| Mike Buckley | |
| Nationality: |  American |
| Birth Date: | 15 October 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Total Arca Races: | 156 |
| Years In Arca: | 20 |
| Best Arca Pos: | 10th (2001) |
| First Arca Race: | 1994 Greater Des Moines Ruan Grand Prix (Des Moines) |
| Last Arca Race: | 2015 Corrigan Oil 200 (Michigan) |
| Arca Wins: | 0 |
| Arca Top Tens: | 12 |
| Arca Poles: | 0 |
| Updated: | July 13, 2023 |
Mike Buckley (born October 15, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver who has previously competed in the ARCA Racing Series.
In 1994, Buckley would make his ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series debut at the Des Moines Street Course, driving the No. 48 Pontiac for his own team, where he would start 33rd and finish 22nd due to an oil leak in the car. He would make five more starts that year, getting a best finish of nineteenth at the Indiana State Fairgrounds dirt track. He would then make select starts in the No. 48 for the next four seasons, getting a total of five top-tens across those four years with a best result of sixth and Shady Bowl Speedway in 1995.
In 1999, Buckley would move over to the No. 28, switching from a Pontiac to a Chevrolet, where he would enter ten races that year, failing to qualify for four of those events and getting a best finish of tenth at Winchester Speedway. For the following year, he would fail to qualify for the season opening race at Daytona International Speedway before making five starts that year with a best finish of fourteenth at Kil-Kare Speedway.
In 2001, Buckley would compete in all but five races that year, getting two top-tens with a best finish of fifth at Toledo Speedway on his way to finish tenth in the final points standings.[1] He would then run the full schedule the following year in 2002, where he would once again get two top-tens with a best finish of sixth at Winchester, and would finish thirteenth in the points standings. In 2003, he would only get one top-ten at Winchester to finish twelfth in the final points standings, and would get no top-tens the following year to once again finish in twelfth in the standings.
In 2005, Buckley would enter in only five races, failing to qualify for four of those races and finishing 25th at Pocono Raceway due to transmission issues. He would enter in five more races the following year in 2006, this time running in a Pontiac, where he would only fail to qualify for one of those races and getting a best finish of fourteenth at the Milwaukee Mile. In 2007, he would only compete in two races, finishing ninth at Toledo and 25th at Milwaukee due to overheating issues.
After not competing in the series for two more years, Buckley would return in 2010 at Michigan International Speedway, driving the No. 96 Ford for Brad Smith Motorsports, where he would finish 40th after running only three laps due to battery issues.[2] After spending the next year on the sidelines, he would return to Michigan in 2012, this time driving his self owned No. 3 Chevrolet, where he would start 27th and finish nine laps down in twentieth.[3] He would race at Michigan again the following year, this time returning to the No. 28, where he would in twelfth, and would run at Chicagoland Speedway, where he would finish 21st due to an axle issue. In 2014, Buckley would run three races, finishing seventeenth at Toledo despite spinning early in the race, and would finish nineteenth and 23rd at Michigan and Kentucky Speedway respectively.[4] It was also during this year that he would run two races in the ARCA Truck Series, where he would get a best finish of ninth at Flat Rock Speedway due to handling issues.[5] For the following year in 2015, he would once again return to Michigan in the No. 28 Chevrolet, where he would finish twelfth, six laps down to race winner Ross Kenseth, and would two more starts in the ARCA trucks, getting a best finish of sixth at Angola Motorsports Speedway.[6] The Angola race would be his most recent start as a driver, as he has not competed in any racing series since then.[7]
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Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)