Interview by Mary Lendzion
Photos by NMCA and NMRA Staff
Mike Roup is a dedicated racer who takes a deliberate approach to decision-making.
He weighs all of his options before he turns any of his wrenches, and that has served the talented Texan well through the years.
While Roup has competed in NMCA MagnaFuel Open Comp, NMCA Detroit Truetrac Nostalgia Muscle, and NMRA ARP Open Comp, he is focused on competing in NMRA Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning in his Ranchero. His enviable efforts helped him earn championships in the category in 2021 and 2022, and they were rightfully personally rewarding for him.
Away from the racetrack, Roup’s life is equally fulfilling. He met his wife, Susana, on Valentine’s Day in 2019, when she came into his shop, Mike’s Auto Repair in Lockhart, Texas, to have her car repaired, and they married a few months later. These days, they help out however they can at their church, and Roup laughs when he says that is much better than looking for trouble like he sometimes did in his younger years.
Roup also likes to spend time restoring cars he owns, including a 1970 Cutlass S, 1965 Mustang, 1972 Dart Swinger,1969 Chevelle SS 396, 1968 El Camino SS 393, 1957 Chevy, and many others, some of which came from junkyards.
When we asked his wife, Susana, to tell us something that Roup might not tell us himself, she was quick to say that he is very focused, has a one-track mind, and is not easily distracted when he decides he wants to do something. She also said he doesn't give up, even when the going gets tough, and that is something that his friends and fellow racers would agree with.
Read on for more about Roup, who is more than ready to race in 2023.
WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF MUSCLE CARS?
I grew up in the Detroit area, and I started going to Milan Dragway in Michigan to watch the races with my family when I was 10 years old. I had two brothers and three sisters, and we all went and walked around the pit areas. I liked it a lot and knew I wanted to be around it. When I was old enough to drive, I started doing stupid stuff, like heating the tires under the car, racing on Telegraph, and getting tickets. Then I went into the military.
HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU ENTERED THE MILITARY, AND WHERE DID YOU SERVE?
I went into the Army in 1972, when I was 17. I went through training at Fort Knox in Kentucky and Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and then they sent me to Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where I was for two months. Then I was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, where I was in a mechanized infantry company and I was a wheel-vehicle mechanic and a track vehicle mechanic. I worked mostly on M113 armored personnel carriers, so I have been turning wrenches for a long time. I served for almost three years.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, MIKE. WHAT DID YOU PURSUE WHEN YOU WERE HONORABLY DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY?
It took me a long time to find a job, but I started working on a dump truck and driving a dump truck for a landscaping company in Oakland County in Michigan. I did that for about a year and a half, but then I broke my neck after diving into shallow water in a lake in Irish Hills, Michigan, and I was in the hospital for about five months. They had me in a brace, and I couldn’t do anything with it on, and I remember stopping at a gas station when I got out of the hospital and asking for help pulling the brace off. That was the first time I moved my head in months. I was 20 years old when I broke my neck, and I was 21 by the time I recovered. The Shriners paid for all of my hospital bills, and to this day, I still donate to the Shriners. After that, I started working at a couple of Ford and Chevrolet dealers as a line mechanic. By the time I was 24 in 1979, I had packed up and moved from Michigan to Texas.
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO MOVE FROM MICHIGAN TO TEXAS?
I took a job as a mechanic in the Houston area and worked for Andy Granatelli’s TuneUp Masters, an automotive repair shop. I only worked there for about five months, and then I worked for a Ford dealership in the Houston area, where I was a line mechanic.
WHAT COMPELLED YOU TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
I was doing some side work for someone, and he asked if I wanted to come to Austin and rent part of his shop, so I did. I had one bay. When someone who broke down would get towed to his shop by one of his wreckers, I would get the job. I was hustling. I finally built my own shop in 1999 and called it Mike's Auto Repair. Jack Anderson built my 5,000-square-foot shop in Lockhart, Texas, which is about 30 miles outside of Austin. When you start working for yourself, you put in a lot of hours, and I was putting in 80 hours a week. It was just me at first, and I was mostly doing transmission work, and then I added a few more mechanics and some other work. It was a lot in the beginning, but I was still young, and it kept me out of trouble.
WHEN DID YOU START RACING AT A RACETRACK?
The first time I raced at the racetrack was when I was 45 years old in 2002, and I was in my 1956 Ford pickup at San Antonio Raceway. I did pretty well, and I was having fun, especially when I was winning. I took part in the Clash of the Titans on different tracks, mostly in Texas.
WHEN WERE YOU DRAWN TO NMCA RACING?
That was in 2004 when I raced my 1956 Ford pickup in True Street because I thought that was the only class I could fit in, but the following year, I raced in Super Truck, and I won the championship in the class in 2006. Then I started racing in NMCA Open Comp and won the championship in 2009 in the 1956 Ford pickup, and I finished in the second spot to Donnie Bowles in 2010 in my 1967 Chevy II. Soon after that, my friend, Bryan Parker, suggested I race my 1966 Mustang in Nostalgia Muscle, so I did, then I bought Greg Bagnell’s Ranchero in 2018.
