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MIKE DUNCAN IS PRIMED AND READY FOR A THIRD
WEST SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP AND A SHOT AT THE ARCA SERIES
BY DAVE GRAYSON
Bakersfield, CA - Mike Duncan spent the morning of February 7th
attending the groundbreaking ceremony for the new race track that will
replace the former Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield. It was only
appropriate that Duncan would want to attend this ceremony. After all,
Mesa Marin Raceway played a huge role in the development of his racing
career that led to back to back championships in the NASCAR Grand
National Division Autozone West Series.
The Bakersfield driver honed his racing skills at Mesa Marin in the
late 90's and it led to the track's Late Model Series championship in
2000. But, during that same year, Duncan was also very busy with his
first year in the West Series where he won their Rookie Of The Year
title. Teamed with veteran crew chief and former driver Bill Sedgwick,
himself a two time West Series champion, MB Duncan Motorsports soon
became one of the most dominant teams in the series and turned it into
back to back series championships in 2004 and 2005. Last year the team
had a couple of on track set backs but rallied to finish third in the
final standings.
This year the team of Duncan and Sedgwick will be seeking a third West
Series title backed with long time sponsors Lucas Oil, Green Frog
Roasting Company.Com, Green Frog Markets and Ron's Rear Ends. Duncan is
more than ready for the 2007 season which begins March 31st the the
Thunderhill Raceway in Kyle, Texas. "We feel confident with what we're
doing," he said adding "crew chief Bill Sedgwick has been working long
hours putting everything together. Our Texas car is ready is ready to
roll right now. We're trying to get a chassis shipped to us from the
east coast which will be turned into our Phoenix car but we've got a
couple of months to put that one together. We're looking forward to
going to Texas. I hope that they made some changes on their track. The
last time that we raced there it was definitely just a one groove
track. They told us it wouldn't be that way the next time so hopefully
they've made improvements so we can put on a good show for the fans
back there."
This year the Autozone West Series has one of its more diverse
schedules ever that includes stops at new venues in Iowa and Minnesota
where the series teams will be competing withn their NASCAR Grand
National Division east coast counterparts. "I'm looking forward
to the Iowa track, I've seen that one TV," Duncan said adding "it looks
to be a big, fast and wide track and I'm looking forward to the match
up with the east coast guys. The Elko, Minnesota track I'm very
unfamiliar with. I've heard that it's three eighths of a mile but I'm
not sure what the configuration is. But I think everything will be good
as long as we can run two wide."
Despite the potential for new adventures at new race tracks, Duncan is
a little leery about all of the extra travel time and said "the travel
is something I'm not looking forward to because it's just an extra
added expense for independent teams like myself. It's tough to offset
that cost with the purses being as low as they are but we're going to
make the best of it because everybody else has got to do it and we're
obviously running for another championship and hopefully we can pull it
off again this year."
The 2007 Autozone West Series also has three road courses on the
schedule at the always challenging Infineon Raceway, the Miller
Motorsports Park and, much to everyone's surprise, the California
Speedway in Fontana. Traditionally, the West Series has always raced on
the California Speedway's two mile, D shaped, oval. Duncan would know,
he's visited victory lane there. However, this year it was decided that
the series will race on the infield interconnects that turns the
speedway into a 2.2 mile road course just loaded with left and right
turns.Duncan admitted that he was less than thrilled about the
traditional super speedway event being turned into a road race adding"
but there's one thing for sure we definitely won the last Fontana race
and they can't take that away from us. With that regard, I'm not that
disappointed but I wish we had a Fontana, or a Las Vegas, super
speedway race on the schedule. That's the only negative that I see. As
far as the road courses go, I haven't done a lot of that type of racing
but I don't dislike it. We've taken one of our cars this year and
converted it for road courses knowing that we will have a disadvantage
without it. Hopefully that will make a big difference and we can run up
front on the road courses as well."
While Duncan and Sedgwick are primed and ready to go after a third
Autozone West Series title, they are also looking at taking the team to
a higher, and more national, level: the ARCA Series. Commenting of the
ARCA possibilities, Duncan said "we're planning on doing a test in
Nashville on March 14th and if everything goes well there, and we feel
like we can run with those guys, then we back to race with them on
April 7th and then we plan on racing at Michigan International Raceway,
Gateway,(International Raceway in St Louis), at the end of the year and
also at Chicagoland. That's the plan right now."
Look for that easily recognizable #9 Lucas Oil Chevrolet on the NASCAR
Grand National Division Autozone West Series circuit this year and
expect it to be a dominant car with a driver that has a better than
great chance of winning his third series championship. Then keep a look
out for Mike Duncan on national television later this year when he
attempts to make his mark on the ARCA Series.
Source - Dave Grayson
Special Feature To MB Duncan Motor Sports
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