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MONSTER BITES
MITCHELL
DOVER, DE (Sept. 20)..... West Virginia driver Richard Mitchell
now knows
first hand why they refer to Dover International Speedway as the
"Monster
Mile".
The high banked, one mile concrete surface, oval reached out and
bit the
two-time NASCAR Northeast region Weekly Racing Series champion
Friday
afternoon as he was attempting to qualify for the MBNA
All-American Heroes
200 NASCAR BUSCH Series event.
Coming off turn four to take the first of his two qualifying
laps, Mitchell's
Coach USA / Mountaineer Gaming / West Virginia "Wild and
Wonderful" Chevrolet
Monte Carlo made hard contact with the turn four retaining wall,
resulting in
severe right side damage to the car.
The West Virginia University graduate continued with the run,
turning in a
time of 24.963 (144.213 MPH), despite the fact that the rear
suspension was
knocked out of alignment, sheet metal was cutting into the rear
tire, and the
entire cockpit of car was filled with smoke.
"I'm really mad at myself," Mitchell said, "I was trying to get
everything
out of the car for a good run and the thing just got away from
me coming off
(turn) four. NASCAR dictated sticker-tires for qualifying, and
it was a lot
slicker out there in the afternoon heat than I anticipated. We
only missed
the race by nine-tenths of a second with a beat-up and bent race
car."
"I would give anything to have that lap back," Mitchell
lamented, "I feel bad
for the crew.... those guys worked their tails off all day to
get us
competitive. By the end of morning practice we were pretty
good."
Mitchell and the Coach USA team will chalk Dover up to
experience, as they
set their sights on upcoming ARCA RE/MAX Series races at the
Talladega
Superspeedway (Oct. 5) and Lowe's Motor Speedway (Oct. 10).
Mitchell
finished fifth in his last two appearances at both ovals, and is
looking
forward to similar performances.
"I have had good runs at both tracks," Mitchell concluded, "and
I'm looking
forward to running the ARCA car at Talladega. Running flat-out
at 200 MPH is
a rush."
Mitchell's final NASCAR BUSCH Series race will come at the North
Carolina
Speedway (Rockingham) on Nov. 2.
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