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Mike Ford Returns to East Tennessee with Elliott and Evernham
BRISTOL, Tenn., (August 22, 2001) - For Morristown, Tenn., native Mike Ford,
racing at Bristol Motor Speedway is like coming home. Now the crew chief
for Evernham Motorsports No. 9 Dodge Dealers Intrepid R/T, driven by Bill
Elliott, Ford began his trip to NASCAR Winston Cup in the Tennessee hills.
Born in Arlington, Va., Ford's family moved to Morristown, Tenn.
when he was just four years old. Early on, he liked cars and all things
mechanical, but working on cars wasn't his priority, football was. That was
until a health problem moved him from the gridiron to the garage.
"As a kid, cars weren't my first love," said Ford. "Football came
first. But, I found out I couldn't play in high school and I shifted my
interests to cars and hot rods."
Before he was old enough to drive, Ford bought his first cars - one
Chevrolet Monte Carlo that was wrecked in the front and one that was wrecked
in the back. He set them up in the driveway and went to work, assembling
the two wrecks into one car.
"I really did it by teaching myself," remembered Ford, who was 14 at
the time. "I couldn't drive anyway, so what else was there to do. I read
some books and magazines on auto repair, and when my grandfather, who was a
mechanic, was around, I'd shoot him questions."
Ford's interest in auto racing came a little later, although he made
his first trip to Bristol Motor Speedway when he was around 10.
"We went to some race, although it wasn't Winston Cup," he said.
"It was loud and the cars beat on each other. I liked it. But I didn't
really know what Winston Cup was until high school. And the first person I
ever recognized as a Winston Cup driver was Bill Elliott."
When Ford got to high school at Jefferson County High, he enrolled
in shop class, but balanced his schedule with advanced math courses like
trigonometry and calculus.
"If you took shop, some people looked at you like you were taking it
just for the credit," said Ford. "It was far from that for me. I wanted to
learn and I took all the shop classes I could so I could advance my
learning. But I also took a lot of advanced math. There's a direct
correlation between math and mechanics. Being a crew chief is math and
science combined. There are facts and reasons why the car performs like it
does. It's really a chunk of steel guided by math and science."
Ford credits his shop teacher, Mr. Estes, with giving him the
motivation to pursue a career in mechanics. "He knew that I wasn't there
just for the credit," said Ford. "He saw that I wanted to learn and gave me
more attention."
Ford's family moved near Charlotte, N.C. while Ford was still in
high school. He found he needed more of a challenge than high school shop
classes, and entered the American Motor Institute. It was there, in 1989,
that he would get the opportunity of a lifetime -- a place on driver Kyle
Petty's crew. "I didn't have the money to go to college like I wanted to, so this
was the next best thing," said Ford. "I spent $10,000 on the school, and at
first I thought it was a big rip-off. Then, Gary Nelson called the school
looking for the top students, and I got a job working for Kyle. So it
really paid off in the long run."
Ford said that he always set his goals high. He knew that one day he would
be a crew chief, and hoped his youth, ambition and ability to absorb
information like a sponge would be the keys to his success. By 1995, he had
gone from sweeping floors, cleaning parts and running errands for the Petty
team to working as lead mechanic. But, Ford's desire for something more
challenging led him to a new job - with Robert Yates' No. 88 team.
"I knew Robert Yates was starting up the No. 88 team, and it sounded
pretty interesting," Ford said. "It was something new to do, and I was the
third employee. I was a part of the team that helped Dale Jarrett win the
1996 Daytona 500 and 1999 Winston Cup Championship. I learned a lot and
there are some really good people there, but a new opportunity came along
where I had to decide if I was going to stay put and be content with my
mechanics job or take one more chance."
The opportunity came from Ray Evernham.
"I wanted to go to a team with a future where I could grow, but it's
hard to make that move when you are with a team with lots of resources,"
Ford said. "But I had heard that the Dodge deal might be happening, and I
knew Ray Evernham and Ed Guzzo a little from around the garage. I gave Ed a
call and let him know I might be looking, and he said he'd get back to me.
The next thing I know, he's calling to tell me that Ray wants to meet with
me.
"When Ray presented the idea of working with Bill Elliott for a year and
joining the Dodge program as a crew chief, I was shocked," said Ford, who
joined Elliott's then No. 94 team for the 2000 season. "I was a mechanic, a
grunt guy, an under the car person. I couldn't believe that Ray would
recommend me for that position. Being in a management position and making
decisions was a whole new world. But I thought about it, and figured I
could bring some knowledge and a new level of competition to the team."
Ford quickly found out about the promise of his new job when they
went to the 2000 Daytona 500. Elliott qualified third and won one of the
Gatorade 125s. But for Ford, that doesn't compare to coming back in 2001
with an entirely new team, new equipment and new car.
"To go back this year, sit on the pole and make everyone mad, was
pretty cool," he added.
Now, Ford is turning his attention toward Saturday Night's Sharpie
500. Not only is he looking for the first Evernham Motorsports victory,
he's also looking forward to a trip back home.
"I feel like I can hold my head up high when I go back to East
Tennessee," said Ford. "Not many people leave there, so it feels good to go
out and accomplish something. I don't know if folks there would still
recognize me, but I saw a guy I used to play baseball with at a race a few
years ago. I always keep an eye out for my old friends."
Ford has another stop on his itinerary in Bristol - a trip down to
Nick's Grocery in Morristown where his mother used to take him and his
brother when they playing Little League baseball. The store offered five
hot dogs for $1, and Ford's Mother always bought $2 worth. Now, the hot
dogs are two for a $1, but it's a good bet Mike Ford will splurge and spend
$2 to relive his childhood memories in his hometown.
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