|
 Rip
Michels and his Stock Building Supply/ Ladco Racing / Victory
Circle Chevrolet captured its first top five of the season at race
number six of the 2005 AutoZone Elite Southwest Division race this
past Saturday night at Irwindale Speedway.
The car was extremely fast and Rip set the fastest practices times in
both Friday and Saturday’s practice sessions. Rip ran a 17.81 on
Friday night, and then backed it up with an 18.339 in the first
practice session on Saturday, then ran an 18.110 in the second
session.
“We really thought we had a good shot for the pole,” said Rip. “We were
really fast but the car was a bit on the free side so we tightened
the car up for qualifying and we went a little to far in the
adjustment and ended up qualifying 6th fastest at a 17.968”
The inversion on the field was drawn and the 8th fastest qualifier, Jim
Petit, was on the pole. Rip lined up on the second row inside on
the starting grid. When the Green flag dropped, Rip made his
patented move on the bottom to grab the lead by lap 2. Rip held
the lead for the next 80 laps.
“The car started to get loose around lap 70. On lap 80 I got to high in
turns three and four and the car got into the marbles, which made
the car feel like it had a rear tire going flat. Both the 03 and
the 70 were able to get by me, it took a couple of laps before the
car was back up to speed. We were content to finish third at that
point,” commented Rip.
On lap 98, a caution flag flew which bunched up the field for a green,
white, checkered finish. With the tires cooled down, Rip had two
laps to try and get his first victory. When the green flag fell,
2004 National Champion, and good friend, Greg Pursley, dove his
car to the bottom of Jim Petit. Rip stayed up in the high line in
a three-way battle for the lead. In what was the closest finish of
the year, the three multiple championship drivers displayed a
great deal of driving talent. All three of the drivers crossed the
finish line just inches apart. Rip came home third, with Pursley
second, and Petit first.
“We were a little disappointed that we couldn’t get the win, but the way
our season has been, a third is like a win. We are gaining on the
car and have been more competitive the last couple of races, so we
are excited about the rest of the year,” said Boyd “Chip” Brown
Jr., Shop Foreman.
Race number seven at Infineon Raceway will mark the halfway point of the
season for the Nascar AutoZone Elite Southwest Division. Infineon
Raceway is a 1.9-mile road course. Rip has one start at the track,
which was last year where he finished 10th. Rip gained three
positions in the points and is now in 10th place, 256 points out
of first.
For more information on Rip Michels and his sponsors, please visit
www.ripmichels.com
Source By: LRM Sports Marketing, Inc. |
