Mike’s wife says that behind every great man is an ever greater woman. If it were not for her, he would not even be in racing today. In fact, it was his wife’s cooking that allowed him to continue to get invitations to crew for various racers before he built his first car, and it continues to be the reason that the MEATHEAD Racing paddock space is full around every meal time.

Everyone asks about the origin of the name MEATHEAD RACING. Mike, a former Marine, worked for an employer who always misspoke and called Mike a "MEATHEAD" instead of the often used term for a Marine-"jarhead". The name stuck and thus MEATHEAD Racing was born in 2002. At first it was just Mike with a funny sticker on the car. Then in 2003, Mike’s father (Chris Collins) joined the action and formed MEATHEAD Racing. Early in 2003, Chris Tamburo and Gregg Downer joined the team. They were all classmates at the “all in one” Roebling Road Double Drivers School in 2002. A little later in 2003, Bad Al Bell joined the team as the salty veteran. In 2004 MEATHEAD Racing launched its trackside support program and built three rental cars. MEATHEAD Racing is now considered one of the premier Spec Miata rental firms in the country.

Since the beginning, Mike has been a contender, finishing his first ever race with a 4^th place, just missing the podium. In 2006 Mike won his first sprint race and finished the season in 2^nd place behind his teammate Bad Al Bell, who won the championship. In 2006 Mike and Bad Al also finished in the North East National series with 4^th and 5^th places.

Mike lives in Mount Airy, MD with his wife Wendy and their future racers Cole, Wyatt, Valerie, and Irina.

Mike aka: MEAT, MEATHEAD, Reverend Pimp Daddy Minister of Soul, and Moses. Mike is also the WDCR SM Drivers Representative, Paddock Marshal, and a life member of the No Limit Soldiers Club.

A road racing fan most of his life, Gregg’s interest in racing started when his parents took him to the 1971 German Grand Prix. Gregg started racing karts with his father and brother in 1973, and raced for three years with many wins and championships. After a long sabbatical from racing Gregg's racing interest was revived after buying a 1988 Porsch 911 Cabriolet, and racing with the Porsche club indoor karting league. Knowing that there was no way he could race his new baby (the Porsche), Gregg started the search for an affordable car and class to begin racing. Gregg decided on Spec Miata and in 2002 bought a Mazda Miata to start building into a race car. While building his Spec Miata,

Gregg started participating in Friday at the Track (FATT) at Summit Point Motorsport Park to hone his driving skills. In February 2003 Gregg (and his father as his crew chief) attended the Roebling Road Double Driver’s school where they met Mike (Meathead) Collins, Chris Tamburo, and Chris Collins.

Gregg began racing his Spec Miata in the MARRS series and joined MEATHEAD Racing in 2003. Gregg’s best finishes to date are 2^nd in class and 5^th overall in the 2hr Summit Point Endurance Challenge, and a 3^rd in class and 6^th overall in the 4hr “Into the Night” Enduro with teammate Chris Collins.

Gregg lives in Oak Hill, VA with his wife Sue and two children, Krista and Kyle.

Bad Al has been a racing enthusiast since a very young age. Unfortunately, Santa never brought him the racing go-kart he wanted, not that he is bitter or anything like that. He achieved early success in Pinewood Derby, sanctioned by the Cub Scouts. From this, he went on to competitive motorsports, driving in local autocross events and winning many trophies and a class championship driving MG’s, Datsuns and some cars too embarrassing to mention.

The next step was driving on road racing courses. This began at Summit Point Raceway, driving in “Refrigerator Bowl” events, the prototype for today’s FATT events. He was asked to instruct for novice drivers at those events, and went on to instruct for SCCA competition schools, Ferrari of Washington, BMW CCA, Mercedes Benz and other marquee clubs. He now works as a Security Driving instructor and Supervisor for BSR at Summit Point.

Currently competing in the Spec Miata class, Al has 9 regional class championships, and has won the DC Region Dick Lord and Frank B. Pohanka trophies. He is the current SSM and ITC lap record holder at Summit Point, and has held lap records at VIR, Pocono, and Lime Rock. He has also competed in several enduro events including the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges, The 25 Hours of Thunderhill, 13 Hours of VIR and the 12 Hours at the Point.

