For at least the next few days, Mike Christopher Jr. will be the living embodiment of the phrase, ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead.’
The 27-year-old Christopher, who races the No. 31 Elite Racing entry on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, will drive the No. 62 Toyota for Halmar Friesen Racing at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park Friday evening (8 p.m. ET on FS1).
Once his responsibilities in Indiana are complete, he’ll get whatever rest he can before jumping on a plane at 6 a.m. Saturday morning to fly to New Hampshire to compete in the Duel at the Dog 200 at Monadnock Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
Christopher’s busy stretch really started last weekend with the Thunder in the Mountains 200 at White Mountain Motorsports Park.
Once that was complete, he had a full day of work ahead of him Monday before he caught a flight to North Carolina that evening to turn some laps in the simulator and visit with the Halmar Friesen Racing team.
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“Monday was probably my easier day because I just worked. It was a full day of work Monday,” Christopher said. “I had a flight that was scheduled to leave Hartford [Connecticut] at 7 p.m., but it took off closer to 10:30 p.m. I landed in Greensboro just before 12:30 a.m. and I drove to Mooresville to stay over. I got there at like 2:15 a.m.
“I was up early and I got to the HFR shop at about 8:30 a.m. I did the sim from 12 to 2 p.m. and I’m scheduled to fly out [to go home] at about 8 p.m.”
His flight home on Tuesday didn’t exactly go according to plan. His plane left North Carolina more than two hours late and he didn’t touch down in Hartford, Connecticut, until sometime after midnight.
No problem, according to Christopher. He got whatever rest he could and was up bright and early again Wednesday morning to go to work at Mohawk Northeast, a heavy civil and marine construction business owned by Al Heinke, a well-known motorsports enthusiast who has supported many drivers and teams through the years.
Christopher worked all day Wednesday and will work a half-day Thursday before returning to the airport for his flight to Indianapolis, Indiana, ahead of Friday’s TSport 200 presented by Warn Industries NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race.
“I fly to Indy and land there about 7 p.m. Thursday night. I’ll go out to dinner and then I’ll be Truck racing all day Friday,” Christopher said. “Saturday morning, I have a 6 a.m. flight back to Hartford. I have to stop in Chicago, but I land in Hartford around 11 a.m. and I’ve got one of my guys there to coordinate picking me up from the airport.
“From there we’re going straight to Monadnock and racing there. So maybe I’ll get to sleep Sunday morning.”
Of course, a plan like this wouldn’t be complete without contingencies.
Elite Racing owner Alan Dering has filed a second entry for Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event for veteran Craig Lutz. If for some reason Christopher can’t make it to Monadnock Speedway in time for Saturday’s event, then Lutz will slide into the No. 31 car, and the second entry will be withdrawn.
If all goes according to plan, then Elite Racing will field both cars. It would mark the first time the team has ever fielded two NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour entries in an event.
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“It was just a good excuse to get their other car ready. They (Elite Racing) have another car that is brand new just sitting there,” Christopher said. “It just worked out. So now the other car is getting built and Craig is going to race that. If something were to happen and I can’t show up, then obviously they get points and all is well.”
Christopher’s busy weekend is just the tip of the iceberg for what has already been an incredibly busy season. Not only has he embarked upon his first full NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season, but he’s also been a regular competitor at Stafford Speedway in local competition.
The Modified Tour season hasn’t gone exactly as planned. Outside of a third-place finish at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in April, Christopher admitted the team struggled for the first part of the season.
Christopher’s friend Joey Mucciacciaro recently began helping the Elite Racing team with setups and that, in combination with the work down by crew members Ryan Lutz, Dave Roys, Gino Orlando, Chris Elliot and Darryl Baker, has helped turn the season around with top 10s in the last two races.
“It’s turning around for sure. It’s getting better,” Christopher said. “Alan and his Elite Towing crew prepare really good race cars, but we just struggled off the trailer and struggle to get better throughout the day and finish where I think we as a team deserve to finish.
“Recently I brought on my buddy Joey Mooch [Mucciacciaro] and lucky for me he has time throughout the week to go down to [Long] Island and work on the thing and obviously grow a bond with the crew that’s already there and the owner and make something happen.”
Racing has been part of Christopher’s life since an early age. His father, Mike, and his uncle, 2008 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ted, both raced Modifieds for years. It’s practically all he’s ever known.
Christopher knows he won’t be able to do this forever, but for now he’s focused on taking advantage of every opportunity so he can chase his dream.
If that means he loses a few hours of sleep so he can race in a Truck Series event on Friday in Indiana and a Modified Tour event Saturday in New Hampshire, then so be it.
“Whatever it costs, however much sleep you don’t get, whatever,” Christopher said. “Ten years from now I’ll be looking back on this thinking it was the time of my life. I’m living it right now, that’s what I’m doing.
“I’m not really a kid anymore, but I feel like a 17-year-old kid out there doing whatever he wants and driving race cars and making loud noises and stuff like that. It’s a blast so I’m going to soak it all in.”