This is not how Mike Lizdas (69) wanted to start the season. He destroyed his hobby stock in the first turn on the first lap of his first heat race. It occurred Wednesday during the IMCATV Winter Nationals at Central Arizona Raceway.
“Up until that point, my car was fast,” Lizdas, of Goodyear, Arizona, said. “It was fantastic for that first 1000 feet of racing.”
Lizdas said going into turn one, Joe Gallaher (1) spun and hit Drew Barry’s car (6), which in turn went into Lizdas’ and started his wild ride. Lizdas’ car continued to travel after the initial point of impact because his car’s throttle stuck, causing it to barrel roll down the backstretch and eventually land on all fours.
Fortunately, the crash did not injure Lizdas. He sat in a Kirkey full-containment seat, with RaceQuip belts. Lizdas also wore a Zamp helmet and a RaceQuip neck collar.
The home-built hobby stock he drove didn’t fare so well, though. The crash bent both frame horns, broke a transmission mount and destroyed the front end, including the suspension and radiator.
“It was damaged significantly enough for me not to fix it,” Lizdas said. “I’m going to have to start all over.”
Mike Lizdas started racing two years ago in sport compacts. He moved up to hobby stocks last year. Lizdas calls Central Arizona Raceway his home track.
“I had gone to the races there as a kid — that was 35 years ago,” Lizdas said. “I saw a buddy race two years ago and said to myself, ‘How did I forget about this?’ I decided it would be fun to race, so I went out and bought a compact. Then I found this home-built hobby stock. I bought it and went right through it to make it a better race car.”
Now he’s back on the outside looking in, but that might not last long.
“The most important thing is that I’m okay,” Lizdas said. “I will be back. As far as the rest of the Winter Nationals, who knows? I may find another car before it’s over.”
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.
