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MIKE
DUNCAN BENEFITS FROM PIT STRATEGY FOR
FONTANA
WIN
IN
NASCAR GRAND NATIONAL DIVISION, AUTOZONE WEST SERIES
FONTANA
,
Calif.
(Sept. 5, 2006)
–
Pit strategy paid off for Mike Duncan as he made a
late-race charge to the front and won a wild scramble
to the finish in NASCAR Grand National Division,
AutoZone West Series competition at California
Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 1.
Duncan, one of eight drivers who exchanged the
lead 12 times, moved out front one lap from the finish
to nab his seventh career series victory in the
Relocate Here 200 presented by
San Bernardino
County
.
The win marked a major milestone for Duncan,
who encountered a couple of sub par finishes early
this season in his campaign for a third consecutive
series championship. “This makes up for a lot of
failures early,” said the 44-year-old
Bakersfield
,
Calif.
, competitor. “This is what I’ve wanted to do, is
win on a big track. And this is the biggest. This is
pretty special, something I’ll never ever forget.
It’s going to be even more special when I have some
time to think about it. It’s pretty special.”
The early portion of the event was dominated by
Auggie Vidovich, who won the Budweiser Pole with a
qualifying lap of 172.232 mph and built a lead of more
than 10 seconds in the Against Graffiti/Denbeste Ford.
Although Vidovich led the first 42 laps, his race came
to abrupt end after he ran out of room while trying to
squeeze between a spinning car and the wall.
From there, the lead was swapped back and forth
among an assortment of drivers – most notably Eric
Holmes, who ran second to Vidovich early. Meanwhile,
Duncan
’s crew chief – two-time series champion Bill
Sedgwick – had a special game plan. After coming to
the pits during an early caution for fuel and a
chassis adjustment, they waited until late in the race
to put on the only two fresh tires teams were allowed
for the event.
“I felt like we had a shot, if we could stay
on the lead lap and get those tires late,”
Duncan
said of the strategy. “I figured we’d probably be
the only ones that had them, but I didn’t know how
much ground we would have to make up.”
Duncan
made his pit stop for fresh right side tires on his
Lucas Oil/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet with 25 laps
remaining. “We were able to get those tires and make
another adjustment. That was the difference,”
Duncan
said. “When we went green, I knew we could do it.”
Duncan,
who was sixth soon after the pit stop, benefited from
a late-race caution that set up a wild scramble to the
finish. The yellow was brought out when race leader
Peyton Sellers bounced off the wall after having a
tire go down within eight laps of the finish. Brett
Thompson led at the restart with three laps remaining
– followed by Holmes in second, Jim Inglebright in
third, Duncan in fourth and Nick Lynch in fifth. The
scramble was on when the green flag flew, with Holmes
and Thompson exchanging the lead back and forth.
Duncan
charged by both, meanwhile, to lead the final two
circuits and grab the win.
Duncan
won by .856 of a second, at an average speed of 94.687
mph. He netted $14,500 in prize money and posted
awards. Inglebright of Fairfield, Calif., had a
season-best runner-up finish in the Jelly Belly
Chevrolet – with Holmes of Escalon,
Calif.
, taking third in the Sunoco Race Fuels/Paul Oil
Chevrolet. Lynch of Burley,
Idaho
, had a career-best finish of fourth in the Rockstar
Energy Drink Dodge – while Thompson of Jerome,
Idaho
, was fifth in the VaCom Technology/Thompson
Motorsports Chevrolet. Rounding out the top 10 were
Steve Portenga, Brian Ickler, Scott Gaylord, Mike
David and Charles Price.
Among the eight drivers who shuffled the lead
12 times were Duncan, Holmes, Thompson, Sellers,
Vidovich, Andrew Myers, Matt Kobyluck and Austin
Cameron. The pace of the event was slowed by seven
cautions for 33 laps.
His
third-place finish was enough to move Holmes ahead of
David in the tight championship standings,
unofficially. Holmes leads with 1,539 over David with
1,512.
Duncan
jumped to third in the standings with 1,474 –
followed by Sellers with 1,447 and Portenga with
1,440. Inglebright at 1,380, Gaylord at 1,353, Cameron
at 1,281, Ickler at 1,279 and Justin Lofton at 1,276
round out the top 10.
Despite Sellers’ misfortune and subsequent 21st-place
finish, he retained his lead in this year’s battle
for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award. He tops the
list with 86 points, followed by Lofton at 79, Brian
Ickler with 76 and Eric Hardin with 67. Others include
Daniel DiGiacomo at 29, James Bruncati at 20, Eric
Humphries at 16, Brian Pannone at 16, Spencer Clark at
14, Justin Fisher at eight, Travis Powell at six and
Ed Watson at two.
The
next event on the NASCAR Grand National Division,
AutoZone West Series schedule will be at Thunderhill
Raceway in
Kyle
,
Texas
, on Sept. 30.
For
Further Information Contact:
Kevin W. Green, NASCAR Public Relations,
661/392-8543, kgreen@nascar.com
Jeremy Davidson, NASCAR Public Relations,
386/253-0611, jdavidson@nascar.com
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