Season highlights from 2006 include the SM MARRS Championship, the SSM lap record, and the highest finish by a Northeast Division driver in Spec Miata at the Runoffs, the televised SCCA National Championship.

With the old addage “Put your money where your mouth is” the gauntlet was thrown down! Chris, in support of his son Mike, came to the track in early 2002 to see what the action was all about and provide support to Mike’s racing efforts. Although fatherly advice is always appreciated, it was agreed that Chris should prepare his own car and go racing. This was a return to SCCA that he had previously experienced thirty years earlier, when he was crewing for a friend’s Formula Vee team.

Following in his son’s foot steps, Chris attended the Fall Summit Point driver’s school. Early the following spring he attended the Roebling Road Double Drivers School and was installed as the oldest rookie on the Meathead team. The past year has ushered in new tracks to drive and the challenges of National racing completion. As driving skills have been honed, lap times have consistently been improving.

Since the team contained two members named Chris, a distinction was required and in the world according to “Bad Al Bell”, Junior became the moniker given to Mike’s dad. This was because Al thought that Mike’s dad was not quite as bad as Mike.

You will find Chris in the paddocks on any given weekend lending a hand to prep a car or talking to a perspective client on how Meathead can make their racing experience as pleasurable as possible.

Chris lives in Darnestown, MD with his lovely and understanding wife Mary and their daughter Kristen.

Legendary F1 racer and Scotsman Jackie Stewart commented “…you’re changing gears in midair there, it’s just murder on the transmission…” during a Monaco Grand Prix TV broadcast and sparked Fred’s attraction to motor sports. In 1978, BMW Car Club of America photographer Klaus Schnitzer invited him to join upon noticing his 1974 BMW 2002tii, which he auto-crossed later. Younger brother Chris Cocca got him his first experience on-track in the passenger seat of a 600hp Porsche at Pocono International Raceway in 1999. Fred became a flagger for SCCA. Later that year, he first drove on-track at Road Atlanta during a BMWCCA driver education event in his 1997 BMW M3/4. He lent those car keys to Mike Collins for orientation laps on Summit Point during their first meeting at the 2005 SCCA Spring Drivers School. His association with MEATHEAD Racing quickly followed, since the charming personalities proved irresistible. The Summit Point Endurance Challenge on the Shenandoah Circuit proved his inaugural podium finish; third place in SSM class. A few podium finishes in the EMRA series rounded out his 2006 season, never placing first. Fred doesn’t burn with resentment or even get sore about never finishing first and wishes frontrunners all the luck.

Fred’s goal is to race smarter than last season.

Randy’s family had a liking for cars. This turned into passion for him at a very young age and at a time when teenagers had nothing in common with their parents; cars formed a bond between Randy and his father. Racing started with a very short stint at Rallycross in the Philippine Islands. This addiction definitely needed to be fed in the great U.S. of A.

Randy followed the usual route into Club Racing by starting out in Autocrosses in Texas. Transplantation to Maryland led him to seek out the leading authority in Spec Miata and stumbled upon Meathead racing.

Meathead fondly calls Randy, Rock Star not because of what he does but because Randy stays up all night, sleeps till noon, and can be found in Sinai Hospital Radiology most of his waking hours.

Randy lives in Baltimore with his wife, Alison and son, Joshua. Randy has told his family that he works in a hospital and that is why he is out late at night but his real occupation is "Randy the Rock Star".

Matt began his career with Meathead Racing in 2005 working as a crew member. With the help of the entire Meathead team, he prepared a car for competition in the SSM class and earned his competition license in 2007. Since then, Matt has been competing in SSM with numerous finishes in the top 10 in the 2008 and 2009. With a new car in the works for 2010, he's looking forward to a strong season in the highly competitive class.

Matt is originally from West Virginia and is lovingly known as "dumbass" in the Meathead camp (a nickname coined by Mike Collins).

Jimmy has garnered two National Championships and 6 Regional Championships in Go-Karting. At the age of 6, he started his career racing Quarter Midgets on a dirt track in Maryland.

