AT JUST 22, Bryce Micke is helping carry one of drag racing’ s most respected family names into the next generation. As a key crew member on Mark Micke’ s twin-turbo M & M Transmission’ 69 Camaro, Bryce plays a hands-on role in one of the most talked-about programs in Pro Mod. When he’ s not helping his uncle chase wins at the biggest Pro Mod events in the country, he’ s behind the wheel of his own turbocharged Top Dragster – or back home at M & M Transmission, machining, welding, and learning the business from the inside out.

“ I’ d say I’ ve wanted to do every bit of drag racing my whole life,” Micke says.“ It’ s been an addiction more than a passion. I just keep coming back for more.”

As a young boy, Micke traveled with his father, Ryan, and uncle Mark, first when Mark was running NMCA Pro Mod and later when he campaigned Jason Carter’ s iconic blue Malibu in Radial vs. the World. He got his own Jr. Dragster when he was 13 and spent three years racing that before moving up to a big car.“ We were done messing with the little car,” he laughs.“ So we bought my first Nelson car, a twin-turbo LS dragster, to run Super Comp. I followed in Mark’ s footsteps a little bit being the turbo kid.”

That first dragster earned Best Engineered honors and a Wally before he sold it to step up to Top Dragster.“ Learning to drive a turbo car and understanding what it takes to work on one has probably been my biggest accomplishment so far,” Bryce says.“ Making sure the race car is truly behind you, that your equipment’ s right – that’ s something not many people grasp right away.”

Growing up in a mechanically-minded family, Micke gravitated towards learning as much as he can about the machines he works on, whether it’ s his own race car or his uncle’ s.

“ I built the first two motors for my own cars,” he says.“ When Mark decided to build the Pro Mod, that definitely threw me into a whole new realm of working on high-horsepower billet stuff. It’ s a monster. Within the first few months, I realized that as long as you pay attention, do your due diligence, and make sure it’ s right, it’ s not so hard.”

That mentality extends to Micke’ s role at M & M Transmission in Jefferson City, Missouri.“ My day-to-day now is running a little shop with Greg Cody, who I’ ve been lucky to work with,” he explains.“ We run a single CNC machine, and I weld all the stators for M & M. I try to do anything I can to help the company grow.

“ I’ m very thankful my dad started doing hydraulic stuff when he was younger, then sold the converter business to Mark when he went to work for Boeing,” Bryce says.“ I moved into the seat of trying to rebuild some of the hydraulic stuff and keep us growing on the converter side.”

When it comes to the Pro Mod program, Micke is especially proud of what the young crew has accomplished. With a team that also includes 2022 DI 30 Under 30 honoree Damon Cole, the M & M team went on a tear qualifying No. 1 at race after race, from Mid-West Drag Racing Series competition to the inaugural Drag Illustrated Winter Series. When completing a rained-out race at the MWDRS Martin event, Micke qualified No. 1 and won both races.“ That was one of those‘ Wow, this car is an animal’ moments,” Micke says.

Micke isn’ t intimidated by the monster that is Mark’ s Pro Mod. Instead, he’ s drawn to it.“ My goal is to get into the Pro Mod within the next year,” he says.“ Mark and I kind of made a bet. He told me if I got down to 250 pounds, I could drive the Pro Mod. I was 345 when we started. Within a year, I dropped a hundred pounds. Now, I’ m definitely looking to collect on that bet.”

But first, Micke and the M & M team are moving forward with Mark in the driver’ s seat going into the Winter Series, which starts with the Snowbird Outlaw Nationals in early December and wraps up with the World Series of Pro Mod in late February.“ Our focus is making sure we’ re ready to compete with the best,” he says.“ Those races bring out legends, and to even be part of that field is something special.”

Micke has accomplished a lot at a young age, and he’ s showing no signs of slowing down. He’ s quick to point out he’ s done it all with an all-star team of mentors, from his dad, who taught him about fuel systems, to Cody, whose Pro Stock background informed Micke’ s understanding of what engines like and dislike. And, of course, there’ s Uncle Mark.

“ That man’ s given me every opportunity I could ask for,” Bryce says.“ He’ s shown me how to turn what we love into a living and how to do it the right way. I couldn’ t ask for a better teacher.” – NATE VAN WAGNEN DI

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