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7-7-2000
Michels Motor Might be Marked
Tim Haddock's weekly column
There's a rule in NASCAR Grand American Modified racing at
Irwindale Speedway that says any car finishing on the lead lap
of a feature race can claim the motor of any driver finishing in
the top four.
After Rip Michels of Mission Hills won his fifth race in a row
Saturday night, he should be worried that someone might
actually put that rule to use.
Frustrations are already running high. After the Grand Am
trophy dash, which Michels won as well, rival driver Dean
Kuhn of Oceanside made an aggressive dive to cut off Michels
and beat him to pit row. Maybe Kuhn was just trying to beat
Michels at something.
Later in the pits, other drivers were hinting, some even teasing,
that they might claim Michels' motor one night.
But Michels takes the teasing and the talk in stride.
"I can't worry about it," Michels said. "And I assume it will
happen at the end of every race."
Michels said it already happened to him once. While racing at
Mesa Marin in Bakersfield, a fellow Grand Am driver claimed
his motor after a race. In accordance with the rule, Michels got
the other's driver motor and $750 in exchange for his motor.
The next race, Michels said, he had little problem finding and
passing that other driver.
"It's a weird deal, but it works," Michels said. "It keeps us
from spending too much."
That's the bottom line for the rule: to keep teams and drivers
from putting tens of thousands of dollars into an engine and
blowing everyone else away. With the possibility of losing an
engine at the end of every race, the teams and drivers try to
make competitive engines without breaking the bank.
On average, a Grand Am Modified engine can run from $4,000
to $6,000. A NASCAR Late Model engine costs around
$10,000. And some of the Super Late Model engines can run
higher than $20,000. As a result, teams that want to spend
$10,000 or $20,000 on an engine move up in class rather than
risk losing it at the Grand Am level.
So in a class that seems to have found a way to self-police its
competitiveness, how can Michels have five wins in a row and
dominate the division?
"I've never done that before," Michels said about winning five
straight. "Everything is clicking. Everything is going our way.
And my wife's birthday (which was Saturday night) -- that's
incentive, too."
Source: Los Angeles Daily News 7-7-2000
edition
Posted: 9/7/00 |
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