Go-Kart road racing became his passion and with the help and support of his parents, Janet and Lin, he has become a skilled driver. Jimmy has always enjoyed coming to Summit Point over the years to watch the racing and pit action. In 2004, Meathead Racing asked Jimmy to come on board as a crew member. His willingness to help and always be available has made him a great asset to the racing family. He feels he has learned a lot about racing and cars from the members of the Meathead Racing Team. Jimmy is currently attending Martinsburg High School.

Tim began racing in 2007. Prior to the spring driver school at Summit Point Tim had no competitive driving experience other than taking a week long course at Spring Mountain Motor Sports in Nevada and attending some track days at Summit Point. Always, looking for the “next thrill” Tim wanted more and that meant renting the track for more track time. Tim discovered that he would need a competition license to rent the track and that is how he started his racing “career”.

Prior to taking the school he swore he would never drive a Miata, it’s a “chick” car, right? Tim owned a corvette and his plan was to buy a big bore race car and go have fun. “Since renting a Miata from Meathead Racing for the school I wouldn’t want to race anything else. What a blast it has been. It’s a bit ironic, how much I gave a co-worker a hard time (boy did I have to eat crow) about owning a Miata and now owning one myself and considering a second, Tim laughs.”

Tim’s best finish in 2007 was a 5^th overall, 4^th in class in SM and he finished the season 10^th place in the points. In 2008 Tim produced 3 “podium” (do we really have a podium?) finishes in SM including a 1^st and 2^nd place at Nelson Ledges and a 3^rd place at Summit Point. The season ended with a 3^rd place in points in SM (sorry Brian, not reallyJ). He also finished first in SSM with co-drivers Brian Billey and Neil O’Rourke at the 13 hours of VIR.

He lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland with his wife Christina and their son TJ (who he may have a difficult time keeping up with). Christina loves going to the track and cheering on Tim and enjoys lending a hand during meals with the Meathead Team.

Who knew that a trip to Summit Point a couple of years ago to watch the SCCA MARRS Labor Day double would lead to this? While watching that race Neil swore that someday he would get behind the wheel. After two and half years of getting Columbia Tile and Marble up and running, it was time to put that passion for driving to the test. He completed the SCCA fall and spring school and began racing SSM in 2007. In 2008 Neil finished 5^th in points in the SSM MARRS series, won the SSM class of the 13 hours of VIR, and finished 4^th in SSM at the ARRC at Road Atlanta. Being part of the Meathead team has been a huge help with the learning curve of racing. The car prep, practice and setup knowledge that is shared by the Meathead crew is invaluable. Neil is looking forward to the 2009 season and moving closer to a championship.

Neil lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife Nickie.

Ed York will be taking over as Technical Advisor for MEATHEAD Racing in 2010 and will also be driving a MEATHEAD Racing SSM in the 2010 MARRS Series. Ed brings decades of experience to the team and will elevate the level of track side support received by MEATHEAD Racing customers. A true champion, Ed has won 11 MARRS Championships in 4 different classes. He is no newcomer to racing, as he began racing in 1986 at the tender age of 29. Throughout his racing career he has built and prepared all his racecars himself.

Endurance racing is a favorite and in his first attempt in the 24-hour race at Nelson Ledges, he and his co-drivers finished 1st in their BMW class (4th overall).

Adding to his impressive resume', are previous track records at Summit Point, Nelson Ledges and Lowe's Motor Speedway. Competing many times in the ARRC at Road Atlanta, he has 2 first place finishes in SSM and he has finished 2nd two times in ITB and won the pole position in 2004 in ITS.

With plenty of automotive know how, Ed enjoys helping his friends and fellow competitors with his shop's chassis dyno and suspension set-ups. To support his racing endeavors, Ed owns and operates York Automotive in Mount Airy, MD.

Steve came to Meathead Racing in 2006, after four years of racing Spec Racer Fords with the SCCA and Porsche 944s in the 44 SuperCup. He even won a few races in the latter, and he swears that he wasn't the only car in his class at the time.

