MICHELS: `THE MAIN GUY'?Byline: Tim Haddock Auto Racing When Rip Michels of Mission Hills begins the 2000 Grand American For sports car racing association formed in 1999, see . Grand American was a NASCAR sanctioned series of pony car stock cars. The series ran from 1968 until 1971. The series was sometimes called the Baby Grand series. Modified season March 25 at Irwindale Speedway Irwindale Speedway is a motorsports facility located in Irwindale, California. It features banked, paved 1/2 and 1/3 mile oval tracks. It is mainly used for USAC sprint car and regional NASCAR races. , he'll have one less car to chase. The runner-up in the 1999 Grand Am standings at Irwindale is looking to win his first points title since 1997, when he won the Grand Am title at Mesa Marin Raceway Mesa Marin Raceway was a high banked half mile racetrack in Bakersfield, California that was demolished following the 2005 racing season to make way for housing developments in the foothills of northeast Bakersfield. in Bakersfield. Now that Irwindale's 1999 Grand Am champion Larry Krieger has moved on to the NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Featherlite Southwest Series, Michels looks like the heir apparent heir apparent n. the person who is expected to receive a share of the estate of a family member if he/she lives longer, or is not specifically disinherited by will. (See: heir) to the Irwindale Speedway crown. But just because the 1999 king of Grand Ams is gone does not mean the crown will be handed over to Michels without a fight. And the 34-year-old Michels knows that all too well. ``You never know who's going to be the main guy to beat,'' said Michels, a graduate of Cleveland High in Reseda. ``Larry did a good job. But I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. who's going to be the main guy this year. I just hope it's us.'' A mix of bad luck and freak accidents kept Michels, 34, from winning the points title in 1999 for team owner Lee Ladd. In one race, Michels crashed with the track ambulance. ``I completely totaled it,'' Michels said about the ambulance. ``Well, maybe not totaled, but it was in the shop for a few weeks.'' Despite the bad luck, Michels managed to win seven races in 1999 - four more than Krieger. But Krieger, a 34-year-old from Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. , consistently finished in the top five on his way to the points title. As for Krieger, he is focusing full time on the Southwest Series, even though he toyed with the idea of running both the touring division and the Grand Am season at Irwindale. ``I wish I could've run 'em both,'' Krieger said. ``I wanted to go back and defend my championship, but there were too many conflicts. Now I'm considering selling the (Grand Am) car. The (Southwest Series) car owner has great plans, but it's up to him exactly what those plans are. We've been working well together. He is taking it as far as he can. He has Winston Cup in mind.'' The team owner of Krieger's Southwest Series Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (môNtā` kärlō`), town (1982 pop. 13,150), principality of Monaco, on the Mediterranean Sea and the French Riviera. is Clarence Broussard, and is sponsored by Clarence Broussard and Associates. Broussard and Krieger started their racing relationship in an unusual manner. Krieger owned an auto shop in Chatsworth and Broussard was one of his customers. When Krieger decided to start racing, Broussard said he wanted to be a part of it. ``It was one of those deals that happen when you're not looking,'' Krieger said. ``It was kind of like when I met my wife.'' Their first year of Southwest Series racing is off to a slow start. In the series' first race at Phoenix International Raceway Phoenix International Raceway, or just PIR, is a one mile tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It opened in 1964, as the new home of major open-wheel racing in the Phoenix area, replacing the track at the Arizona State Fairgrounds as an automobile racing venue. last month, Krieger didn't qualify in a record-setting field of entrants that included NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Winston West and touring division drivers. The next race on the Southwest Series schedule is March 24 at Mesa Marin Raceway. --Washout: Rain washed out opening night racing at Ventura Raceway on Saturday. Weather pending, the season will open at Ventura on Saturday night with VRA VRA Visual Resources Association VRA Voting Rights Act of 1965 VRA Volta River Authority VRA Veterans Recruitment Appointment VRA Virginia Recycling Association VRA Volunteer Rescue Association ( Australia) VRA Voice Risk Analysis Sprints, IMCA Modifieds, Street Stocks and CDCRA CDCRA California Dwarf Car Racing Association Dwarf Cars. Gates open at 5 p.m. Prelims start at 6:30 p.m. and racing starts at 7 p.m. --Hornaday has early lead: Ron Hornaday Jr. is the top rookie in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series with his second consecutive top-10 finish. Hornaday, of Palmdale, passed Jay Sauter and leads the rookie standings by 10 points. Former NASCAR Winston West and Craftsman Truck Series driver Kevin Harvick of Bakersfield is third in the rookie standings with 27 points, 12 behind Hornaday. Hornaday finished eighth in his Chevy Monte Carlo in the Sam's Town 300 in Las Vegas on Saturday. He also moved into third place in the drivers points standings, behind leader Matt Kenseth, who has 473 points, and Randy LaJoie, with 414. Hornaday has 384. But Hornaday isn't taking time to celebrate his early success. ``This is a big series and there are lots of races left,'' Hornaday said. ``I'm pleased to be in third, but our goal is to win races and to finish in the top 10 every week. The championship is our long-term goal. But it's better to be in third than in last.'' The next race on the Busch Series is at Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a superspeedway in Hampton, Georgia, twenty miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It is a 1.54-mile (2.48 km) quad-oval track with a seating capacity of over 125,000. It opened in 1960 as a 1.5 mile standard oval. on Saturday for the Aaron's 312. Hornaday won an ARCA event at Atlanta Motor Speedway in November and is looking forward to returning. ``I'm excited to be back,'' Hornaday said. ``I like our chances.'' |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion