According to his parents, Mick started out racing karts at eight years old. He went on to win fifty-six times and had seven track championships. At age thirteen he moved up into Micro-Sprints and has been able to win sixteen times with two track championships in two years.
He was brought into racing by his father who's Dad (Mick's grandfather was also named Mickey.) Mick's grandfather built his own sprint car in the 1960's and made a living racing around the country. Mick's grandfather's car won over 126 times in the 60's and 70's and his driver, Gus Linder, is in the National Sprint car hall of Fame. Mick's car is painted identically as his grandfather's car was in the 1960's as a tribute to his legacy (pictured below.) Mick's grandfather died young at the age of 31 from cancer.
There are two Micro-Sprint tracks within one hour of Pittsburgh (Blanket Hill Speedway-Kittanning and Goods Raceway-Deerfield, Ohio) as well as hundreds more throughout the US. Micro-Sprints top speed averages between 70mph-80mph depending on track size and surface conditions.
According to performancracing.com,
"Micro, mini, and Lightning sprints are basically downsized sprint cars powered by motorcycle engines. But the specific terminology isn’t always precise. Mini sprints and Lightning sprints are fairly interchangeable names used to describe sprint cars that are essentially midgets powered by a 1000cc chain-drive motorcycle engine. Micro sprints are roughly half the size of a Lightning or mini, and use a 600cc chain-drive motorcycle engine."
Mrs. Banas says "A relatable name in this sport is, Kyle Larson. He is a NASCAR driver and also races full size Sprint cars. Mickey is aspiring to walk in his footsteps."
(Pictured above:): The comparison between Mick's car (present day) and his grandfather's from 1971.)