New Lenox's Lanigan reaches ‘top of the hill’
Southland businessman fulfills lifelong pursuit as car owner of Indy 500 winner
During a phone conversation the other day, Mike Lanigan told me a little bit of history about himself and the Indianapolis 500.
“I’ve been to 46 Indy 500s in a row,” Lanigan said.
“I’ve been a sponsor or team owner for 28 for them, trying to win this thing.”
The history lesson ended there. “I’m not going to tell you my age,” Lanigan said, laughing.
I didn’t press the issue. We had too many other fun things to talk about.
The New Lenox resident finally got his crown jewel as a car owner on Aug. 23 when Takuma Sato won the Indy 500. Another of Lanigan’s cars, driven by Graham Rahal, finished third.
Lanigan had quite a scramble to celebrate in victory lane at the famed Brickyard.
“Wewere allowed to bring six customers per race team and they were up in one of the suites,” Lanigan said. “Myself andmy brother Jack sat at the team bus inside the track in the parking lot and quite frankly watched it on TV.
“With five minutes to go, we jumped in a golf cart and met Takuma at the podium. Itwas an exciting ride, that’s for sure.”
But not until some apprehension. Lanigan’s third driver, Spencer Pigot, was involved in a horrendous crash just six laps from the finish.
“A bad hit,” Lanigan said. “Thankfully, he’s fine. If you looked at that accident, it’s amazing hewalked away fromit. Thank God for the softwalls and that cars today are a lot safer.”
Lanigan has been partners with Bobby Rahal and David Letterman— yes, the David Letterman— since 2010.
During his racing career, Rahal was a three-time Indy car champion and an Indy 500 champion in 1986.
He knows a winner when he sees one in Lanigan.
“To see him as happy as hewas after the race, and see him sharing this victory with his family, was such a thrill for me,” Rahal said. “He is a tremendous partner
and friend. He is a super smart guy and is so unbelievably respected within the business communities that he’s involved with.
“I really was lucky that he decided to come along withme and David because his contributions and the intelligence he’s provided us as a team have been fundamental to our success.”
Before joining Rahal and Letterman, Laniganwas a member of Newman/Haas/Lanigan
Racing. He started his career as an owner with Conquest Racing.
Lanigan, who’s the president of Hazel Crest-based Mi-Jack Products, is pretty much a lifer as an Indy car enthusiast.
It all started with Tony Bettenhausen.
“Iwas a big fan of the Bettenhausen family,” Lanigan said. “I was born and raised in Dolton, and when Iwas a kid, they used to have the race on the radio. The
Bettenhausens were a big deal on the South Side, and I always dreamed about going to the 500.
“When Iwas 19 or 20 I went to my first one. It’s a spectacle, when you have 400,000 people at the track in one day, and the enthusiasm and the excitement and the anticipation. It’s pretty special when they say, ‘Gentlemen, start your engines.’”
Although this year, those words brought an echo in the empty grandstands.
“Itwas definitely different,” Lanigan said. “Itwas very disappointing thatwe couldn’t have the fans there, but on the same token itwas very well watched on TV, and itwas amazing howmany emails and text messages I got. I wouldn’t trade that in for anything.
“I just told my team thatwe have to do it again next year when all of the fans are there.”
And family, too.
“My family has always been competitive in business,” Lanigan said. “We’ve been very fortunate to have some very successful companies. Winning the Indy 500 is a crown jewel the family has always dreamed about.
“We never gave up and kept on pushing for it. It’s one of the hills we’ve wanted to climb. Nowthat we’re at the top of the hill, we want to stay there.”