LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA- Rip Michels of San Fernando, CA is ready to make his homecoming at Irwindale (CA) Speedway this Saturday night in the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Southwest Series. Michels will debut a brand new Victory Circle Elite chassis with his Stock Building Supply, Ladco Racing team.
      Driving the complete fourteen race schedule on the 2004 NASCAR AutoZone Elite Southwest Series, Michels will be going back to the speedway where he's won the Super Late Model championship the past two seasons. It will be the only appearance for the series at Irwindale in 2004.
      "We're really looking forward to going home to Irwindale," said Michels, who won 19 races at the speedway in the past two seasons. "We've had a lot of success there. Things are also getting better for us on the tour. We're ready to make a very good impression for our fans and our sponsors when we go onto the track."
      Michels has been improving in each of the five events thus far into the season. His last event was a fourth place finish at Stockton (CA) Speedway on Saturday, May 8th. He's currently 14th in series points and leads all rookies in the chase for rookie of the year honors.
    Michels was at the speedway last Friday night shaking down the new Victory Circle Elite car for this Saturday's 150 lap event.   "The car was extremely good for the first time out, but still needs a few finishing touches for it to be race ready. Everything on the car is brand new and it has some serious Maropulos horsepower under the hood."
      "I'd like to give the crew a lot of credit. They've work very hard and have adjusted from a weekly program last year to a series schedule. We've also been playing a lot of catch up, spending a lot of time building new cars ."
      Rip Michels is looking to get the advantage this Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway. He's certainly looking forward to making his first podium finish of 2004, possibly his first win.
      "That would be nice. I would love to win my first series race at my hometown track."
      Sponsoring Rip Michels this season is Stock Building Supply of Raleigh, North Carolina. Co-op sponsorship comes from James Hardie Siding Products, Guardian Insulation, PrimeSource Building Products and Trus Joist.
      Additional sponsorship includes Ladco Racing, Victory Circle Chassis, 1st Med, Redline Oil, Wildwood Brakes, Ringers Gloves, Orme Brothers, Quarter Master, Circle Racing Wheels, Aurua Bearings, BCSportsimages, Johnson Oil Pumps, DJ Safety, Schroeder Torsion Bars, Works of Art Johnson, Ron's Rear Ends and Maropulos Racing Engines.    

Rip would like to welcome Frank's Radio Service on board as a product Sponsor.

For more information on Rip Michels and his sponsors, visit www.ripmichels.com

Source: Dave Roberts