BAKERSFIELD, California – NASCAR West icon, Mike Duncan finished the 2007 season as the runner up to Mike David in points. Duncan dominated in pole awards again. Duncan was named “Most Popular Driver” awards at the NASCAR GND West banquet. Duncan was also honored as the inaugural presenter of the Spencer Clark Driven Award, due to the fact that he was the first recipient of the award last year. Yet, all of the noise making the rounds in the western region’s racing scene is the finishing cast on the podium of the Toyota Showdown: Joey Logano, Peyton Sellers and Mike Duncan.
Duncan recently made even more news by announcing a primary sponsorship change for MB Duncan Motor Sports, but being on the podium with the future supernova, Logano has Duncan’s website receiving an astounding amount of hits. When the numbers were relayed to Duncan, he welcomed the attachment to Logano’s success. “Yeah, he’s the real deal. It’s one thing to have (NEXTEL) Cup equipment, but it’s an entirely different thing to be able to handle it. I’ve raced him three times now, and he’s solid…he doesn’t bobble…gives you plenty of room…plus he has great communication skills, and that’s what it takes to win at every level.”
For Duncan, the Showdown was an exciting time, as he led for a large amount of the race and allowed him the opportunity to go hard against the top GND drivers in the nation. The podium finish was, “great”, exclaimed Duncan, and then added,” We missed it just a tiny, little bit, but with the caliber of talent in this deal, you have to be absolutely perfect to finish in the front. Overall, we had a heck-of-a race.”
With regards to the 2007 season, Duncan was less than thrilled. “Well, this hasn’t been a season that I would consider ‘good’. We had horrible luck – three flat tires, a demolished car in Phoenix and a missed set-up once. But it goes to show how awesome our Crew Chief, Bill Sedgwick is, when we can still finish runner up for the series.” It must be nice.
Having returned from the season-ending, NASCAR Grand National Division awards banquet in Pasadena, Duncan was his usual, self deprecating self when asked about the fountain of accolades heaped on him. “I was a bit surprised and taken back, actually. It’s as nice a compliment as a driver can get, when your peers feel this way about you. Bill and I both feel that something like this is more of a testament to our commitment to the west series than anything else. With our ongoing efforts to secure sponsorships for next year, we sure hope to be around for a while.”
The new, young guns will always be coming up the ranks in racing, but it sure is nice to have a familiar face that you can count on to be up front. Congratulations to Mike, Bill and the entire MB Duncan Motor Sports team.
