With a case of stars that includes Kasey Kahne, Mark Martin, Jason Leftler, Reed Sorenson, Justin Allgaier, Ricky Carmichael, James Buescher and Brad Sweet, its hard to believe that Steve Turner could make Turner Motorsports better. Well, one more driver has been added to the driver line-up – Mikey Kile.
Mikey Kile is set to drive the No. 30 car for a minimum of seven races, starting at Nashville Speedway.
“This is such a great opportunity for me,” Kile said in the press release. “Turner Motorsports has proven it is a top-tier organization with talented employees and drivers. Their equipment is some of the best in the sport and I am excited about getting a chance to race in it.
“I worked with Stewart [Cooper, crew chief] in my Nationwide Series debut and I am glad I get the chance to work with him again. He and the 30 crew all have experience working with rookies and they have been so helpful already. I also have a great group of teammates, with a wealth of experience, who I can lean on as I make my way into the Nationwide Series.”
Kile ran the entire ARCA Racing Series schedule last year with Venturini Motorsports, scoring his first win at Michigan, along with two pole awards, seven top fives and 15 top-10 finishes.
“Overall, it was a good, solid year and we got a lot of things accomplished that we wanted to get accomplished,” Kile told the ARCA Racing Network of his season last December. “You know, it’s racing, so we had some ups and downs and had a few races back to back that kind of took us out of the championship. Overall, it was a good season and I learned a lot.”
He also has experience in the Camping World Truck Series with Brad Keselowski Racing. In six starts, he has scored three top-15 finishes.
“It was good,” he told me of the experience with BKR. “Our first outing we ran at Martinsville and finished 11th. I think we ran six races and finished top-12 in three or four of the six. We were sixth quickest at Vegas and running top-10 there and top-10 at Texas and a pit stop issue there caught us outside of the top 10. It was a learning curve, but definitely running there and running good, I felt like I belonged there.”
Mikey Kile got started in racing by racing go-karts at a young age. Since then he has moved up the ranks, having success at various levels. Career highlights include four carting championships, eight IMCA modified wins and 2008 USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
Kile told me when I spoke to him last June that his goal for five years was to be in Sprint Cup and if not Sprint Cup, then Nationwide. This is certainly a step in the right direction.
