Hi race fans and welcome to the Michalek Brothers Racing blog! We are very honored to have the opportunity to share our story with the Drag Illustrated audience. First things first, let us introduce ourselves:
Kyle – Age: 30
- Hometown: Louisville, OH / Current: Houston, TX
- College: Ohio University – BS Engineering Technology & Management / Malone University – MA Organizational Leadership
- Occupation: Operations Manager
- Crew member experience
- Mark Thomas IHRA TAFC: 2003-2006
- Pat Dakin NHRA TF: 2011-2012
- Driving experience
- Michalek Brothers Racing ET bracket dragster: 2004-2012
- Michalek Brothers Racing / Dreher Racing TAD: 2013-present
Corey – Age: 27
- Hometown: Louisville, OH / Current: Columbus, OH
- College: Ohio University – BS Visual Communications
- Occupation: Art Director
- Crew member experience
- Mark Thomas IHRA TAFC: 2007-2008
- Pat Dakin NHRA TF: 2011-2012
- Driving experience
- Michalek Brothers Racing ET bracket dragster: 2007-2012
- Michalek Brothers Racing / Dreher Racing TAD: 2013-present
MBR Team Highlights
- 2X IHRA TAFC world champs as Mark Thomas crew members (Kyle-06’/Corey-07’)
- Won the inaugural Search For a Champion contest in 2012
- TAD event winner at the 2014 Charlotte Four Wide Nationals in Corey’s driving debut
We have come a long way over the past decade from having never attended a drag race to winning an NHRA national event. We have enjoyed a lot of on-track success racing in the Top Alcohol Dragster class in conjunction with Dreher Motorsports. Jared and Randy Dreher taught us how to make the transition from a 700HP ET bracket dragster to a 4,000HP A/fuel dragster. As a result of their efforts and the support of The Kenan Advantage Group, Champion Spark Plugs, Fel-Pro, Speed-Pro, Sealed Power, and GoPro, we earned one win, two runner-up’s, and a semi-final appearance during our first eight races in the class; not too bad of a start! We would not be where we are today without the help received during the past three seasons from Dreher Motorsports, and we appreciate them taking a chance on two A/fuel rookies chasing their dream.
If there has been one constant throughout our racing careers, it’s change and progress. It’s no secret that we aspire to race in the Top Fuel class, and each move we make on and off the track is in an effort to fulfill that goal. An opportunity to become Top Alcohol Dragster car owners presented itself in May. Corey and I never dreamed of owning an A/fuel operation; however, the deal and the timing was right so we took the next step and we’re now proud owners of a Spitzer Enterprises 300” A/fuel dragster. We recognize the monumental task of transitioning from “fly-in” drivers to owning and managing an entire operation. Despite the enormity of the responsibility, workload, and resources required to make this happen, we believe this opportunity will provide us with invaluable technical experience, business perspective, more seat time, and help better position us to one day make the transition to the professional ranks.
The purpose of this blog will be to provide the DragIllustrated.com readers with an inside perspective of a “startup” Top Alcohol Dragster operation. It will contain technical content as we totally disassemble, inspect, modify, and reassemble our car, and insight into the process and challenges of growing a team and the support structure that keeps these 270 MPH+ machines going down the track. We look forward to sharing our journey with you, starting with fully stripping down our new car to the bare frame rails in our next installment!
Kyle and Corey Michalek
(David Smith photos)
Stay tuned for Chapter 2!