THE RANCHERO HAS BEEN A GOOD TRUCK FOR YOU. WILL YOU TELL US ABOUT IT?
I bought it because Greg Bagnell was selling it pretty cheaply. Texas is a big truck state, and the Ranchero is like a truck and car. I liked the body lines on it. I had to put a lot of work into it. I put Wilwood disc brakes on it, as well as some new parts in the front suspension, and I bought a Dart 427 Windsor Ford short-block from Summit Racing for it, to go with my AFR heads and new COMP solid roller lifter. My friend, Ricky Scheulen, built a C4 with a transbrake for the car. The Ranchero runs well. It is set up to run about 1.64 in the 60-foot and between 11.28 and 11.32 in the quarter-mile. I’m 6 feet 4 inches tall, but I still fit in it. In addition to NMCA Open Comp, I started racing it in NMRA Open Comp. I was competing in both series for a while, but that required a lot of travel, and honestly, I didn’t want to be away from my cats and dogs that much, so I started to focus on just NMRA Truck and Lightning, with just a few NMCA Open Comp races here and there, but when I do those, I get to use Bryan Parker’s 1967 Fairlane.
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT FOCUSING ON NMRA DETROIT LOCKER TRUCK AND LIGHTNING HAS BEEN A PERSONALLY REWARDING EXPERIENCE?
It definitely has. I enjoy it, and I have done well in Truck and Lightning in the five seasons I have raced in the category. In my first year in the category, I finished fifth, and then second for two years in a row, and then first the past two years. At the races, I keep an eye on the weather and study my logbook. I pay attention to whether racers are breaking out and I just try to qualify well and go rounds. I know and accept that I can’t win every race, but I was very happy to win the Truck & Lightning championships in 2021 and 2022.
IT WAS CERTAINLY AN AMAZING ACCOMPLISHMENT TO EARN TWO NMRA DETROIT LOCKER TRUCK & LIGHTNING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW. HAS IT CHANGED YOUR APPROACH AS YOU HEAD INTO THE 2023 RACE SEASON OR NO?
It was incredible, but I think I’ll have to approach 2023 like I do every other season. I’ll be nervous to start, but then I’ll tell myself to calm down and do my job. That usually works. I can’t cut lights like I used to, but I can still get them when I need them. The competition is tough, but my old Ranchero helps me do pretty well, and I'm pretty proud of it.
(Interview for the May 2023 issue of Fastest Street Car)
Photos by NMCA and NMRA Staff
Mike Roup is a dedicated racer who takes a deliberate approach to decision-making.
He weighs all of his options before he turns any of his wrenches, and that has served the talented Texan well through the years.
While Roup has competed in NMCA MagnaFuel Open Comp, NMCA Detroit Truetrac Nostalgia Muscle, and NMRA ARP Open Comp, he is focused on competing in NMRA Detroit Locker Truck & Lightning in his Ranchero. His enviable efforts helped him earn championships in the category in 2021 and 2022, and they were rightfully personally rewarding for him.
Away from the racetrack, Roup’s life is equally fulfilling. He met his wife, Susana, on Valentine’s Day in 2019, when she came into his shop, Mike’s Auto Repair in Lockhart, Texas, to have her car repaired, and they married a few months later. These days, they help out however they can at their church, and Roup laughs when he says that is much better than looking for trouble like he sometimes did in his younger years.
Roup also likes to spend time restoring cars he owns, including a 1970 Cutlass S, 1965 Mustang, 1972 Dart Swinger,1969 Chevelle SS 396, 1968 El Camino SS 393, 1957 Chevy, and many others, some of which came from junkyards.
When we asked his wife, Susana, to tell us something that Roup might not tell us himself, she was quick to say that he is very focused, has a one-track mind, and is not easily distracted when he decides he wants to do something. She also said he doesn't give up, even when the going gets tough, and that is something that his friends and fellow racers would agree with.
Read on for more about Roup, who is more than ready to race in 2023.
WHEN DID YOU DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF MUSCLE CARS?
I grew up in the Detroit area, and I started going to Milan Dragway in Michigan to watch the races with my family when I was 10 years old. I had two brothers and three sisters, and we all went and walked around the pit areas. I liked it a lot and knew I wanted to be around it. When I was old enough to drive, I started doing stupid stuff, like heating the tires under the car, racing on Telegraph, and getting tickets. Then I went into the military.
HOW OLD WERE YOU WHEN YOU ENTERED THE MILITARY, AND WHERE DID YOU SERVE?
I went into the Army in 1972, when I was 17. I went through training at Fort Knox in Kentucky and Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri, and then they sent me to Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where I was for two months. Then I was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas, where I was in a mechanized infantry company and I was a wheel-vehicle mechanic and a track vehicle mechanic. I worked mostly on M113 armored personnel carriers, so I have been turning wrenches for a long time. I served for almost three years.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, MIKE. WHAT DID YOU PURSUE WHEN YOU WERE HONORABLY DISCHARGED FROM THE ARMY?