Steve had a great time in his first full season of racing the Miata: the costs are reasonable, and the support from the Meathead Racing crew lets him focus on the fun racing bits without spending a ton of time on repairs or on loading the car and trailer. Steve says, "the Miatas are easy to learn but challenging to master and the racing is very competitive", and Steve feels good about having worked his way up to running solidly mid-pack.

Steve's presence has been known to bring rain and snow to racetracks up and down the East Coast, hence his reputation as The Weatherman.

Steve lives in Potomac, MD with his wife Elizabeth, who races a Spec Racer Ford most of the time, and who races Steve's Miata sometimes when he's not looking.

Steve's goals for this season are to keep the rocks out of his radiator, to find third gear every time, and to finish a few more positions up the sheet.

Ralph was born in Munich, Germany, and began racing on the drag strip and at HPDEs. His love of motorsports brought him to Meathead Racing to fulfill his ambition as an amateur club racer. Since 2008, nothing has stopped him from having a blast and taking advantage of all the great experience and expertise the Meathead team brings to Spec Miata.

Ralph completed a full season competing in the MARRS SM class and finished in 14^th place in the championship. Not bad for a rookie! He took every checkered flag and consistently improved his lap times and finishing positions. Other accomplishments include instructing for the SCCA’s Performance Driver Experience (PDX) program.

Ralph established Ralf Racing, Inc., which is affiliated with Meathead Racing, Inc., and is a proud partner with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Ralf Racing contributes all proceeds to the Society by racing for the cure and supporting special events.

Even though Julie learned to drive at the tender age of 8 on her parents' farm, it wasn't until late in college that her interest in cars began to develop. In 2002, she started taking her beloved Audi TT to HPDEs with NASA. "Hooked" would be an understatement. By 2004, Julie was instructing, and had purchased a 1995 miata with an eye toward getting a competition license. She did just that in 2005 by completing two schools with the SCCA, with her second school, held in very wet and snowy Ohio weather, proving to be her most invaluable experience to date. That same year, she completed two races at Mid-Ohio, and co-drove in the 13 Hours at VIR. Buying a house in early 2006 stunted her racing budget for a little while, as well as her lap times, but she has high hopes for 2008!

Julie lives in Funkstown, MD, with her awesome boyfriend and crew chief Bernie, and their loving cat, Nala.

Mike’s desire for racing started with chopping down lap times on PC racing simulators with a friend of his. Oh how he dreamed of piloting a real race car on the track one day. Then he got his motorcycle, a Buell sport bike. His wife signed him up for a track day on the bike and he was hooked. He discovered Battletrax, SOLO for motorcycles, and won the regional series for a trip to Las Vegas to compete against 8 others. While looking for a track bike he discovered Spec Miata and never looked back. A friend of Mike’s, Chris Dole, lent his car and camper to him so he could attend the Roebling Road Double School while his car was under construction. He started racing in the MARRS series in 2005. When his car was totaled in late 2006, MEATHEAD Racing helped him with the resources to rebuild. Mike has been part of the MEATHEAD team ever since!

Kieran Murphy is from Ireland where he grew up watching Formula Ford and the circuit of Ireland Rally, James Hunt and Ronnie Peterson racing on television. He finished his first season in 2008 in SSM Miata and is thrilled to be off the couch and driving. The high light of the year was driving with Gregg in the EMRA Enduro race , which was tough, rain, no moon, Deer and a thunderstorm In 2009 he will be faster!

Steve hire the Meathead Racing team to crew for him during his first season of competition in 2008, in which he made quite an impression on his teammates, fellow competitors, the gravel pit on 1 and the inside wall of 10. Meathead's extensive network of experienced drivers and capable crew proved invaluable in helping Steve overcome his lack of experience, time and skill in prepping, racing and fixing Miatas and helping Steve earn his competition license and move up from the ranks. By the end of his first season Steve posted not just one, but two victories and improved his lap times and finishing positions.

Steve lives in Virginia and is supported by his loving wife and two teenage daughters, all three of whom wish Steve would spend even more time at the track.

After 13 years of raising 4 girls alone, it was time for Ken ("K2") to get out of the house and see what guys do for fun. "The track is an amazingly quiet place to be." laughs Ken. Having taken several courses with Bertil Roos and Skip Barber over the years, the seed was planted for what has now grown to become a full time hobby. Ken has sponsored NASCAR teams and finished 11^th his first race in a Late Model stock car. Ken took the SCCA driver class and got his license in 2008 and started driving with the Meathead team right away. It was clear after renting from Meathead Racing for the first couple of races, that owning was the way to go. After purchasing Tom Jacobs' #15 SSM, Ken was ready to race. Improving lap times is a continual battle and 2010 should be a prosperous year in that regard.

K2 is famous for his slightly more than mild beef jerky he hands out at the track. This year, his car will be sponsored by his brand of jerky "Bin Lami Salami". Look for it at the track!

Ken lives in Owings Mills, MD with his 4 daughters Sydney, Montana, Jackson and Kennedy.

As a boy growing up in northern Illinois, Ted often went to watch the Friday night races at Waukegan Speedway with his brother-in-law and brothers. The food was terrible and the cars were a bit beat up but the action was fast and furious.

After owning several “fast” street cars (Corvettes, Mustang GTs, etc.) Ted finally realized that there were local race clubs that allowed you to take your car out on the track. In late 2005, up in Kent, Washington at Pacific Raceway, he experienced his first taste of driving his 2001 Z06 Corvette on the track. Thanks to Don Kitch’s ProFormance driving school, in 2006 he completed one of the two driving schools necessary to get out and race with the SCCA.

With several high performance driving events under his belt, Ted looked to get his second driving school completed. This finally occurred in March of 2009 when he barely passed at Summit Point, WV. Off to the races as they say…

2009 saw Ted get his Regional and then National SCCA Club Racing license. The year ended with Ted getting 4^th place in the EMRA Sprints after holding 3^rd place for several laps. Ted also teamed-up with (bribed) Bad Al Bell to run the EMRA Enduro with him where they took #1 in SM class and #3 overall!

Larry Cahall joined Meathead Racing in 2010. He lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife, Cindy. Larry has wanted to race a Miata since he drove his brand new red 1990 off the dealer’s lot. However, in 1994 the Miata gave way to a second VW Vanagon to accommodate the growing needs of four daughters. The story could have ended there but his brother (Ted Cahall) purchased a Spec Miata and joined Meathead Racing then started working on Larry to join him. After a year of racing, Ted finally talked Larry into going to school at Summit Point. Larry rented several cars from Meathead racing and at the end of the school he was the proud owner of a new transmission, a differential, and a novice permit. His daughters encouraged him to go racing and, as Larry puts it; “Cindy didn’t say no”. Larry is now a proud owner of his own Spec Miata a Regional Competition License. He is still trying to figure out this “downshifting” thing.

The purchase of a Honda S2000 in 2003 was the first step in the progression that started with autocrossing with the SCCA. The DC region is known for having the largest and greatest autocross program in the country. Success was not instant, but it was quick. Greg finished 2nd in class and was awarded the inaugural Ron Katona "Spirit of the Sport" award at the year end banquet in 2003. He was the A-stock champion in 2005 and made three visits to Topeka for Nationals. Greg also became and still is an instructor for the DC Region Solo schools.

With nine months of a SSM build behind him, Greg went looking for someone to help him get his SCCA competition license. The name "Meathead" kept popping up. Mike and Meathead Racing helped Greg get his license for the start of the 2009 season and compete in all of the races at Summit Point. Greg had only planned to run two races his first year, but was given the chance to also work a crew, supporting the other Meathead drivers, enabling him to offset some of the cost and run all of the "home" races. The first year was very successful with multiple Top 10 qualifying and race results. Greg finished 12th in the points and was the recipient of the 2009 DC Region "Rookie of the Year."

The second year has also been a success. Greg is still with Meathead Racing as a driver and crew member. Now a regular in the Top 5, Greg has multiple podium visits including one second and two third place finishes. Greg also recently scored his first pole and is the current Summit Point lap record holder in SSM at 1:27.732.

Although his budget is still small, he appreciates the incredible support from Meathead Racing and Radial Tire Co. Greg knows that a patient and methodical approach could one day lead him to a future championship.

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