Michael Self will be racing on what he considers his home track at Miller Motorsports Park.
Teams tackle first road course race of the 2011 season
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The first three races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West this year feature competition in three different arenas of stock car racing – including a speedway, a short track and a road course.
The season was launched with a race on the one-mile speedway at Phoenix International Raceway in February. The next event on the schedule was on the tight .333-mile oval at All American Speedway in Roseville, Calif., on April 16.
Now drivers and teams are preparing to shift gears as the series heads to the road course at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah for the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix on Saturday, April 30.
Visiting different types of venues first thing in the season is something that second-year driver Michael Self welcomes.
“For me, it’s a good thing,” said the 20-year-old from Park City, Utah. “I’m not accustomed to driving on one type of track, nor do I feel like I’m better on one type of track than the other. So, it’s a really good chance for me to change things up and not get too adept to driving one type of track.”
“I also think it’s good thing for me, because I’m getting the three types of tracks out of the way early in the year,” he said. “So, as those races come up, we’ll know later what we have going into the short track races, the big track races and the road courses.”
It will mark the fifth straight year the series has visited the massive MMP complex, located west of Salt Lake City. But unlike past seasons when drivers competed on the 3.048-mile outer course, this year’s race will be contested on the track’s 2.2-mile layout.
“I think the shorter track will be better for us and better for the fans,” said Self, who drives the No. 21 Shining Monkey/GGRT/RCR Chevrolet of veteran car owner Jim Offenbach. “I think it will make for a lot closer racing and not so spread out. As far as the fans, they’ll be able to see the whole race better and get a better picture of what’s going on and be able to keep up with everything.”
Hailing from nearby Park City, Self calls Miller Motorsports Park his home track.
“I consider it my home track because it’s in my backyard,” said Self, while pointing out that he has only competed in big cars on the track four or five times. “All my friends and local fans can come out. For me, that’s what the home track is all about, having the local support.”
Practice for the event gets underway at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday. Qualifying is set for 1:30 p.m., with the