Michael Potekhen (born August 15, 1979) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

racing driver from

Silverthorne, Colorado The Town of Silverthorne is a home rule municipality in Summit County, Colorado. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city is 4,402. History The town was named for Judge Marshall Silverthorn who served as the judge of the min ...

who competed in the

Firestone Indy Lights Series Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road ...

. After starting in

karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size moto ...

, Potekhen began racing in the

Star Mazda The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy la ...

West Series and Formula Vauxhall Winter Series in 1997. He competed in Star Mazda West until 2001 when he moved to U.S.

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

2000. In 2003, he made his professional debut and finished fifth in the Star Mazda Pro Series. He competed in the

Formula Mazda Formula Mazda is a class of relatively affordable open-wheel car formula racing. The original tube-frame Formula Mazda car had its own class in Sports Car Club of America, SCCA club racing from 1998 to 2019. The subsequent Pro Mazda Series ...

pro series from 2004 to 2006 and in May

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

he made his

Indy Pro Series Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road t ...

debut at the

Freedom 100 The Freedom 100 was an automobile race held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, as part of the Indy NXT, Indy Lights. The event was a Card (sports)#Undercard, support race for the IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500, and ...

where he started and finished 11th. Potekhen made four other IPS starts that year. 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 ...

, he competed in a full season of the Indy Pro Series and achieved an IPS career-best finish of 2nd at the

Milwaukee Mile The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectat ...

and finished in a surprising 5th place in the championship. With Apex Racing shutting down before the start of the season, Potekhen did not start the 2008 Indy Lights season until May 23, with SWE Racing/

Chastain Motorsports Chastain Motorsports was a team in the Indy Racing League owned by Indianapolis businessman Tom Chastain. The team was founded in 1996-1997 in IRL, 1997 and raced until 1998 in IRL, 1998 with driver Stephan Gregoire. Gregoire finished 11th in driv ...

in the

Firestone Freedom 100 The Freedom 100 was an automobile race held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, as part of the Indy Lights. The event was a support race for the IndyCar Series Indianapolis 500, and since 2005, it was held on the Fr ...

.Pecorari, Potekhen for SWE Indy effort
Crash.net, May 13, 2008 He returned to the team late in the season to make four more starts. He missed the first four races of the 2009 season, but signed to join Alliance Motorsports for the Freedom 100. Potekhen returned to the team to make seven more starts and led his first laps in the series at

Chicagoland Speedway Chicagoland Speedway is an inactive tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Joliet, Illinois. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is currently own ...

late in the season. He finished 18th in points participating in only 8 of 15 races with a best finish of fourth at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Indy Lights

References

External links

Mike Potekhen's homepage

Two audio interviews with Mike Potekhen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potekhen, Mike 1979 births Indy Lights drivers Living people People from Summit County, Colorado Racing drivers from Colorado Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers