ABOUT MIKE

Much of NASCAR spotter Mike Calinoff's life involves two things that he is very passionate about: racing and winning. The vast majority of Calinoff's professional career has been centered on the sport of auto racing. And most of his involvement in the sport has included winning races. In fact, he has visited victory lane more than any other active NASCAR spotter.

Mike grew up on Long Island. His father, Len Calinoff, built a credible name for himself as a racing writer, entrepreneur and member of the Northeast short-track racing media.

Mike spent his earliest days working at Riverhead Raceway and Islip Speedway, both Long Island short tracks where asphalt modifieds dominate the local headlines. Following in the footsteps of his father, Mike spent most of his time working on the media side of the sport. He was the head announcer for a number of years at Riverhead and Islip and also wrote for various racing publications throughout the '80s.

"I never wanted to get into driving," Mike began. "My focus was always getting into other sides of the sport – broadcasting, officiating, marketing, those types of areas."

Spotting the mods

Mike's entrance into the world of spotting came in 1987, and it came with one of the country's best asphalt modified racers.

"I got to know a lot of the mod teams while traveling with the tour as an associate editor of the Speedway Scene newspaper," Mike recalled. "One Friday at Monadnock (N.H.) Speedway, Reggie Ruggiero's spotter, who was his son, was sick with laryngitis. Reggie needed a spotter and he asked me to do it. That was my start and I've been doing it ever since."

Calinoff's introduction to the world of spotting was no unassuming one. Ruggiero, with Calinoff as his "eyes in the sky" for the first time, won that night at Monadnock. It didn't end there; Calinoff spotted for the NASCAR modified champion through the rest of the weekend, winning Saturday night at Riverside Park (Mass.) Speedway and Sunday at Thompson (Conn.) Speedway.

Calinoff continued to spot for Ruggiero over the next week. A Wednesday show at Riverhead saw the Ruggiero-Calinoff combination win again, which was followed by another Monadnock, Riverside, Thompson weekend swing – producing three more wins for the veteran driver and rookie spotter.

Needless to say, after an unprecedented seven wins in 10 days, Calinoff had the full-time spotting gig with Ruggiero.

"It was a terrific start to my career," said Mike. "I'll never forget winning the first seven races I spotted with Reggie. It's a story I still love to tell."

Calinoff spent the next four years spotting for Ruggiero and top Northeast modified racer Rick Fuller. While honing his craft of spotting the open-wheel modified cars, Calinoff found victory lane with the two drivers on numerous occasions.

NASCAR beginnings

After the 1991 season, Calinoff found himself wanting a change. He decided to make a move to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he could pursue a career in NASCAR marketing and spotting.

"At that point I had a good amount of spotting experience and success. I also had quite a bit of experience in marketing and PR, so I thought a move to North Carolina would be a way for me to get my foot in the door at NASCAR. If I could get on with a team, a smaller organization, I could get my start and work from there."

In 1992, Mike did just that. He found a job doing marketing work for Joe Bessey's Nationwide Series team. He also worked with Jimmy Spencer's Nationwide program, doing marketing work and spotting.

After five years spotting different Nationwide teams, Mike considers his big break being the 1997 season when he was hired as a full-time spotter in the Cup Series for the first time. The job would be spotting for Brett Bodine, who, ironically, was a former Northeast modified racer.

Following a two-year tenure with Bodine, Mike would move to the Hollywood Video Ford team to spot for Ricky Craven. Mike would spot for Craven in the '99 season, which featured an intriguing opportunity for Calinoff at May's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Mike explains: "Craven didn't qualify for the 600 at Charlotte so I was going to have the race off. Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. was set to make his first-ever Cup start, and when Dale Sr. found out I was available, he summoned me to spot his son's first race in Cup. It was quite an honor, and certainly one I'll never forget."

2000 would feature another big break for Calinoff's career, perhaps his biggest. He began the year with Craven and following the opening two Cup races at Daytona and Rockingham, the team was closed. Out of a job, Calinoff was again looking for work. The next race at Atlanta, Mike found work – and it was the beginning of a relationship that would play a decisive role in the success of Calinoff's career.

"At the time, Matt Kenseth was a rookie in the Cup Series and his team needed a consistent spotter to give Matt more confidence as he learned the series. I was available after Ricky's team shut down; I guess it was just good timing. I'm very thankful it happened because the deal with Matt was one that would change my life forever," said Calinoff.

