McLaughlin's Daytona dream still alive

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Mike and Katie McLaughlin have found out in the last week that dreams can be shared.

"Most people have to die before they realize how much they are loved," Katie McLaughlin said Monday. "This is unbelievable."

	Mike McLaughlin

Mike McLaughlin did not expect that he would be trying to salvage his NASCAR Busch Series career only two weeks before the biggest race of the 2003 season.

McLaughlin had high hopes for a championship contending season, paired with team manager Clyde McLeod, with whom he had raced Modified stock cars in New England, and 2000 Busch Series champion crew chief Harold Holly.

But they had to close the team's shop a week ago when owners Angela Harkness and Gary Jones became financially insolvent.

Rather than continuing to bounce Angela's Motorsports checks and damaging his own reputation, McLaughlin allowed Winston Cup owner Robert Yates to repossess the equipment he had sold the team.

Then McLaughlin and his wife did an interview Tuesday afternoon with Claire B. Lang on XM Satellite Radio's 24-hour NASCAR Channel. They didn't cry or even ask for help, but poignantly spoke of how a 26-year journey -- filled with sacrifices and commitment -- in hopes of winning at Daytona had apparently come to an end.

That's when the so-called "XM Nation" -- along with countless others in the motorsports community -- kicked the "Hopes and Dreams" campaign into gear.

First, Busch Series owner Jay Robinson stepped up and paid for all of Yates' Busch equipment, including a transporter. Rick Barton of wiredflyer.com, the alleged sponsor of the ill-fated team, was able to come through with some money for expenses.

Interested in donating?  •  By mail: Mike McLaughlin Fan Club, P.O. Box 45, Waterloo, N.Y. 13165  •  Online: Visit Paypal, then send the donation to katermclaughlin@aol.com.

Lang and Katie McLaughlin, who coincidentally are longtime friends, were inundated with so many requests for donations that they set up a system, including the post office box of the Mike McLaughlin fan club and an online service, to accept donations.

The goal to do the Feb. 15 Koolerz 300 at Daytona International Speedway is $160,000. McLaughlin himself took the $100,000 advance on his 2003 salary and made that the starting point for their sum.

"This has been a very tough week for all of us involved with the team, but I'm not going to let this defeat me," McLaughlin said. "I have to follow my heart and do everything possible to win the Koolerz 300. I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to chase my dream."

As of Tuesday morning, more than $30,000 in donations has come in, including $10,000 contributed last week by Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for 2002 Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart. Zipadelli and McLaughlin worked together when they raced in the NASCAR Touring Division in New England and the mechanic credits the driver with getting his career on track to attaining the heights that it has.

Robinson, a hard-core racer who will field a full-season effort for road racing champion Chris Bingham in his own No. 49 Fords, will enter a No. 39 Taurus at Daytona for the 46-year-old McLaughlin.

Even that took some twists and turns. After Robinson purchased the equipment, he did a lease deal for the new speedway car that McLaughlin had successfully tested at Daytona in January. Last Friday, wiredflyer.com temporarily came back in the picture and Robinson undid the lease program.

In the end, Barton was unable to come up with any further money to fund McLaughlin's effort but the commitment to the dream was already made.

"Once we saw how involved these people had gotten -- I mean, we're talking people with all kinds of backgrounds from across the country -- I came up with Plans A, B and C," Katie McLaughlin said. "Depending on how much money comes in and how Daytona goes, we're working on the Rockingham car, and of course we're trying to find a sponsor to enable us to do the season."

In addition to Zipadelli's mammoth gift, McLaughlin said several car dealerships in the area of her husband's upstate New York home in Waterloo, near Syracuse, had donated $5,000 and a challenge to other area businesses to match it -- and several did.

"The other day I had a guy pull up as I was in my driveway and hand me an envelope with $100 in it," Katie said. "The body hanger that originally did the car told us to bring it back and he would tweak on it some more -- and he wouldn't take anything for it.

"We're just scrambling, trying to go race-to-race. At least, if nothing else develops the (Rockingham) car will be ready for Jay to lease."

The situation has thrown McLaughlin into a role she hadn't experienced and she is reveling in it.

"We've gotten a plain white uniform for Mike to wear at Daytona," she said. "We're going to have everyone we can that's donated sign the uniform before he wears it in the race.

"I am just looking at every way I can to let people know how many people are helping us. These people are incredible -- they're sending media packages to companies and some of them have even contacted us letting us know they are interested.

"It's an amazing story as it all unfolds."

Holly, out of necessity, had to take one of the job offers that appeared on his table after the unexpected shutdown, but he worked with McLaughlin through last weekend. At least one other crewman -- who took another job -- said he would quit and work with McLaughlin at Daytona.

"Despite what's happened, the team is waiting for the next opportunity that will allow us to continue to pursue our goal," Mike McLaughlin said. "I have never seen this kind of dedication under these circumstances.

"We are working on a few opportunities that will allow this team to reorganize and still compete for the championship this year."

"Everything's taken, though I'm sure changes will start two or three races into the season," Katie said. "Our ideal situation would be with this 39 car -- if we could come up with a sponsor and compete for the championship with Jay as our car owner.

"He'll do anything that he could help out with and we would like to give Jay a chance to run his car up front. He scrambles to make deals to be able to do a whole season because he is a racer -- he loves to race."

In the end, the saga is a bitter lesson learned for McLaughlin, who started racing on New York dirt tracks and won NASCAR Touring championships before moving to the Busch Series fulltime in 1994.

"The owners sought us out -- they supposedly were millionaires with a signed sponsorship contract for $5 million," Katie said. "But they never had a signed sponsorship contract (and) now, we don't have any money -- just a signed driver's contract and copies of bounced checks."

McLaughlin said to her and her husband, the goal of Daytona is the only thing they're concerned with for now.

"We don't want to slander or sue anybody -- although we do have a signed contract," Katie said. "But because everything sounded too good to be true we got some of Mike's salary up front. We're not making any money yet."