Pjatikin Honors His Friend and Mentor at Airport

What do Sewell, NJ, Broken Arrow, OK, and Limerock, NY, have in common? All three cities played a role in the bond and friendship developed by Mike Pjatikin and the late Pete Frazier.

Frazier, the Okie from Broken Arrow, was a Micro-Sprint racer who started building his Factor 1 Chassis in 1985.

Pjatikin was a Micro-Sprint chauffeur from Sewell, NJ, and in 1994 he was looking to get into the 600cc class. Here in the northeast, in the mid-90's, the 270cc Micros ruled the roost, and there weren't too many car builders who were constructing 600's.

Frazier and Pjatikin met at the Limerock Speedway Nationals that year, and Frazier gave the Jersey boy much more than a traditional sales pitch. He invited Pjatikin to visit his shop in Broken Arrow, where he could see how the cars were built. So Pjatikin, then 17-years-old, and his brother drove out to Oklahoma and spent a week with Frazier and his wife. A long lasting friendship was born.

"Pete would give anyone the shirt off his back," says Pjatikin. "He was just that type of person. And he was an innovator in the construction of his racecars; he introduced many of the parts and components that are now standard on all Micro-Sprints. He was an incredible driver, too; he dominated all the big 600 races at that time. He was the Dale Earnhardt of the 600's, and his death had much the same effect (on the 600cc community) as Earnhardt's had on the NASCAR world."

A tragic crash during a race in Lawton, OK, claimed Frazier's life in July of 2000. He left behind a wife and two young daughters, along with his successful Factor 1 Chassis business.

Pjatikin got out of the sport around that time, due in part to the loss of his friend and mentor. In 2009, however, the itch to go racing returned, and in November, Pjatikin began planning and designing a new car that would be based around a Factor 1 Chassis, but many of his own innovative ideas would be included. It should be noted that after Frazier's death, his partner, Jim "Jimbo" McDougal, continued to operate the business that Frazier started.

Pjatikin's new car was just completed a few weeks ago, and made its debut at Delaware's Airport Speedway on July 17. Since Pjatikin had not driven for almost ten years, he asked Jack Conover to wheel his new creation. The results were amazing...Conover started sixth in the feature, blasted into the lead within a few laps, and simply ran away from the field. Several lengthy caution periods proved costly to the Pjatikin/Conover combo, though, as they opted to run with a minimal amount of fuel in the tank in order to save weight. As the laps clicked off, the No. 91 began to run out of fuel, and Conover sputtered to a fifth place finish. But the car's potential was evident to everyone who witnessed that feature.

There is much more to the story of this car, specifically the mechanical fuel injection system used by Pjatikin, and we'll save that information for next week's column. This piece focuses on the history between Pjatikin and Frazier, and an event produced by their friendship.

Last Thursday, July 22nd, Pjatikin awoke with an idea dancing in his head. With his passion for the 600's reborn, it was time to do something to honor the memory of his good friend, Pete Frazier.

He quickly contacted Airport Speedway officials and organized the first Pete Frazier Memorial Race to be held on the east coast (there have been similar events presented in Oklahoma since Frazier's death). The race was held this past Saturday at Airport, and Pjatikin put up some impressive incentives for the New Castle, DE track regulars.

Frazier used the number 19 when he raced, so Pjatikin determined that the first and ninth place finishers in each class would received gift certificates worth $350 for powder coating their car's frames. In addition, he added $250 to the winner's share of the 600cc main event. Cameron Bellinger won that feature and, in Pjatikin's words, "ran the best race I've ever seen him run."

Considering the fact that the Frazier Memorial Race was coordinated in about two days, this was not a bad first effort. Pjatikin plans to do it again next season, and with more planning time, he wants to make it much bigger and better.

"At one time, there were around 20 of the Factor 1 cars in this area. And, considering how much Pete influenced me and my racing, I want to do this to honor his memory," states Pjatikin, who is now the East Coast Distributor for Factor 1 Chassis.

As previously mentioned, there is quite a bit more to the story of Pjatikin's newly built 600cc Micro-Sprint. The details will appear in Part II of PJ's Project - check out next week's column for "the rest of the story."

*****

The Sparkman, Mark Berkenstock, is on the road to recovery from injuries he suffered on July 17 at the Hamlin Speedway.

Berkenstock was moved out of the ICU at Thomas Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia, and he's been sitting up while surrounded by family and friends who visit him daily. The full extent of his injuries is still unknown, but he's making steady progress and in good spirits.

The Hamlin family has been fantastic in their support of the Sparkman, with numerous fundraisers and a general outpouring of love to show their concern for the young racer who has made a positive impact on everyone he's met in racing.

For more information on the fundraisers and updates on Mark's condition, check out the special page created on facebook.com, titled Get Well Soon Sparkman.

That's it for this week. Thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed it.