SANTEE, California --Mike Mendenhall, driver of the #10 Alfred Matthews GMC, Newton Communication, RacecarPaints.com Monte Carlo and team weren’t sure they would be able to make it to Tucson Raceway Park for the 17th annual Bud-Shootout 100 Oct. 27th due to the major fires in San Diego County. When it appeared the freeway would open up to high profile vehicles late Wednesday, the decision was made to make the 425 mile trip to TRP.
After adding the 125# weight penalty, the team ran the practice on Friday night and found the car needed some adjustments to get the car to turn due to the added weight and different tires they use in the SRL series. “I really enjoy racing TRP with the compound banking” said Mendenhall.
After qualifying 2nd quick on stickers, the car was still not turning well enough, so more changes were made before running the 15 lap Ultra Dash to determine starting positions for the feature. While Mike was lucky to finish second, the changes made the handling worse, so they went the other way for the feature. “We were willing to make two spring changes before the feature and take a chance on making it better, instead of trying to win with a car that didn’t turn good enough to get the job done” said Mike.
At the drop of the green flag Mike was able to take the lead in turn two and hold the lead with some pressure from Matthew Levin and Victor Pfluger for much of the first 50 laps of the 100 lap feature. Some spins and a crash that eliminated Mike Egurola and Ron Norman was followed by a major oil leak that affected almost the entire racing surface at lap 75 and required a lengthy red flag to clean the track. “I figured I could adjust my line, run a little lower to miss the oil clean up and be able to lead the final 25 laps for the win” said Mike. That plan didn’t work out too well for the #10 Alfred Matthews GMC/Newton Communications/RacecarPaints .com car when they went green. “The car jumped sideways in low gear and was a handful in turn 1 and 2” said Mike. The 10x of Matt Levin went to work on the bottom and was able to pressure Mendenhall until another caution would fly on lap 83. On the restart, Mike had more troubles getting a good jump and Levin would make a strong run for the lead. “I really struggled with grip and Matt was all over me, I was out of control loose and couldn’t hold him off” said Mike. Matt Levin was able to make the pass on lap 91 and lead the final 9 laps to add his name to the prestigious wall of winners of the Bud Shootout at TRP.
“It’s very disappointing to lose the race within 10 to go, but no matter where I ran, I couldn’t shake Matt and the car was extremely loose. I had nothing left” said Mendenhall. The team won $1,000 for second place and the lap leader bonus money was worth $900. They also won $300 in gift certificates from UPR.com. “I want to thank Dan and Joyce Ruth for welcoming us to TRP and all their hard work in putting on this great event. Chris Smith (a local TRP driver/crewman) and Kenny for helping us in the pits. I also want to thank my brother Rob and Team Mgr. Ward Newton for all their help and dedication this year”.
For more information check out www.mikemendenhallracing.com
