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Rip Michels and his Stock Building Supply/Leeco Racing/ Victory
Circle Chassis Chevrolet Monte Carlo racing team capped off three
straight weekends of racing by finishing 10th in the “Napa Auto
Parts 125 & Salt Lake City Home Improvement Show Presented by
Stock Building Supply,” at the Rocky Mountain Raceway located in
Salt Lake City, Utah this past weekend.
This was the third annual visit to the great state of Utah for Rip
and the team. The annual event is a way to thank all of the great
support that the race team receives from the Stock Building Supply
Associates and Vendors located in the Utah area.
The team’s first stop on their agenda was at three local Stock
Building Supply stores in Orem, West Jordan, and Layton, Utah on
Friday for the third annual barbeque and meet and greet. The
barbecues and meet and greets have become a huge success. It is
estimated that 2,000 Stock Associates, Vendors, Customers, and
race fans attended all three locations.
The second part of the agenda for the team was to have a
competitive racecar on Saturday. Rip and the team made two of the
three practice sessions. He was 6th in practice session number
two, and 7th in the final practices. Rip and the team were not
happy with the car, and made major adjustments before qualifying.
Rip qualified 7th, but was almost a half a second slower then the
pole speed. The team continued to make adjustments to the car, and
was optimistic about their chances to be a repeat winner for this
race. Rip would start in the 13th position due to the invert, and
would line up on the 7th row inside. At the drop of the green
flag, Rip immediately started his charge to the front. By lap
four, he was in fourth, and by the 6th lap, he was in second.
Rip was content to ride in second as he and fellow AutoZone
Northwest Tour competitor Zane Sharp distanced themselves from the
rest of the field. On lap 114, a caution came out, setting up a
ten-lap dash for the win. Rip felt that he had a shot at the win
and was going to give it his all, as he said over the radio.
Unfortunately, a mechanical gremlin developed on the restart, and
the car did not come up to speed. Rip tried to get out of the way
of the field, but contact was made and Rip was spun into the
infield. Rip rejoined the field on the tail end and salvaged a
tenth place finished.
“ I am a little disappointed about our finish for the 2,500 Stock
Associates, Vendors, Employees and Fans that had come to support
us,” said Rip “But I am especially disappointed for my team, those
guys changed everything but the number on the car. In the end,
they gave me a great car that was capable of winning. Their hard
work gave us a shot at the win.”
“ I want to personally thank Duff Wakefield, Fritz Froerer, Dan
Buttars, Carl Truman, Matt Quarnberg, and all of the rest of the
Stock Building Supply Associates for their kind hospitality that
they showed to the team and myself. We really enjoy coming here to
Utah, and always have a great time. With 5,000 people in the
stands, a great response to the first annual Home Improvement show
in Utah, this was a huge success for all involved,” commented Rip
Rip’s next event will be the season’s final race for the NASCAR
AutoZone Elite Southwest Division at Altamont Raceway on September
23, 2006.
For more information about Rip Michels and his sponsors, please
visit www.ripmichels.com
Source: LRM Sports Marketing, Inc. |
