Mickel Motorsport

Driver Profile at TorqueSpeed
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mickel, John 1971 births American Speed Association drivers English racing drivers Living people NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Cambridge ASCAR drivers