Together, the Kenseth-Calinoff combination would provide some of the greatest moments of Mike's career.

Championship run

2003 began similar to the previous three campaigns. The DeWalt Ford was a consistent top-10 runner, and a Week 3 win at Las Vegas had the team looking ready to capitalize on a five-win campaign of the previous year. The team took the championship point lead in the season's fourth week, and wouldn't relinquish it for the remainder of the season.

Kenseth rode consistency to build an unusually large championship standing lead throughout the '03 summer. With Calinoff providing the voice of experience in the spotter's tower, Kenseth won the title with only one win. What may be more impressive is that the team only had two DNFs, both blown engines, meaning the Kenseth-Calinoff combination had a perfect avoiding-accident record in the '03 Cup Series campaign.

"I don't think I fully realized what the championship meant until we were standing outside the Waldorf in New York," Mike commented. "That's when it sunk it, when I saw our car in the snow in New York, a city I grew up near. It made me understand why we do this, why we're on the road over 30 weekends of the year. It took on a different meaning for me. It showed when you put your best effort forth, you can achieve your goals."

After the '03 championship run, Mike would spot for Kenseth for two more years before moving to Chip Ganassi Racing in 2006 to spot for Cup rookie David Stremme. The job at Ganassi gave Mike the opportunity to work with another younger, up-and-coming driver in Stremme and to pursue business management opportunities as Stremme's motorsports consultant.

"The opportunity with David intrigued me because I wanted to get more involved with developing drivers and helping in their rise through the sport," says Mike. "After working with Matt and the success we had, I was more interested in driver development and I wanted to help David."

While 2+ years at Ganassi did not produce any wins, Calinoff helped Stremme cement himself as a top NASCAR wheelman. After Stremme's departure from Ganassi, Calinoff would stay with the team in 2008 to work with Indianapolis 500 winner and NASCAR Sprint Cup rookie Dario Franchitti. Due to lack of sponsorship, the No. 40 Ganassi team shut down after the first half of '08, leaving Calinoff jobless for the first time since March of 2000.

Spotting for Smoke

As the '08 summer progressed, Calinoff, now one of the most accomplished spotters in NASCAR, kept his options open and entertained different offers from a number of teams.

"People might think that when you get time off because of your team shutting down, you would enjoy the chance to do some different things on the weekends. I did enjoy being around town more, but really, I wanted to get back racing in the worst way," said Mike.

Patience paid off. Mike landed another terrific opportunity with a longtime friend and one of the greatest American racers of his generation, Tony Stewart.

"When Tony announced he was leaving Joe Gibbs (Racing) to form his own team, Joey Logano started running some Cup races for JGR and they wanted to use Tony's spotter with Joey. Tony needed a spotter for the Chase and he asked me to do it. It was another outstanding opportunity for me and I enjoyed it immensely."

The enjoyment of spotting for Stewart also got Mike back to a place he had missed since his days with Kenseth – victory lane. The Stewart-Calinoff teaming drove to victory in the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway, giving Mike his first win since 2005.

By this time, Calinoff had also worked several business ventures into his day-to-day activities, including a driver development program for young racers with partner Tom Baker. While helping several young NASCAR talents' careers in his time with Roush-Fenway and Ganassi, Calinoff's interest was sparked in the driver development side of the racing industry. He would meet Baker in 2005 and form a partnership under the Team Full Throttle NASCAR Driver Development tag. The program now features over 30 of America's top young racing talents.

With the '08 season winding down, Mike was dealt some handsome options for the 2009 NASCAR season. Kenseth, eager to get his team back to its championship form of 2003, wanted Mike back as his full-time spotter. With other solid job opportunities presented, Mike made the decision to renew his relationship with Kenseth, one that featured a great friendship and sharp ability to communicate with each other.

"I don't regret leaving Matt because it gave me a lot of new opportunities, but I'm probably as excited for a new season as I've ever been. I've missed the friendship with Matt. The Roush-Fenway organization has always been good to me, and coming back to it was kind of the like coming home after I ran away for three years."

Mike Calinoff is an example of a person who worked hard and accomplished the goals he set in the sport of auto racing. While those goals never included being behind the wheel, the Long Island native owns a Cup championship ring and has worked with some of the sport's greatest drivers. His best efforts have netted him some astounding accomplishments in the sport, and 2009 has the potential to be his best season yet.

He and his wife Jenn live in Mooresville, North Carolina with their two dogs Harry, Rizzo, Campbell and their cat Romey.