What was the difference maker for Myles Michehl winning the USRA stock car national title? Not the 13 races he won, but instead some of the nights he didn’t visit victory lane. Why? Those races displayed his perseverance and love for the sport.
At the top of his list, a fifth at Electric City Speedway and a second during the USRA Nationals at Lucas Oil Speedway.
“One night at Electric City Speedway, I got into every single wreck,” Michehl, of Decorah, Iowa, said. “I had to start at the back and worked my way up to fifth. It was a big points night, and that fifth made the difference in having the points needed to win the national championship.”
Michehl fondly remembers his second during the USRA Nationals.
“I raced side by side with Jaylen Wettengel,” Michehl said. “He got by me; I got by him. I got second; he got third. Justin Custer won. For me, that was what racing is all about. A second isn’t a win, but it sure felt like one that day.”
Going into 2025, Myles Michehl intended to contend for the USRA Iron Man Stock Car Series championship but came up short, finishing fourth in series points. Nevertheless, Michehl simply enjoys competing wherever he goes.
“We raced at 15 different tracks,” Michehl said. “To me, traveling to race at new tracks, racing against drivers you never raced with before, that is the full racing experience.”
Next year, Myles Michehl has a clear goal: win the 2026 USRA Iron Man Stock Car Series championship.
“I feel we ran well enough this year to make a run at it next year,” Michehl said. “My ¾-ton Chevy and enclosed trailer already has 250,000 miles on them, and we’ll be adding a lot more miles on them next year.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
