Originally published June 2016

RELATED STORY - BUCHER MAKES TOP FUEL DEBUT

There was a point in Mike Bucher's life when every day was Father's Day. Now he lives it in another way. 

Bucher, son of former NHRA Top Fuel racer Jim Bucher,  started going to the drag races with his father when he was three years old. Next weekend, after a 38-year scenario filled with persistence and passion, he will honor his father and fulfill a dream. 

To understand Bucher's destination, one must see how the journey began. 

"I idolized my dad, I worshiped him," said Bucher. "I think about how a little boy looks up to his Dad. I was that in an extreme; I looked at him like Superman wearing his fire suit and the helmet on getting in the dragster."

As if the moment inspired the Harry Chapin song 'Cat's in the Cradle', Bucher said to himself many times over and over, "I'm gonna be like you, Dad. You know I'm gonna be like you."

Bucher was going to be like his dad, racing Top Fuel and with a Chevrolet engine. 

Bucher can never forget the phone call home with the news his dad had won the NHRA Summernationals in Englishtown, NJ. 

Jim returned to his West Chester, Ohio home, but shortly afterward began feeling under the weather, and was admitted to the hospital with symptoms of pneumonia. However, what he had wasn't pneumonia.

In fact, doctors had no idea what was going on with Jim. 

Jim continued to race, but clearly the practice was an overwhelming challenge. He reached the finals of the 1976 Gatornationals and shortly afterward, stepped aside and appointed Ted Wolf to drive for him. 

Bucher and his siblings were shielded from their father's illness. 

"He felt pain head to toe," Bucher explained. "They couldn't find a reason, except maybe it was all in his head and he should seek a psychiatrist. But, we had no idea what was going on."

Two years after his most famous victory, Jim Bucher died from an illness doctors couldn't even diagnose until he'd passed. At 15 years old, Bucher still plays out the worst day of his life, but only when prompted. 

"He died when he was 37, and there is no way you can describe the emptiness; I ran from one end of the house screaming ‘no," Bucher said. "I was empty, crying, afraid and I was very angry. It’s the worst feeling ever."

In a twist of irony, Jim died on July 7, 1977, two years to the date he won his only national event. 

Fast-forward to 39 years later, Bucher, 54, and now a Pastor will drive an A/Fuel Dragster for Anthony DiCero thanks to sponsorship from BA Sweeties Candy (Tom Scheiman) and Master Pizza (Brian Corradi).

"Somebody explained to me let Jesus into my heart, which I did, and peace and a life with joy came to me that changed me forever," said Bucher. "What I discovered was the Bible says, ‘God is a Father to the widows." 

"He has been that for me for 38 years, he’s had a plan for me as far as being a Pastor, but in the back of my mind, I always thought he’d give me this opportunity. I’ve stayed healthy and in the last few months, it’s come together. After all of these years, I finally got my license.”

If one of Bucher's sponsors looks familiar, the same Brian Corradi who owns Master Pizza is the same one who, along with Mark Oswald, has tuned Antron Brown to two NHRA Top Fuel championships. 

Corradi sponsored a trip through Frank Hawley's drag racing school for the novice driver. The natural progression took him through an A/Fuel Dragster licensing process through DiCero, one of the foremost authorities on the injected nitro cars. 

"I asked God to help me; my fear of hitting the gas, peeing my pants and not be able to do this," Bucher admitted. "I didn’t know how I’d react to a car like that. I asked God to give me a gift to drive. When I was in the car, I prayed and asked the Lord, 'I want to have your presence like I do at church, and all I can say is I felt like I did it my whole life."

Driving a race car is probably one of the easiest tasks Bucher has experienced in life. He and wife Shiela have 14 kids, seven grandchildren, soon to be eight. He's also participated in triathlons and Iron Man competitions. 

Bucher was original scheduled to drive DiCero's car at the NHRA divisional event in Norwalk, but a rainout of another divisional event in Indianapolis and moved over to Norwalk meant the original driver Krista Baldwin would have to drive the car. 

Bucher believes a measure of divine intervention moved this opportunity to a week after Father's Day. 

"On the day I got my license, I was driving to the track when a song by Chris Tomlin came on the radio, it’s called You’re a Good, Good Father. It’s literally just telling how good God is. A long time ago, I had this dream that was so real, and I was sitting in a dragster, strapped in and I had tears rolling down my face and I felt God’s grace. 

"I’ve known all along that at some point, he’d let me do this. When I heard that song, I just felt like God said, for 38 years I’ve laid this down, I’ve served in the ministry, and now here he’s letting me do this. It’s a gift, and I feel like God is good; not everything happens the way we want it, I wouldn’t have chosen to have my Dad die, but the Bible says, ‘All things run together for the good, meaning God had a good plan, and my dream was not just driving a dragster; it was using a dragster to pull people to the Lord. That’s the dream.”

Next week Bucher will give thanks for the best of both worlds, his earthly father, and his heavenly one.