MB Motorsports becoming springboard for top drivers

By Tim Schmidt, Staff writer - Warrenton/Wentzville Journals

Thousands of vehicles travel through Foristell everyday. Whether it’s 18-wheelers hauling cargo or families getting ready to embark on a vacation, Interstate 70 is a hotbed of activity through the populated town of 331.

Hidden south of I-70 in Foristell off Highway T is Mittler Brothers Machine and Tool owned by Mike Mittler.

Mittler is the owner and crew chief of MB Motorsports that races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The No. 63 Ford truck that Mittler owns is an up-and-coming program that started on the truck series from its inaugural 1995 season.

"We kind of keep a low profile you might say," Mittler said. "And part of that is on purpose and part of it is not. It's a little more of our nature to be like that even though there is a lot of glitz and glamour associated with racing.

"I always tell people, 'If the lights are on, come on in, we're there.' We never turn anybody away and people are always welcome to stop by and see us."

Racing has become a large part of Mittler’s life, but his business that builds anything from tools to special machines is his number-one priority. But he is definitely thankful for his sponsors that spend an amazing amount of money and volunteer time for the hectic racing schedule.

Dave Porter Truck Sales of Wright City has been with Mittler from the start and has given him use of a semi to haul the car and equipment to and from the track. Childs Tire is also a sponsor along with Summer Bay Resort.com, Russo Tinting and RACEceiver.

"I would not be able to do this if I didn't have the great help," Mittler said. "(Dave Porter) provides the equipment at no expense. He really epitomizes the volunteers that help us. Through our loyalty, it's allowed me to pursue a dream."

The beginning

Mittler, born on Oct. 6, 1951, started racing back in 1969 while still in high school. The first night Mittler and a high school buddy got ready to go to the racetrack, he found out they were too young even though they owned the car. So instead of turning back around, the twosome hid in the back of the trunk, while the car was towed inside the track.

That night, not only did racing start to become a huge factor in Mittler’s life, but it also was the same day as when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

"It was in the middle of the night and it was rare that we got to stay up that late because we were so young," Mittler said. "It was a home-built car in the garage like a lot of guys started. We hid in the trunk of an old '56 Chevy and the guys towed her into the racetrack. We hopped out of the trunk and away we went."

Around the Lake Valley Speedway in Valley Park, Mittler became good friends with current Winston Cup driver Rusty Wallace in the mid-1970s. The friendship grew to where Mittler became a crew member and helped Wallace win the American Speed Association National Championship in 1983.

During that same time, Mittler opened up his business in Foristell, which hampered his time to make all of the races but gave him the opportunity to learn more about racing.

"We got going with Rusty and he was moving up from a local weekly racer to a national touring racer," Mittler said. "We had the expertise of the machine that we were building and a pretty good knowledge of racing."

As Rusty quickly moved up the ranks and left the area to go down south, Mittler started working with Rusty’s younger brother, Kenny. The younger Wallace ended up winning the ASA Rookie of the Year title with Mittler as a member of his crew.

With Mittler’s business continuing to grow, he had to start spending more time with it and away from the track. After taking a few years off, Mittler regained the itch to get back into racing. He joined an old friend, Paul Lawson, and they decided to embark in open-wheel racing. The duo went to race at the I-70 Speedway in Kansas City and eventually they sold the car and bought a late-model car in the early 1990s.

"I got a wild hair on beginning our own race team," Mittler said. "It was kind of a fun deal and it progressed up from there."

The start of the truck series

During the mid-90s, rumors were flying around NASCAR that they were going to start a series with trucks. As the events started to unfold, Mittler formed his own team, MB Motorsports. He thought he had his driver who would help Mittler’s climb to fame in racing. Andy Brass, who gained recognition as one of the original drivers of the Big Foot monster truck, joined the team as one of its first drivers. 

"I thought this would be a natural deal," Mittler said. "I got the guy who is a mini-time monster truck champion and they're trying to bring guys in from that series along with other series. I thought this would be a no-brainer."

MB Motorsports started running in the middle of the 1995 season and ran half of the races with Brass and Tony Roper splitting time behind the wheel.

"He had a lot of talent, but the classic mistake I made was, he did not grow up being a stock car racer," Mittler said about Brass. "The learning curve was way too steep."

During the winter of 1995, Mittler received a call from Charlie Patterson about an up-and-coming driver named Kenny Irwin Jr. MB Motorsports went to the Phoenix race at the start of the 1996 season, but soon after that, Irwin’s talents took him on to a bigger racing team and to the Winston Cup circuit.

