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Rip Michels and the Stock Building Supply/Ladco Racing/Victory
Circle Chevrolet racing team headed to Phoenix International
Raceway for the last points race of the season on Nov 4th 2004.
The team was looking forward to going back to this track and
having another top ten finish. Unfortunately, with the primary car
still being fixed from the crash at Mesa Marin, the team elected
to go with the backup car.
Going into this event, Rip only needed to start the race to capture
the 2004 AutoMeter Rookie of the year title and finish 38th or
better to maintain his points position in the top ten. By
accomplishing this, Rip and the team would be invited to the
second annual Toyota All-Star Showdown. This race brings the top
ten teams in the four Elite divisions of NASCAR from across the
country. They will compete against each other in a nationally
televised race from Irwindale Speedway.
The team struggled most of the day in practice to get the car up to
speed. During qualifying, Rip was the last car to make it on time
with a qualifying lap of 28.385. That placed him 35th on the
starting grid. Rip worked his way up to the 16th position but the
car had a problem during a routine pit stop, which caused him to
lose two laps. He ended up finishing in the 22nd position.
The 22nd place finish was good enough to move Rip up two positions
in the final season’s points battle to seventh. “ We were not
really expecting to light the world on fire with this car this
weekend,” said Rip. “We brought this car here in January for the
first race of the season but we never got it dialed in. We wanted
to save our best equipment for the All-Star Showdown.”
Rip finished off the year with 1 top five, 7 top tens and was the
leading rookie of the race 9 out of 14 times this season. “ The
rookie of the year award was one of the goals that we wanted to
accomplish. It was a great battle with Nick Lynch and his crew
chief Junior Joiner. They were always competitive and it brought
our team to a new level of competition. I would like to thank
NASCAR and the great people from AutoMeter for this prestigious
award,” said Rip.
Rip and the team will be heading to the Toyota All-Star Showdown at
Irwindale Speedway this weekend, which is their home track. Rip
holds three championships at the famed California track and is
also the leading main event winner for the track with 39
victories.
Rip was asked about his chances for this upcoming race, “These 40
teams are the best of the best. Just to be competitive would be
nice. We feel confident that we will have a good run. We led the
most laps here in May but had a brake problem with 10 laps to go.
I know that the guys on this team will give me a great car and
hopefully with a little luck, we can put it in victory lane,” said
Rip.
Rip Michels and his team would like to thank all of their sponsors,
Rick Smith, Stock Building Supply, Lee Ladd, Ladco Racing, Craig
and Les at Victory Circle Chassis, Ron’s Rear Ends, James Hardie
Siding Products, Trust Joist, Prime Source, Guardian Building
Products, Quarter Master, Red Line Oil, BCSportsimages, Art and
Lori Johnson-Works of Art Johnson, Orme Brothers, 1st Med, Wilwood
Disc Brakes, DJ Safety, Aurora Bearing Company, Johnsons High Tech
Performance, Schroder Torsion Bars, Circle Racing Wheels, Frank’s
Radio Service, Maropulos Racing Engines, and to our favorite
Outback Steakhouse buddy.
With out all the above-mentioned people, we at Rip Michels racing
would not be able to live out our dreams. All have contributed to
our dreams, and we cannot thank them enough.
For more information about Rip Michels and his sponsors, please visit
www.ripmichels.com
Source by: LRM Sports Marketing, Inc. |
