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Michael Simko

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Michael Simko
Born (1981-05-23) May 23, 1981 (age 43)
Clarkston, Michigan
ARCA Menards Series career
51 races run over 12 years
Best finish21st (2005)
First race2001 Jasper Engines & Transmissions 200 (Toledo)
Last race2012 Berlin ARCA 200 presented by Hantz Group (Berlin)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 17 0
Statistics current as of December 3, 2022.

Michael Simko (born May 23, 1981) is an American professional racing driver. He competed in the ARCA Racing Series from 2001 to 2012 with 17 top-10s. He is the son of former NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver David Simko.

Racing career

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In 2001, Simko would make his ARCA Re/Max Series debut at Toledo Speedway driving the No. 96 Chevrolet, finishing 20th after starting 12th.[1] In 2002, he would make three more starts, one for Bob Schacht at Toledo, one for his own team at Winchester Speedway, and one for Arne Henriksen at Salem Speedway. He would finish sixth at Toledo and Salem respectively. For 2003, he would run five races, finishing eighth at Kentucky Speedway driving for Mark Gibson.

Simko's No. 45 car at Salem Speedway, Indiana

In 2004, he would make seven starts, with six of those starts coming with Schacht, and one coming with Greg Sarff at Chicagoland Speedway, where he would finish seventh. In the following year, he would run 13 of the 23 races of the schedule driving the No. 45 entry for father David Simko. His best finish would come in his last start of the year at Salem, where he would lead 39 laps to finish third in the race. In 2006, he would solely run in a Chevrolet, and would get four top-10's, including a best finish of fourth at Winchester.

Fight and suspension

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On September 26, ten days after his last ARCA start of 2006 at Salem, Simko was involved in a crash with Don St. Denis on the 112th lap of the Great Lakes Chevy Dealers/Budweiser Glass City 200 at Toledo Speedway.[2] After the crash, Simko climbed out of his car and ran over to St. Denis, who was unable to shut off his car at the time due to a piece of plexiglass that fell by the ignition switch, and made a running jump and landed both feet into the windshield of St. Denis' car. Afterwards, Simko would throw his helmet at St. Denis' car and walk away. St. Denis would then get out of the car and run over to Simko in the infield of the track where the two engaged in a fist-fight with several punches being thrown as race officials tried to break up the fight. Since the series that hosted the event was sanctioned by ARCA, both Simko and St. Denis were suspended indefinitely from all ARCA-sanctioned events.[3][4] Both Simko and St. Denis would later apologize for said incident and were later reinstated.[5][6]

Racing return

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In 2007, Simko would make his ARCA Re/Max Series return at Salem driving the No. 75 Chevrolet for Bob Schacht Motorsports, where he would finish sixth after starting eleventh.[7] He would make another start that year at Toledo, where he would finish third. He would run three more races with the team in 2008, getting a best finish of 11th at Toledo. Simko would drive the No. 27 Chevrolet for Don DeWitt for three races, finishing tenth at Chicagoland Speedway.[8] He would make three more starts for DeWitt over the next two seasons, finishing in the top ten at Berlin Raceway in 2010 and 2011 with eighth and ninth respectively. In 2012, he would run two races, finishing 17th at Iowa Speedway with Hendren Motorsports in the No. 41 Chevrolet, and 14th at Berlin with Venturini Motorsports in the No. 35 Toyota. The latter event would be his most recent ARCA start.

Since his last ARCA start, Simko has recently competed in the CRA Super Series and the CRA Jegs All-Stars Tour.[9]

