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MITCHELL
LOOKING FORWARD TO MICHIGAN
WAYNESBURG, PA (June 7)........... West Virginia driver Richard
Mitchell is
looking forward to returning to the Michigan Int. Speedway (MIS)
for the ARCA
RE/MAX Series Flagstar 200 on June 15.
And with good reason. The two-time NASCAR Weekly Racing Series
Northeast
Region champion finished fifth in last seasons Michigan race,
and feels that
particular contest was a key factor in making his Coach USA /
Mountaineer
Gaming / West Virginia Tourism team a key player on the ARCA
circuit.
"Finishing fifth at MIS was a big confidence builder for our
program,"
Mitchell said, "we proved to ourselves and everyone else that we
could run
upfront."
Mitchell, a West Virginia University mechanical engineering
graduate, is
coming off two top-ten ARCA runs already this season (seventh at
Daytona /
fifth at Lowe's), and would like nothing better than to ad an
MIS victory to
his resume.
"I feel we have a shot for a win at Michigan," added Mitchell,
"but our team
is competing at a bit of a disadvantage. We have split our
resources between
fielding NASCAR BUSCH and ARCA programs this year. There is no
question we
would be much stronger in the RE/MAX Series if we were
concentrating our full
efforts there. But, since we are looking to run a full NASCAR
schedule next
year we felt it was important to gain some experience in the
BUSCH Series."
According to Mitchell, success at the 2.0 mile MIS tri-oval will
depend on
two factors: a strong qualifying effort, and the ability to make
quick green
flag pit stops.
"You need to qualify up front, because MIS is prone to long
green flag runs
during the race, which makes it very difficult to make up
ground. If you
start in the middle of the pack you have a tendency to get stuck
there,"
Mitchell said. "You also seem to make more green flag pit stops
at MIS.
That's important, because it is easy to go a lap down if you
make a mistake
while pitting during a green flag situation. That happened to
us last year.
We were a third place car, but we lost a lap in the pits and
could never make
it up on the track."
"Michigan is a fun place to race," Mitchell concluded. "There
are three
different grooves a driver can select. Pick one where your car
feels the
best. I'm looking forward to going back."
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