SAN FRANCISCO, California — For Utah's Michael Self and the Golden Gate Racing Team, the All American Speedway is a place that has dealt an ill fated hand to both driver and team time and time again. Saturday was no exception to the trend for the #21 Shining Monkey-Bay Bio Diesel Chevrolet in the Toyota-Napa Auto Care 150 for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. Despite a strong car, a great starting position and a talented team, it was series of unfortunate events that prevented Self and the boys of the bay from shaking the Roseville monkey off their back once again.
"This particular track is a tough nut to crack for a lot of teams, including us"— Jim Offenbach, owner Golden Gate Racing Team
"This particular track is a tough nut to crack for a lot of teams, including us," said Jim Offenbach, owner of the San Francisco Golden Gate Racing Team that carries the support of North Carolina's Richard Childress Racing. "This team did an outstanding job. We qualified well and it was just a series of incidents that was no fault of their own that set us back. Michael did a great job fighting his way back. He drove the wheels the off this car and brought it home with the wheels still on it. That's an accomplishment all in itself at a tough place like this."
For Self, entering Saturday's event showed the makings of successful night to come. The 20-year old from Park City Utah was returning to the track where he has had a great deal of success in Late Models. Additionally, he carried a brand new sponsor, a new look that caught the attention of many fans and his performance out of the gate was outstanding.
In final practice on Saturday, Self turned in the seventh fastest time of the day with a 13:869 second lap and a best speed of 86.494 around the tight .333 banked oval at the Placer County Fairgrounds. Just over a year ago, Self was victorious in Roseville behind the wheel of a late model before advancing to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.
During the final practice, Golden Gate Crew Chief Steve Portenga ordered minor changes to the #21 that perfected it for qualifying. On smaller tracks like Roseville, qualifying up front is of the utmost importance do to very little room for pass and a configuration that makes a driver very vulnerable to contact as they enter the corners.
"This is tough little place to pass at, " said Portenga. "Qualifying good is important but it doesn't get you out of the woods because lapped traffic is going to come really fast. Your better off to lead your way into lapped traffic though rather than be fighting for position."
In qualifying, Self was the final car to take to the track. His first lap didn't light up any scoreboard. His second trip around set it on fire as he turned a 13:790 second lap, just nine one hundredths of a second behind the pole sitter, veteran driver Greg Pursley.
"I knew it was going to be a really fast lap, I felt it," said Self. "I was running so fast out of four that just before the finish line I backed off. If I hadn't done that we would have had the pole. The team had the car perfect for me."
Self started the Toyota/Napa Auto Care 150 outside of Pursley on the front row with defending champion Eric Holmes of Escalon in the third position. As the event started Pursley powered into the lead while Self and Holmes gave it everything they could to fight for the second position. After racing three wide at one point, Self forced his way to the low side of the track where he tucked in behind Pursley and began setting his sights on the lead.
With only 18 laps down, Pursley and Self began to duel for the top spot within lapped traffic and avoided a number of incidents that brought out frequent cautions. During a restart, Holmes dove to the inside of Self down the front stretch and attempted to take the bridesmaid position until a yellow flag halted his efforts.
With 42 laps into the race the heated battle up front continued among Pursley, Self and Holmes. Holmes finally slipped past Self for position on the front stretch. Thereafter, Self found himself a victim of the caution flag after Moses Smith closed in on him down the front stretch and contact ensued in turn two that send Self spinning out of contention.
Restarting the race from the rear of the pack, Self followed the direction of Portenga and spotter Chris Monez and diligently sliced and diced his way through traffic back towards the top ten. With 119 laps complete his hard work was nullified when he was struck by a lapped car in the fourth turn and sent into another spin that put him to the rear of the field.
Through perseverance and the assistance of a "lucky dog" restart, Self managed to work his way back towards the front of the field in the waning laps. When the checkered flag flew he had rallied back to the 14th finishing position. Despite the many hits he took during the event, the Shining Monkey #21 was still shining at the end of the night with very little damage.
"Roseville just hasn't given us a lot of luck whenever I've been there," added Self. I've had some awesome runs there in Late Models and both times I've been there with GGRT/RCR we've shown how strong we are at short tracks. We just need a little luck on our side and we'll be able to win one of these."
At the start of the 2011 racing season, Self was named as one of Richard Childress Racing's Development Drivers for the year to come. With every race in which he competes, Self continues to develop his skills on the track and he is no slouch when is comes to marketing his team off the track. Saturday he took in everything that occurred as a learning experience and will carry that knowledge into Utah's Miller Motorsports Park in two weeks to seek a hometown win.
"Everyone did a great job and played their part. We grew as a team and came together as much as ever," said Self. "I'm really happy with how the whole team performed and how well we all worked together. We'll look to continue improving that every race we go to."
In addition to the title sponsorship of Shining Monkey and Bay Bio Diesel, The Golden Gate Racing Team has a number of associate sponsors that support them. Among their partners are the Richard Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, Hill Meat Company, Golden Gate Meat Company, Corte Madera Tow, Superior Farms, Harraka Racing Equipment Sales, Foodcomm International, Signco, Praxair and JW Web Design.
For an in-depth look at the Golden Gate Racing Team and additional news, visit their official website at www.goldengateracingteam.com. To learn more about the Richard Childress Racing Driver Development program visit www.rcrracing.com Michael Self's personal website can be found at www.michaelselfracing.com. All four entities can also be found on facebook, become a fan today.
