LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA- Irwindale (CA) Speedway Super Late Model star Thomas "Rip" Michels will once again move his racing career up a notch in 2004 when he'll run the complete fourteen race schedule on the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division Southwest Series, beginning this January at the Phoenix (AZ) International Speedway.
  The 38 year old Mission Hills, CA racer has won three championships in the past four years, including the 2002 and 2003 Irwindale Super Late Model title in addition to a 2000 Grand American Modified championship. Michels also had a Grand American Modified championship in 1997 at Mesa Marin (CA) Speedway in Bakersfield.
  In addition to Michels winning the Irwindale title in 2003, he also picked up the NASCAR Dodge Racing Sunbelt Region championship. Michels recently took his wife,

Laurie and his race crew to the NASCAR banquet in Nashville, TN where he was honored for his efforts.
  "I'm very excited about the opportunity to race in this very competitive series," said Michels, who has won nineteen SLM events at Irwindale in the past two seasons. "When we go to Phoenix next month, it'll be like playing baseball at Dodger Stadium for the first time."
  Michels and car owner Lee Ladd will have sponsorship support from Cell Charge Processing of Las Vegas and 1st Med, Chicago, IL. Ladco Leasing of Thousand Oaks, CA is also assisting in the Michels Racing program. A major sponsor will be announced very soon
  "With the new sponsorship in place, it looks very positive," said Ladd, who owns Ladco Leasing. "I'm certainly looking forward to how we stack up against an already stellar field. It should be fun." Michels and Ladd have been together since 1999. In that time period, they've never finished any lower than second in points making them a very potent team. Michels will have long time crew chief Roger Theobald in his corner once again. The combination has been explosive at Irwindale.
  "We're going to stick with the same crew we've had," said Michels. "It's been very successful for us in the past and we feel that it'll work for us now."
  "It has been one of my goals to race in this series," explains Michels. "Everything has been going well in the last few years and Lee wanted to move up. We're ready to show everyone what we can do."
  Michels has raced against several of the regulars on the NASCAR AutoZone Elite, Southwest Division in the past.
  "Racing at Irwindale Speedway has it's advantages and a lot of the drivers that run the series now on a regular basis have also raced at Irwindale."
  Michels spent the early part of his career racing at the now-defunct Saugus (CA) Speedway, where he was never a champion, but was competitive and learned how to race. After Saugus Speedway closed in 1995, he moved on to Mesa Marin, where he was third in Grand American Modified points in 1996. He took the year off in 1998 before teaming up with Ladd a year later.
  Rip is an Ironworker by trade. He will continue to race Irwindale Speedway's high competitive Super Late Model division when his NASCAR Autozone Elite Division Southwest Series schedule allows him. Rip will start the season with a 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, but the team is also building a new car for it's 2004 effort.
 One on one interviews with Rip Michels are available by calling David Roberts at 716-743-8511.