Motorsports results

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ARCA Racing Series

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARSC Pts Ref
2001 ? 96 Chevy DAY NSH WIN SLM GTY KEN CLT KAN MCH POC MEM GLN KEN MCH POC NSH ISF CHI DSF SLM TOL
20
BLN CLT TAL ATL 148th 130 [10]
2002 Bob Schacht Motorsports 75 Ford DAY ATL NSH SLM KEN CLT KAN POC MCH TOL
6
SBO KEN BLN POC NSH ISF 47th 585 [11]
Michael Simko 38 Chevy WIN
14
DSF CHI
ECC Motorsports 17 Chevy SLM
6
TAL CLT
2003 Bob Schacht Motorsports 75 Chevy DAY ATL NSH SLM
10
TOL
27
35th 755 [12]
Mark Gibson Racing 56 Chevy KEN
8
CLT BLN KAN
Bob Schacht Motorsports 75 Pontiac MCH
14
LER POC POC NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI
25
SLM TAL CLT
ECC Motorsports 17 Chevy SBO
DNQ
2004 Bob Schacht Motorsports 75 Chevy DAY NSH SLM KEN TOL
16
MCH
20
SBO BLN KEN
11
GTW POC LER NSH ISF TOL
21
DSF SLM
25
TAL 23rd 1080 [13]
39 CLT
10
KAN POC
Greg Sarff 38 Chevy CHI
7
2005 Auburn Racing 45 Chevy DAY NSH
21
KEN
14
MCH
26
KAN KEN
20
BLN POC GTW LER
18
NSH MCH
24
ISF TOL
13
DSF CHI
10
SLM
3
21st 2195 [14]
Pontiac SLM
12
TOL
11
LAN
32
MIL
12
POC
Ford TAL
QL
2006 Auburn Racing Enterprises Chevy DAY NSH
DNQ
SLM
28
WIN
4
KEN TOL
7
POC MCH
23
KAN KEN
32
BLN
10
POC GTW NSH MCH
34
ISF MIL SLM
32
TAL IOW 34th 1215 [15]
65 TOL
6
DSF CHI
2007 Bob Schacht Motorsports 75 Chevy DAY USA NSH SLM KAN WIN KEN TOL IOW POC MCH BLN KEN POC NSH ISF MIL GTW DSF CHI SLM
6
TAL 62nd 415 [16]
Ford TOL
3
2008 Chevy DAY SLM IOW KAN CAR KEN TOL
11
POC TOL
27
48th 645 [17]
Ford MCH
22
CAY KEN BLN POC NSH ISF DSF CHI SLM NJE TAL
2009 D&B Motorsports 27 Chevy DAY SLM CAR TAL KEN TOL POC MCH
29
MFD IOW KEN BLN
28
POC ISF CHI
10
TOL DSF NJE SLM KAN CAR 74th 355 [18]
2010 DAY PBE SLM TEX TAL TOL POC MCH
16
IOW MFD POC BLN
8
NJE ISF CHI DSF TOL SLM KAN CAR 64th 340 [19]
2011 DAY TAL SLM TOL NJE CHI POC MCH WIN BLN
9
IOW IRP POC ISF MAD DSF SLM KAN TOL 97th 185 [20]
2012 Hendren Motorsports 41 Chevy DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL ELK POC MCH WIN NJE IOW
17
CHI IRP POC 71st 305 [21]
Venturini Motorsports 35 Toyota BLN
14
ISF MAD SLM DSF KAN
- Qualified but replaced by Robert Richardson Jr.

References

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  1. ^ "Toledo: Michael Simko preview". Motorsport.com. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "Driver Jumps Through Windshield". The New York Times. 26 September 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  3. ^ "Road rage: ARCA driver jumps through foe's windshield". ESPN. 25 September 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  4. ^ "Drivers suspended after fight at Glass City 200". The Toledo Blade. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  5. ^ "ARCA driver Simko apologizes for his role in Toledo brawl". The Tufts Daily. 27 September 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  6. ^ "Waltrip: We've all seen drivers do 'silly things'". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  7. ^ "Michael Simko Returns To ARCA RE/MAX Series Competition In Time For Salem Brawl". CarsAndRacingStuff.com. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  8. ^ "Zeeland's Don DeWitt hires fighting driver Simko". MLive.com. 11 June 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  9. ^ "Michael Simko". The Third Turn. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  10. ^ "Michael Simko – 2001 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  11. ^ "Michael Simko – 2002 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  12. ^ "Michael Simko – 2003 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  13. ^ "Michael Simko – 2004 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  14. ^ "Michael Simko – 2005 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  15. ^ "Michael Simko – 2006 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  16. ^ "Michael Simko – 2007 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  17. ^ "Michael Simko – 2008 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  18. ^ "Michael Simko – 2009 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  19. ^ "Michael Simko – 2010 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  20. ^ "Michael Simko – 2011 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  21. ^ "Michael Simko – 2012 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
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