By AMANDA VINCENT
Copp Motorsports is honoring a veteran NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series team owner — Mike Mittler — during the 2019 Truck Series season, renumbering its entry from No. 83 to No. 63, the number raced by Mittler’s team over the years.
“This keeps our string alive of being a team that has run each year since the series started,” Mittler said. “D.J. (Copp, Copp Motorsports owner) put his hand out to help us a few years back when we were in a jam at the track, and we have worked together ever since.”
Mittler is the only Truck Series team owner who has fielded at least one truck during every season of the series’ existence. The Joe Nemechek-owned NEMCO Motorsports competed during the inaugural Truck Series season in 1995, but that team took a hiatus from the series in the early 2000s.
A battle with cancer has forced Mittler to slow down his duties as a NASCAR team owner. He has 301 Truck Series races to his credit as an owner in the series, resulting in one top-five (a second at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, in 2015 with Bobby Pierce as driver) and three top-10 finishes. Drivers who have piloted Mittler-fielded trucks over the years include eventual Cup Series drivers Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards and Regan Smith.
The 2019 season is Copp Motorsports’ third season in the Truck Series.
“Mike and I have worked together extensively over the years, and I couldn’t be prouder to pay tribute to him this season,” Copp Motorsports owner D.J. Copp said. “Mike has been in the Truck Series since its inception. He has given some pretty big names their start in NASCAR, including Carl Edwards and Justin Allgaier. If it wasn’t for people like Mike who have paved the way, we wouldn’t have the opportunities that we have now to participate in NASCAR”.
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