ELIZABETHVILLE, PA - In one breath, Mike Erdley implies, it’s a good thing the central Pennsylvania 410 sprint car season is finally coming to a close. It is time to take a break. In the next gasp, Erdley, 30, proclaims after taking a break for one or two weeks, he'll be eager to get the 2006 season started. A guy who grew up with racing running through his veins, obviously will always be thinking that way.
"We started the season racing a solid week in early February down in Florida after working on the equipment all winter to be prepared," Erdley explained a short time ago. "We started racing at our home tracks in late February and we have been going at it weekly for about a solid eight month span now. We towed out to Knoxville in August for our first time ever out there just to see what the show was all about and now this season is basically, over for us. It will be kind of nice to just take a week or two off and not be racing for a change.
"The funny thing about that is two weeks after the season is over I will be in the shop anxious to go racing again." Erdley said laughing.
A gifted throttle-jockey, Erdley got involved in racing early on in life when a friend of his sponsored a front-running car at the Selinsgrove Speedway. Mike decided to join the team as a member of the crew. After helping out with duties as a crew member for a short time, Erdley put his own street stock car together and raced weekly for two seasons at Selinsgrove winning 12 features plus one track championship. From there, Erdley knew it was time to chauffeur a sprint car. "I always had an interest in racing a sprint car," submitted the seasoned driver from Herndon, PA. "I had a desire to race 410 sprint cars and saw no reason to try the 358 division or a Silver Spring Speedway type car. Nothing against those cars, I just wasn't in a good financial situation at that point and I couldn't afford to just go try and build a team. I knew what I wanted and the 410 sprints was where I wanted to go.

"I never really had an interest in the big block or small block modified cars or even a late model career. The 410 sprints had my attention from day one. I loaned a motor from Billy Sims my first sea-son and blew it up after I raced I think about five races. The second season I didn't race too often and my third-year I raced another 8 or 9 events until I blew that engine up. I certainly wasn't a guy with a great track record up to that point.
"I got a car together the next year and put it in the Selinsgrove car show. I had this sharp paint job and really dressed things up and it was just sitting there on display when Randy Lisi walked around the mall and spotted my car. Randy decided to help sponsor me that season because he liked the way my car stood out from all the rest," Erdley went on.
"Randy eventually went on to get more involved and became my car owner. He built a race car shop. He owns the whole deal and I working for him full-time now at his oil company business. It developed into quite a relationship.
"This past season Randy hired a crew chief to help in the shop and on my crew at the track. That's helped free up a little more time for me. Racing has always been my interest from the get-go. My family was never involved. As a kid I actually took my parents to the races. They weren't involved and just never had the financial ability to help me out anyway. Randy gives me all the things I need to go racing. He is a laid-back kind of guy. He's a racer, plus he's a great car owner to have. There's no real pressure.
"We race weekly at Williams Grove and Port Royal and hit some special things. I grew up with rides at Williams Grove, Port Royal, Selinsgrove, Susquehanna, Hagerstown and all those bigger tracks.
"I'm just not comfortable at Grandview, Big Diamond, Lincoln or Silver Spring. Trouble seems to follow me at those smaller tracks.
"I feel bad because I still haven't produced a feature win for Randy. He gives me everything I need. We've been consistent, but one win sure would be nice to get that ball rolling.
"At Williams Grove, there are 25 cars there every week and, maybe, 19 of those weekly cars can win on any given night. It is a tough crowd and getting into victory circle is a tough nut to crack, but we'll be there. We've been close every week and I can see the wins coming." revealed Mike.
With Mike Erdley strapped in that potent black No. 11E Randy Lisi owned Lisi Shell Oil Companies 410 sprint car at Williams Grove, the team scored seven top-five finishes in 2005. He ended up a solid tenth-place in points, after finishing twelfth a campaign earlier. Consistency, there is little doubt, has been a season-long habit. Feature victories are the next step.
"In 1999," Erdley commented, "I raced 22 events. I think that was my busiest season early on. In 2000, that was my first season racing at Williams Grove and Randy Lisi was a huge help. This past summer was the first season that I raced all the races scheduled at Williams Grove, except for that week we went to Knoxville. The past 3-years we've started the season in Florida at the tracks down there and it has just steadily increased each year with help from Randy.
"I finally bought a house of my own last year and 1 got married this year. We'll probably sell off our oldest chassis from 2005 and purchase a new car this winter. We'll start the season with our newest chassis and bring the new chassis out around the middle of the 2006 season. We've always kept two rollers complete and available each season. It's been a good season, probably, it has been our best ever. We are pleased with what we've done thus far, but getting that first win, that's our real goal right now," Mike announced.
Getting that first career feature win is always the toughest one. Still, in the central Pennsylvania racing circles, the basic feeling is once Mike Erdley locates victory lane, it's going to be awfully tough to keep him out of it.