|
 With temperatures well into the 100’s, the teams from the Nascar
AutoZone Elite Southwest Division series came together to compete
in the “AutoZone 100” at the famous Stockton 99 Speedway located
in Stockton, California.
For Rip Michels and his Stock Building Supply/Ladco Racing/Victory
Circle Chassis Chevrolet Monte Carlo racing team, Stockton has
been a thorn in their side. “We just have not had very good race
cars here at this track,” said Boyd “Chip” Brown Jr. “Although we
had two top ten finishes in four starts, including our team’s
first top five in this division, we just never had a good balance
on the car, and the car was never consistent. We were either to
tight, or way, way to loose.”
The team knew that they needed to make the car more consistent for
this race. Having a slim ten point lead in the championship, the
goal was to make the car more competitive. So Rip and the team
worked hard on the set up, and with help from Mike Naake of Naake
Suspension Specialists, Rip and the team went with a very
aggressive set up, far less conventional then they have tried
before.
The result was a very fast racecar. Rip and the team unloaded the
car for Friday’s practice session, and it was clear that the hard
work of the team had paid off. Rip set the fastest lap in Friday’s
practice session and was clocked in a lap time of 13.680, some
three tenths quicker then Rip had ever run before at this track.
The car was well balanced and very consistent.
On Saturday the team made some final adjustments to the car and
felt very confident that they would have a good car for both
qualifying and the race. The team was not disappointed as Rip set
the fastest time in qualifying with a lap time of 13.691. The lap
was good enough to capture Rip’s and the team’s second career Bud
Pole.
Rip drew an eight for the inversion and would start the race in the
eight position fourth row outside. At the drop of the green flag,
Rip took a conservative approach to the race and ran in the
seventh position for the first part of the race. With 25 laps to
go Rip made his charge and got up to the fourth position where he
would finish the night.
“The inverts have been a blessing and a curse for us, it seems that
when we qualify around the tenth position, we get the invert to go
our way. When we qualify really good the inversion goes against
us,” commented Rip
“It is awful hard to pass cars on a ¼ mile track like Stockton, you
have to be very careful not to get caught up in someone else’s
wreck. I really wanted to be conservative, and it seems to have
paid off. We had a good racecar, and I am pleased with our
performance, I am just glad to have gotten out of there with the
car in one piece.”
The fourth place finish gave Rip enough points to maintain his
point lead in the Championships, but it drew the competition even
closer. Rip has a five-point lead over Eddy McKean and a six-point
lead over Eric Holmes.
The next race for the Nascar AutoZone Elite Southwest Division
series will be on August 12, 2006 for the second annual “Stock
Building Supply 150 and Home Improvement Show” at Irwindale
Speedway.
For more information on Rip Michels and his sponsors, please visit
www.ripmichels.com
Source by: LRM Sports Marketing, Inc. |
