Three decades as a race car owner have shown Pat Moran that involvement in auto racing is like a day at the beach – with chicken pox.
“It’s a disease,” said a smiling Moran, who owns the No. 45 late model driven by Harrison Township’s Frank Jiovani.
“There are happy moments; there are sad moments. It’s rewarding; it’s frustrating.
“I still enjoy it. The key to it is being around good people.”
Moran, who owns three new-car dealerships, including Moran Chevrolet in Clinton Township, has more than a casual interest in racing.
He and long-time buddy Dick Barker, who used to race Moran’s cars, are the owner/crew chief combination for the Moran Automotive Chevrolet that Jiovani drove to a second consecutive ARCA Gold Cup series championship last weekend.
Moran Chevrolet is the sponsor of the late model division at Flat Rock Speedway.
On Saturday, the company raised its involvement with three bonus awards during the biggest late model race of the season at the quarter-mile oval.
Moran Chevy gave a set of Hoosier racing tires to the winner of a drawing, which turned out to be Stan Yee Memorial 150 runner-up Jimmy Thiel; a $100 bonus to the fastest qualifier, eventual race winner Brian Bergakker, and Bergakker collected the $50 Hard Charger award for his efforts in the race.
Scott Schultz, the general manager at Flat Rock, said Moran’s involvement is part of grassroots racing’s life-blood.
“It’s the same here as at every track; we couldn’t do it without sponsorship,” Schultz said. “Pat has been involved with us for about 10 years, and to have someone with us for that long has been wonderful.
“His sponsorship allows us to take things to another level, let’s us do things for the teams and the fans that we otherwise couldn’t do. We’re grateful to have a guy like Pat.”
Moran has been involved in auto racing for about 40 years. As a teenager, he worked on cars at the Mount Clemens Race Track – “I spent a lot of time there,” he said — but had to step aside when he got into the auto sales business.
In the mid-1980s, he got back into the sport as a car owner and eventually paired with Barker, who gave up driving race cars several years ago but is part of the Moran Automotive service staff.
Jiovani won the Gold Cup race that was on the half-mile track at Toledo Speedway, and he clinched the championship with a fourth-place finish in the Yee memorial, the fourth and final leg of the series.
Jiovani is fourth in the ARCA Moran Chevrolet Late Model points standings at Flat Rock.
“If you can come out here and have a good time and everybody works hard – that’s all that matters,” Moran said.
“We’ve been blessed. We’ve got some great sponsors. They’re loyal, and they’re back every year. That’s what gets us here.”
Moran owns a Chevrolet dealership in Fort Gratiot and a Buick/GMC store in Taylor. He also has two body shops, including the Moran Collision Center in Clinton Township.
His son Brian runs the dealerships, while Pat focuses on construction and remodeling of the 10 buildings the company owns.
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “We’ve got three stores and 300 happy employees – I hope.”
Some of the employees work on the race cars, including mounting tires and painting, and they take pride in the team’s success, Moran said.
“It’s a great morale booster,” Moran added. “The commitment of the guys in the organization has made this happen.”
Jiovani has won four late model feature races since he started racing for Moran in 2013. His next shot at another Flat Rock victory comes Aug. 18 on championship night at the track.
“You don’t always win,” Moran said. “They call it racin,’ not winnin.’
“We come out here basically with the thought that for every race we can be in the hunt. The level of talent in the pits here is amazing.
“There are some really good drivers and some really good cars.”
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