After a three-year absence from full time competition at Irwindale Speedway (IS), Rip Michels, the 2006 NASCAR Southwest Tour Champion, will be making his return to full time competition in the highly competitive Super Late Model Division this coming weekend.
Rip’s stats at Irwindale are impressive. In five years of full time competition (1999-2003) he leads all drivers with the most career victories (45), most track championships (3), not including the Miller Big 10, and the 2003 NASCAR Sunbelt Regional Championships. With so much success at the track, you would think that Rip would be a shoo-in for the championship. But for Rip and his Sunrise Ford/ Turbo-Torq/High Point Distributing/Victory Circle Ford Fusion racing team, they just don’t feel that is the case.
“I think all of us have been around this sport long enough to know you can go from the penthouse, to the outhouse in a quick minute,” stated Crew Chief John Schuetze Jr. “We know that this year’s SLM division will be one of the toughest divisions that we have competed in, and we are looking forward to the challenge.”
“Since we left in 2003, the competition has gotten a lot tougher,” said Rip Michels. “With the elimination of the tour, and there being no real desire for late model drivers to compete in the West series, there seems to be a lot of unknowns as to who will be competing at IS this year. The competition was already stout with guys like Rod Johnson, Van Knill, Chris Johnson, and Dan Moore.”
“We have heard that the 2004 SLM Champion Greg Pursley might be back, along with the 1999 SLM champion, and fellow Southwest Tour competitor, Greg Voight. Andrew Phipps, who drove for Bob Bruncati in 2005 and won the SLM championship, will also be competing. That coupled with the fact that there are some new young guns competing in the SLM division is going to make it a stellar field. All I know is that I have had to steal my step son Jesse’s X-box, and go to the Go Kart track every week just to tune up for this coming season,” commented Rip.
“We’re all glad to be back racing at Irwindale,” said Team Manager, Michael Medlin. “Our entire team for the last four years is in tact, and we look forward to another competitive year.”
The Sunrise Ford/ Turbo-Torq/High Point Distributing/Victory Circle Ford Fusion racing team would like to welcome Tim Sweet and his company, Apache Rental Group, as one of our product sponsors. Tim and his company have been with Rip and his team for the past three years and we are glad to have him aboard this year. For more information on Apache Rental Group, please visit www.apacherentalgroup.com
You can catch Rip Michels and his Sunrise Ford Racing team at Irwindale Speedway this Saturday night. Irwindale Speedway is located at 500 Speedway Drive off of Live Oak Ave. and the I-605 freeway, between the I-10 and 210 Foothill freeways in Irwindale, California. For further information log on to www.irwindalespeedway.com or call (626) 358-1100.
For more information on Rip Michels Racing, please visit www.ripmichels.com
For more Information on Turbo Torq, please visit www.turbotorq. com
For more information on Sunrise Ford, please visit www.sunriseford. com
