Slaying Goliath: Mickey Steele

His name sort of had a racing type ring to it…….Mickey STEELE, and if you ever had any experience with coastal Carolina racing: dirt, pavement, stock car, or go-kart, you knew the name………… “Mickey Steele”…….. was, and still is, spoken with reverence. His friends considered themselves very fortunate, and everybody else focused on gaining access to Mickey’s inner circle. Mickey was a winner, everybody at the track knew it; his records speak for themselves. Mickey was a mechanical genius, had camshafts for small-block chevys and 5 horse Briggs custom ground to his specifications, which varied…….. depending on conditions. Mickey lived to race…..he needed racing more than most……Mickey NEEDED a reason to dream, to hope, and one to direct his piercing focus……because Mickey Steele was severely handicapped.I first met Mickey in 1977 at Horace Faircloth’s “Buck Creek Go Kart Track”. His team would push him around on his kart, and they would pit beside the track-fence so Mickey could see the action. Mickey’s legs didn’t work. They were both permanently folded at the knee, and that was Mickey’s view of the world…….knee-high level………. moving around by his arms and hands. Honestly, I’m not sure what his handicapp’s official name was, it may have been polio, but Mickey was born with it. His work-shop had all of his tools, and work-benches just inches off the floor. Karts and their lighter smaller components seemed a natural for Mickey, but his #12 Nova STILL holds the 6 cylinder modified track record at the old Conway (SC) Raceway, as does his 1988 Myrtle Beach Speedway championship with life-long friend and driver Neil Cox. How, exactly, did he work on a race car? Crawling, the same way Mickey did everything. He would crawl up under the hood, or inside the front fender or crawl under the chassis…in a heart- beat. His racers were always #12….karts and cars. Mickey, himself, never drove realizing his handicapp wouldn’t allow a quick exit from a critical situation. However, acquiring drivers was the least of Mickey’s problems.In the mid 1970’s Mickey realized Briggs&Stratton’s antiquated point/condenser style ignition system was severely lacking, especially in his modified, open, and stock appearing engines. With a mind like a steel-trap, Mickey enrolled in electronic classes at Myrtle Beach’s Horry-Georgetown Technical college and soon INVENTED and DEVELOPED a racing electronic ingintion system for a 5 horse Briggs engine. The Hortsman-“Horts-Power” electronic ignition system that has powered thousands of karters to countless victories all have Mickey Steele to thank. Tragically, in a series of murky dealings, lawyers, contracts, and legal maneuverings, Mickey’s igintion system wound up the property of Hortsman Manufacturing company. Lock, stock and patent.About the same time the Hortsman deal went south, Mickey acquired a brand- new ’78 Datsun 280Z. The Datsun had an automatic transmission and Mickey developed and implemented hand controls on the Datsun so he could drive it himself…….and for the next 20 plus years he did just that. Mickey’s 280 Z was a fixture at “the SPEEDWAY” (his name for Myrtle Beach speedway), Conway, Lake View, and countless area kart tracks. The hand controls worked splendid, and the patent and marketing rights for those were lost too.As time passed, Mickey had a series of operations that was supposed to help his condition. But, something went wrong, and Mickey lost the use of his arms in the aftermath. After the surgery, he was essentially a quadrapalegic. Amazingly, Mickey still raced, preservered, and held court at “the Speedway”………… “Don’t interrupt me, when I’m telling you something……let me finish before you say anything…..” Mickey admonished me more than once to never break into his train of thought.In my last visits with Mickey, we talked about everything from how he had “turned Rick Hendrick down, TWICE. Well, (as Mickey exlplained) He wanted me to do engine research and developement for him……but I would have to leave the beach and move up to Charlotte, and I’ve got to stay here and take care of momma……………………” to Christianity and Einstein’s therory of relativity.Mickey was an intellectual super- heavyweight, caught in a crippled and tortured body. Eventually one kidney gave out, then the other, dialysis was successful for a while, but, in the end, it was just too much. Mickey left us a couple years ago. Outside the neighborhood, Mickey’s fame is not widespread or well-known. He never made it to the big-time although the big-time came looking for him……..no T-shirts, die-casts or catchy slogans, just a hard nose racer’s racer, thriving against very long odds.I would like to offer the RacersReunion Hall of Fame induction panel, the name of Mickey Steele for consideration.

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