Hey guys,
Many of you know me. I've been around here racing since 2004 with the NR2003 game when we fianlly got DSL (aka easydoesit or MikeyRud). I love the Lord Jesus. And I love racing. CR has been a great fit for me. I had found my new racing hobby! In 1998 NASCAR2, N3 and then N4 games were not much fun after a while racing offline. And online the dial-up races I tried didn't work out for me.

My wife and I live in the Indianapolis area and have three boys ages 20, 15 and 12 years old. Originally from St. Louis, MO (Winchester) we moved away in '73 when I was 10yrs old. In Missouri when I was only 6 months old my mom and dad had me wrapped in a blanket for the stock car races at the old Lake Hill Speedway. The funny thing was is that I slept the whole time. Music to my ears I guess. It's all their fault! :)

Growing up around here dad would take me to some sprint car & circle track races, but my first big race event was the 1973 Indy 500. That was a crazy 500 with 3 days of rain and all the bad crashes was freaky. Swede Savage died the last day coming off T4, and the crash involving Salt Walther was right in front of my dad and I. Well, his car came to rest in front of us.

Playing little league football when I was 7, 8 & 9yrs old in West St. Louis county was great! Football was huge there even though we had the Cardinals NFL team who always found a way to not be good. Loving football, I played up to 11th grade (once in Indiana). My kids now love football maybe more than me. Especially us cheering for our Super Bowl Champion, Indianapolis Colts!

I didn't have too "bad" a childhood. But it was rough and I had some bad influences in my life for sure. I joined the Marine Corp in 1982 after I graduated high school. That's a long story, but at the very least it woke me up a bit. I don't regret it one bit and am so thankful for our service men and women today. Still, at this point I did not know the Lord or ever go church. In high school I wanted to play the drums but never knew anyone who had set to play on! My parents would not let me get a set and we had no basement anyway. I got my first set of drums when I was 21. Renting a big old house with some hippy, musician, east side freaks I began to get good enough to start playing in bands around town. Today, I love playing & singing worship music for the Lord.

My wonderful wife and I got married in '87! Working a cush warehouse job, I continued to play in bands about every weekend and had silly rock n roll fantasies. Then Jesus got a hold of me. He finally convicted me that I was in fact a sinner. It started by reading God's Word in a small booklet sharing the gospel that a co-worker had given me! Finally, I had surrendered to God and His way. I put my faith in Jesus alone for my salvation and we started going to church. I was 27. That was right when our first child was born too!

Our kids raced in karting until 2005. Mainly at Whiteland Raceway Park in Whiteland, Indiana as it was 15 minutes from home. Tony Stewart used to race there when he was a kid (the old layout). The track is about 50 years old; they boast it being the oldest kart track in America. They started in the "Kid Karts" (50cc 2 cycle) racing, and they ended up racing the Cadet Jr. Sportsman 80cc 2-cycle class (8-12 yrs old). Street courses, oval dirt and oval paved...going all over the place but the Sprint Kart road courses were the best! Adam raced at New Castle Motorsports Park a couple times the year it opened in '05. It's a popular, beautiful 1.1 mile sprint kart track. My wife was supportive but usually very nervous but the kids kinda lost the fire to do it. It was a neat time back then, some good memories for sure. Ok, I kinda miss the exhaust smell of 2-cycle race gas!

I've worked in the masonry/caulking construction trades for 20 years now. That is where I met Neal Turner fellow CR member, and my favorite co-worker brother ever! So blessed for sure. Praise the Lord for my church, having brothers that pray together, holding some accountability, sharing life and building each other up in Christ. I'm blessed by my wife who is full of God's grace. She truly is my "better" half. A wife that loves sports too! :)

CR is such a blast and I have met friends for a life time. If it were not for you all showing up in our racing servers, there would be no CRL. Thanks for being a part of what "Timbercats" got started here for us all to enjoy and be blessed by. It was so cool and a blessing going to the second LAN event and racing there in person getting to know you guys a little better!

As should've always been the case, I pray to continue to grow in my faith, glorifying God in my marriage, to my woman, and in all God has for me. Failures come but I will keep getting back up by His power and in His Spirit. Hopefully recognizing my areas of "sinful pride", the rest of my life. In Jesus name, amen. We all have the tendency to think too much "about" ourselves and too much "of" ourselves. It's pride.

The Lord says in Ephesians 4:1-2 "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Pastor Chuck Swindoll said, "The world's smallest package is a man wrapped up in himself." Our greatest example, is Christ. Philippians 2:6-8 "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"

Cya all soon!
Praise Him forever Jesus is worthy.
Mike