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Duncan Closes Strong for Podium Finish at
Irwindale
Bakersfield, CA – As a packed house looked on at Irwindale Raceway, the
fireworks show began with the usual “Ooohs and Aaahs.” The 4th of
July race had just finished, and the crowd was enjoying the sky-lit
extravaganza, yet many in the pits felt they had just seen a
performance on the track that would be hard to top. Two-time
NASCAR west champion, Mike Duncan had nearly pulled off a huge comeback
to capture the King Taco 200, and his second-place finish was an
amazing feat.
With the #16 NAPA car of Brian Ickler bearing down on back-to-back wins
within four days, Duncan was racing towards the front after being in
the back minutes beforehand. Darting, weaving and passing around
the top teams in the west is never easy, and to do it at such an
important time of the race (and season) is especially difficult.
Yet, after Duncan’s top-five finish at the Southern Cal track, he
hopped out and was actually a bit disappointed not to have caught
Ickler. “Yeah, I thought we could have caught him with a little
more time, but the #16 was better than everybody else tonight, and we
couldn’t close the deal,” Duncan lamented.
After a fun and raucous photo session with Ickler and third man, Eric
Holmes, Duncan expressed his thoughts on the race and the team’s
progress thus far by saying, “This was a good race, because we tried
something new- It’s been a long time since we’ve done well at
Irwindale, and to be up in the front of the pack is where I feel we
should always be.” Duncan continued by explaining that, “To show
you how tough this series is, (points leader) Mike David struggled all
night, and he still ended up finishing fifth – nobody in this deal is
ever going to give up!”
With Duncan second in the point standings, he now takes the MB Duncan
Motor Sports team to Utah for a road course race on July 14th.
The Lucas Oil/Ron’s Rear Ends/greenfrogroastingco.com Chevrolet will
look to nab the points lead on a track that most of the west drivers
haven’t seen, but Duncan seems to understand the task at hand:”The
quickest team to adapt will be the team to beat, and hopefully that
will be us. ” As Duncan was heading to greet a large group of Lucas Oil
employees, he parted with one of his racing mantras: “We just have to
keep diggin’.”
Mike Duncan was the NASCAR Grand National Division Rookie-of-the-Year
in 2000. Behind the leadership of two-time Grand National Champ,
Bill Sedgwick, Duncan and team won the 2004 – 2005 championships.
Together, they compete full time on the Grand National West
series. To learn more about Mike and follow his season, please
visit www.mbduncanmotorsports.com.
Source: Vance Palm
MB Duncan Motor
Sports
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