Saturday, April 18, 1998

Spreading gospel and slinging mud in fast lane excites 'Flying Preacher'

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"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." -- John 3:16.

------ By LEE ANDERSON Wichita Falls Times Record News

WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- The Rev. Mike Rucker likes to get down and dirty when he's spreading the gospel.

Occasionally, there are a few bumps and bruises -- and even a mud bath -- along the way.

That's what usually happens when he flashes by -- not from the pulpit -- in 316.

But that's life in the fast lane for the "Flying Preacher."

Rucker is a race-car driver and 316 (for John 3:16) is the number on his race car. And dirt tracks throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska serve as his pulpit when he's not ministering to the congregation at his church, Bible Baptist in Wichita Falls.

"I like going fast and all the contact with the public at the tracks. It gives me the opportunity to talk about the Lord from a different aspect," Rucker said.

Rucker, who said he picked up the nickname "Flying Preacher" at the race tracks, was pastor of Central Baptist Church in Bowie in 1982 when four members of the church (David Richey, Don Rickey, Ronnie Fowler and Ricky Fowler) coaxed him into traveling to Wichita Falls to watch them race stock cars.

"I went and then I started watching them and working on the car some," he recalled. "One night David asked me to hot lap (warm up) his car."

Rucker insisted it was too muddy.

Then he decided to give racing a try.

"I got banged around a lot at first," he said.

Soon afterwards, Rucker's brother Eddie, of Wichita, Kan., gave him an old 1972 Chevy Monte Carlo that he converted into a race car.

He then moved to Cheney, Kan., where he became pastor of Cheney Baptist Church. The following week, he was herding the car (also 316) around the track in the street stock division.

Rucker then tabled racing until 1985. That's when he and his brother started racing late-model cars at 81 Speedway in Wichita.

Success came quick. He won the rookie of the year crown, and in 1986, he finished seventh in points at the track.

The family then moved to Lancaster, Texas. The itch to race surfaced again, and he soon was behind the wheel, banging fenders at the race track at Belemede and in Wichita Falls. Then there was another hiatus from racing.

When the family moved to Wichita Falls in 1993, he couldn't stay away from Col C's race track. But, as luck would have it, the track soon shut down.

Just last year he built a car and headed for the NCRA late-model circuit, which has races in nearby states. His wife, Sherrie, and members of Bible Baptist Church serve as his pit crew.

If he is able to obtain a major sponsor, Rucker said he plans to race in 15 events this season, which kicks off next month and runs through October.

"There won't be a conflict with the church schedule," he said. "We plan our church calendar first, then we look at the race calendar."

At many of the tracks, Sherrie sings the national anthem.

"Sherrie is my No. 1 fan," Rucker said. They have three children and a grandchild: Michael, 24; Matt, 21; Marlene, 18; and 4-year-old Diamond.

His ministry at the tracks started when he was asked to pray before the races and at special functions. That led to brief services on Sundays while at the track. Most of his racing is done on Fridays and Saturdays.

"I would like to keep preaching at the tracks. It is an open opportunity to reach people," he said. "I have led several drivers to the Lord."

Rucker usually has 100 to 150 people attend the services at the tracks.

His race-track ministry will get a big shot in the arm on April 24 when he will be featured in a TNN television special at a demolition derby in Wichita. He was one 60 people nationwide picked to drive.

"I was surfing the TV channels with my remote when I saw where TNN was having a ÔSlam-a-rama,' " he said. "After I was picked to race, they also chose me for a TV interview. I am scheduled to meet with them the week before the race. We are doing the story at a junkyard in Wichita.

"I was hesitant at first. But I decided it was good exposure for me and the church. They said they've never had a preacher do anything like this."

He will be driving a 1978 Ford LTD, donated by Parnell Chrysler. And Kevin's Body Shop has offered to put a custom paint job on the car.

"I asked TNN if I could have 316 as the number, and they said no because they were assigning numbers to all the cars," Rucker said. "I got goose bumps when I found out that they had assigned me the number 31. It will have the number 6 on there somewhere. You can't convince me the Lord isn't in this."

Regardless of whether the "Flying Preacher" wins the derby or not, the man's on Cloud Nine just thinking about the "free national exposure" heÔll get for his church and witnessing for the Lord.

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Distributed by The Associated Press