History – Mike Naake started racing late models in the early 1980’s along with serving as a crew member on a NASCAR Winston West Series team. He went on to provide race team management/arrive and drive services for late models, NASCAR Pro West Series and NASCAR Truck series. He later acquired his own NASCAR K&N and Late Model teams and continued to provide arrive and drive services. He later shifted to specialize in working with young racers through his driver advancement program. In early 2019 Mike Naake and Tom Klauer Motorsports formalized their partnership to expand their assets and update their NASCAR K&N Pro West Series equipment allowing them to offer top quality service & equipment in their driver advancement program.
Tom Klauer, a highly successful businessman and a part-time racer, explains why the “all-in-one” approach that the team is taking is a necessary one. “It is a time savings. A young racer doesn’t have a lot of time to waste. It saves time on gelling with new teammates and it saves money because they don’t have to go through a month or two in a new car with new people when they go to the next step. The momentum they carry over from the last step just keeps building. It’s like adding two or three months of progress to the program instead of interrupting forward progress while the driver gets on the same page with a new team.”
Naake - Klauer Motorsports (NKM) is well known for helping young racers learn to win on and off the track. The future is bright at NKM as our success is what fuels our high demand as we prepare for the 2021 season. NKM offers a ladder of progression that begins with the 51 FIFTY Jr Late Model Series, where NKM has won three championships, 2017 & 2018 with Jesse Love and 2019 with Joey Iest. Drivers have the opportunity to advance their careers while racing under the same leadership at NKM. These series include the new 2021 West Coast Traveling Pro Late Model Series as well as the established SRL Southwest Tour Super Late Model Series, and the ARCA Menard's West Series. NKM also provides opportunities to test or race in the Trans-AM TA2 Series for drivers that want to expand their circle track skills to include road racing.
Race Car Inventory: Staff:
• 6 - Pro Late Model/Jr. Late Models • 12 Employees
• 2 - ARCA Cars • In-House Fabrication Department
• 2 - Super Late Model/SRL Cars • In-House Shock Department
• 2 - Haulers
• 2 - Trans AM TA2 Cars
Driver Comments:
“Mike and the whole Naake-Klauer team have taught me literally every single thing I know about stock car racing,” he stated. “Without them, I wouldn’t even know how to start the thing. The whole team they have is one of the best I’ve ever seen in my life. Not only are they supportive but they are always professional. Everyone on the team has a job and they do it 100% all the time. Mike is always there for not only me but everyone on the team and he knows how to get the most out of his drivers. Mike is tough on me but he’s fair and that’s what you need when you’re learning. He’s the reason why I love late model racing so much. I’m really looking forward to racing with them again this year.”
Jesse Love
Mike Naake
Tom Klauer
