06/02/2026
MIKE LING RETURNS
Race For The Million Founder, Dick Fieler, said it best when he referenced this as a North American series during the drivers meeting at 5 Flags Speedway in April.
There has been a great deal of participation from Canadian drivers in the series so far.
Mike Ling, the 56-year-old Mount Brydges, Ontario native is returning to winged pavement sprint car racing in 2026 after a 12-year hiatus. The Canadian was a force to be reckoned with on the pavement during the 2000’s.
He was a regular front runner at Auto Value Super Sprints (AVSS) and Hoosier Outlaw Sprint Series (HOSS) events often winning regularly.
Ling got the call from longtime Canadian car owner Jimmy Brown asking if he’d be interested in returning to competition. Ling didn't hesitate to accept the offer.
“I had been thinking about racing again” stated Ling.” But it was definitely because Jim Brown presented the idea to me that he wanted to go back racing and he wanted me to come back with him. Most people don’t know it, but Jim and I ran on dirt from 1996 up until we started running on the asphalt. We converted our car over to asphalt and started running it.
“He was ready to get back into it but didn’t know about Race For The Million. He mentioned that he was getting bored even though he is 80 years old,” laughed Ling.”I filled him in on the series and we decided to run it, and a few Must See Racing events this year."
“We didn’t come prepared for Florida. I think it’s pretty obvious we just tried to get there. We didn’t have the car set right. When they were practicing on Thursday, we were still putting the motor in the car. It was a thrash to get to the track. It’s better that we at least got on the track and got a couple laps”.
Ling feels more confident now that the team has had time to prepare. In addition, Owosso Speedway is a place Ling has turned many laps.
“I think we’re gonna be a lot more prepared for Owosso. Jim has had some time to massage the car and get things more the way that we wanted them. I’m not lying, we threw it together. It was a last-minute deal. Anybody else would have just parked the car and went and watched. We at least wanted to give it a shot, get there, and get some laps.
“We don’t know this car. We don’t have any notes on it; we don’t have anything on it. Same with the motor. It was basically some stuff that Jim had left over that he put together. The whole thing has just been thrown together. Does that mean it doesn’t have good stuff on it? Of course it does. It’s got decent shocks on it. Jim puts a good motor together and things like that.
“Honesty this go around I don’t see any reason we can’t run in the top 10. If we can accomplish that I think we would be happy as a team. I think that would be a realistic goal for us. This isn’t a light series. There are heavy hitters across the board. If we hit the set-up right, I think we’ll be just fine” finished Ling.
If you hear the name Mike Ling announced this Wednesday night, this isn’t a mistake. Mike Ling, who once blazed around Owosso Speedway, is set to make his return in a winged sprint car in the state of Michigan in just a few days.
