Mike Gittings Named NHRA Chief Starter – Fourth Man In History To Hold That Position


Mike Gittings Named NHRA Chief Starter – Fourth Man In History To Hold That Position

(Photo Credit: NHRA.com) – NHRA has named Mike Gittings as their chief starter. Gittings has served as the head starter for NHRA’s division six since 2012 and has a long history in the sport that includes track championships as a racer, being a member of the divisional certification team, working as a national event starting line official, and working as the track starter at Pacific Raceways. He was a very close friend of late NHRA Chief Starter Mark Lyle and it has to be emotional to be the one who will pick up where Lyle left off. Gittings served as the starter in Las Vegas immediately following Lyle’s untimely death while on vacation in Mexico.

The job of chief starter is one that sees very little turnover. There have been four in the entire history of the NHRA. Buster Couch, Rick Stewart, Mark Lyle, and now Mike Gittings. It is a job that is so subtly demanding it is hard to convey in words. The pressures of managing the race track surface, managing the people around you and in your control, maintaining the safety of the racers, having the ability and confidence to step in and shut down a car when necessary no matter the circumstance, and having the physical endurance to stand and bake during the hot summer months and to stand and shiver during some of those fall events define the man who holds the position.

NHRA starters leave their mark in an interesting way. It is not how they speak or how they walk or how they deal with the media, it is how they project their presence and how they act under the pressures of the job. As Mike Gittings spent years working with Mark Lyle he had one heck of a teacher. Lyle’s signature was the fact that he was virtually unshakable. Even in the face of high pressure he could smile. When dealing with an angry racer he would maintain an amazingly even keel. It is now Gittings’ time to begin to define his tenure.

The switch box is now in the hands of Mike Gittings. The starting line is now in the hands of Mike Gittings. We look forward to shaking his hand in Atlanta and wishing him well in little more than a week from now.

Click here to read the full story on new NHRA Chief Starter Mike Gittings

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