 “That was the very first NASCAR race he ever made,” Mittler said. “He had a milestone and so did we. It was obvious to a lot of people that he had a lot of talent and then Kenny was gone.”

 The numbers of drivers continued to come and go over the next few years before Mittler decided to try out a friend’s son. Jim and Jamie McMurray converged at Gateway International Speedway for a test session.

"We had an open test when Gateway was new and he ran about five laps," Mittler said. "He got out and I said, 'So what do you think?' Jamie said, 'It pushes the nose right in the middle of (turns) 1 and 2 really bad.'

"I knew right then that he had it. We had a really good test with him that day so we ran a few races with him that year."

McMurray opened the 2000 season driving for MB Motorsports and was enjoying an uneventful season until qualifying for seventh at the Texas Motor Speedway on June 9. McMurray finished 14th at Texas and followed up with a 17th-place finish at Kentucky the following week. It took only one more race before McMurray started searching for bigger paydays.

"That really woke the NASCAR world up to Jamie McMurray," Mittler said. "It wasn't long and then Jamie was gone."

McMurray has now graduated to the Winston Cup Series where he set the modern-era record by becoming the quickest driver to win a Winston Cup race in 2002. This year, McMurray currently has three top-three finishes and in considered a front-runner for Rookie of the Year honors. 

Tragedy hits MB Motorsports

With Mittler and MB Motorsports getting one of their first big breaks, all seemed well with Tony Roper rejoining the team for the end of the 2000 season after the departure of McMurray.

"(Tony) was out of a ride and we were out of a driver so I said, 'Hey, come back and drive for us again until you find something else.' I was thinking fully well that he would be back in Busch because he had run well," Mittler said.

After driving in three races for MB Motorsports, Roper headed down to Texas Motor Speedway on Oct. 13. Roper was cruising along until the 32nd lap when his truck veered off into the wall. The effect of the crash caused a severe neck injury and Roper passed away the following day. 

"Unfortunately he got caught in that accident in Texas where he lost his life," Mittler said. "That really has been the agony of defeat for us. Here's a guy who was a super good friend of ours that was a great person. He was really driving his heart out and striving to succeed in motor sports."

Roper’s death marked the third driver killed in 2000 after Mittler’s old driver, Irwin, and Adam Petty died in separate crashes at New Hampshire International Speedway. At the start of 2001, “the Intimidator” Dale Earnhardt tragically passed away in a wreck at Daytona.

All four died of similar neck injuries raising an alarm for Mittler and the rest of the racing world. During the Performance Racing Industry show held that year, Mittler was one of the big contributors in helping change the focus to driver safety.

"I called and faxed a lot of my friends I knew in the industry because we needed to do something," Mittler said. I think in some small way we helped start the ball rolling in driver safety."

'I want to drive your truck'

After overcoming the loss of Roper, the focus got back to racing for MB Motorsports in 2002. Mittler first met Columbia, Mo., native Carl Edwards in Indianapolis a couple of years earlier when he needed a ride back to St. Louis.

A persistent Edwards continued to keep in touch with Mittler over the years before telling him, “I want to drive your truck.”

Mittler put Edwards through a series of tests at the Moberly Speedway before deciding to replace Larry Gunselman on June, 22, 2002 at Memphis.

Edwards finished 23rd in his first race and on July 6 at the Kansas Speedway, he gave MB Motorsports their highest finish ever at eighth place.

"I always told the guys, 'If we finish in the top 10, that's a win,"' Mittler said. "We're competing against guys with mega-millions of dollars. That was only his third Craftsman truck race and people were really looking now."

Edwards continued his strong racing for the rest of 2002 and caught the attention of nationally recognized Roush Racing team. After Mittler urged Edwards to move on the bigger team, he has found success in the truck series this year. Edwards has nine top-5 finishes, including three wins, while currently sitting eighth in the points standings.

This year for MB Motorsports, they haven’t enjoyed quite the same success like last year. After Ron Hornaday III raced the first events, David Stover took over and has raced in five events. Out of the 15 races held, MB Motorsports had raced in seven of them.

With the team getting ready for their next race, the excitement of waiting for that big payday or high finish awaits for Mittler and his team.

"My goal is to become the Richard Childress of the truck series," Mittler said. "I don't think I am done, but I want to get up to the top. When you run good, you want to run better.

"When you run terrible, you say, 'I'm going to come back and run better.'"