It took me a long time to find a job, but I started working on a dump truck and driving a dump truck for a landscaping company in Oakland County in Michigan. I did that for about a year and a half, but then I broke my neck after diving into shallow water in a lake in Irish Hills, Michigan, and I was in the hospital for about five months. They had me in a brace, and I couldn’t do anything with it on, and I remember stopping at a gas station when I got out of the hospital and asking for help pulling the brace off. That was the first time I moved my head in months. I was 20 years old when I broke my neck, and I was 21 by the time I recovered. The Shriners paid for all of my hospital bills, and to this day, I still donate to the Shriners. After that, I started working at a couple of Ford and Chevrolet dealers as a line mechanic. By the time I was 24 in 1979, I had packed up and moved from Michigan to Texas.
WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO MOVE FROM MICHIGAN TO TEXAS?
I took a job as a mechanic in the Houston area and worked for Andy Granatelli’s TuneUp Masters, an automotive repair shop. I only worked there for about five months, and then I worked for a Ford dealership in the Houston area, where I was a line mechanic.
WHAT COMPELLED YOU TO START YOUR OWN BUSINESS?
I was doing some side work for someone, and he asked if I wanted to come to Austin and rent part of his shop, so I did. I had one bay. When someone who broke down would get towed to his shop by one of his wreckers, I would get the job. I was hustling. I finally built my own shop in 1999 and called it Mike's Auto Repair. Jack Anderson built my 5,000-square-foot shop in Lockhart, Texas, which is about 30 miles outside of Austin. When you start working for yourself, you put in a lot of hours, and I was putting in 80 hours a week. It was just me at first, and I was mostly doing transmission work, and then I added a few more mechanics and some other work. It was a lot in the beginning, but I was still young, and it kept me out of trouble.
WHEN DID YOU START RACING AT A RACETRACK?
The first time I raced at the racetrack was when I was 45 years old in 2002, and I was in my 1956 Ford pickup at San Antonio Raceway. I did pretty well, and I was having fun, especially when I was winning. I took part in the Clash of the Titans on different tracks, mostly in Texas.
WHEN WERE YOU DRAWN TO NMCA RACING?
That was in 2004 when I raced my 1956 Ford pickup in True Street because I thought that was the only class I could fit in, but the following year, I raced in Super Truck, and I won the championship in the class in 2006. Then I started racing in NMCA Open Comp and won the championship in 2009 in the 1956 Ford pickup, and I finished in the second spot to Donnie Bowles in 2010 in my 1967 Chevy II. Soon after that, my friend, Bryan Parker, suggested I race my 1966 Mustang in Nostalgia Muscle, so I did, then I bought Greg Bagnell’s Ranchero in 2018.
THE RANCHERO HAS BEEN A GOOD TRUCK FOR YOU. WILL YOU TELL US ABOUT IT?
I bought it because Greg Bagnell was selling it pretty cheaply. Texas is a big truck state, and the Ranchero is like a truck and car. I liked the body lines on it. I had to put a lot of work into it. I put Wilwood disc brakes on it, as well as some new parts in the front suspension, and I bought a Dart 427 Windsor Ford short-block from Summit Racing for it, to go with my AFR heads and new COMP solid roller lifter. My friend, Ricky Scheulen, built a C4 with a transbrake for the car. The Ranchero runs well. It is set up to run about 1.64 in the 60-foot and between 11.28 and 11.32 in the quarter-mile. I’m 6 feet 4 inches tall, but I still fit in it. In addition to NMCA Open Comp, I started racing it in NMRA Open Comp. I was competing in both series for a while, but that required a lot of travel, and honestly, I didn’t want to be away from my cats and dogs that much, so I started to focus on just NMRA Truck and Lightning, with just a few NMCA Open Comp races here and there, but when I do those, I get to use Bryan Parker’s 1967 Fairlane.
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT FOCUSING ON NMRA DETROIT LOCKER TRUCK AND LIGHTNING HAS BEEN A PERSONALLY REWARDING EXPERIENCE?
It definitely has. I enjoy it, and I have done well in Truck and Lightning in the five seasons I have raced in the category. In my first year in the category, I finished fifth, and then second for two years in a row, and then first the past two years. At the races, I keep an eye on the weather and study my logbook. I pay attention to whether racers are breaking out and I just try to qualify well and go rounds. I know and accept that I can’t win every race, but I was very happy to win the Truck & Lightning championships in 2021 and 2022.
IT WAS CERTAINLY AN AMAZING ACCOMPLISHMENT TO EARN TWO NMRA DETROIT LOCKER TRUCK & LIGHTNING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN A ROW. HAS IT CHANGED YOUR APPROACH AS YOU HEAD INTO THE 2023 RACE SEASON OR NO?
It was incredible, but I think I’ll have to approach 2023 like I do every other season. I’ll be nervous to start, but then I’ll tell myself to calm down and do my job. That usually works. I can’t cut lights like I used to, but I can still get them when I need them. The competition is tough, but my old Ranchero helps me do pretty well, and I'm pretty proud of it.
(Interview for the May 2023 issue of Fastest Street Car)