DUNCAN POSTS REMARKABLE NUMBERS AT EVERGREEN SPEEDWAY

Source: NASCAR
Date: 07/31/2007

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- When it comes to recent competition in the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series at Evergreen Speedway, Mike Duncan (No. 9 Lucas Oil/Ron’s Rear Ends Chevrolet) has been Mr. Consistency.

Duncan has scored five consecutive podium finishes, including a win in 2004, at the .646-mile track in Monroe, Wash. He will attempt to extend that streak when the West Series returns this week for the NAPA 300 presented by Basalite on Saturday, Aug. 4.

Despite his record at Monroe, the two-time series champion plans to try something new with the set up on the suspension of his 3,300-pound stock car for this event.

“We’re going up there again with a good past record, but we’re going to try something totally different this time,” said Duncan, who has an average finish of 3.0 – with top 10 finishes in all of his six starts overall at the historic fairgrounds facility. “I don’t know if there’s room to gain or not, but we’re going to definitely look and see.”

A new pit stop format for the Grand National Division and the progression of other teams have brought about the need to try new things, according to Duncan. Under the pit stop format adopted by the West Series this year, teams are not allowed to refuel the race cars and change tires during the same pit stop.

“I think this year will be different,” said the 45-year-old driver from Bakersfield, Calif. “This new format, with the pit stops and double-file restarts, there’s a whole different set of scenarios that could be part of having success up there. I don’t feel the past is going to be as critical.”

Duncan also feels it is necessary to make changes to keep up with his competition.

“There’s some new technical ability that is out there that people have hit on,” he said. “I think it’s going to make a difference.”

Although he’s in contention for this year’s championship, Duncan fears his MB Duncan Motorsports team is slipping behind the competition. “We’ve got to keep trying new things to try to get caught up,” Duncan said. “I don’t think we’re as good as where some of these guys are getting close to being. It’s taken us until right now to start to experiment with this stuff. We just don’t have any choice. We’ve got to start trying new things.”

With regards to his success at Monroe, Duncan is quick to credit his crew chief Bill Sedgwick, who like Duncan, won back-to-back West Series championships as a driver and also made two visits to victory lane at Evergreen Speedway. “I think a lot of it is Sedgwick knowing what to put under the car,” Duncan said. “These different places that we go to, his input, his coaching, is coming from somebody that probably has more laps around these places than anybody. So, it’s real important to know what the consequence is if you don’t do as instructed. That’s a lot of difference at the end of the race where you end up. That’s been a big part of our success.”

When it comes to Monroe, Duncan knows to expect the same thing from the track each year. “We know it’s an old slippery track,” Duncan said. “The track is real abrasive on tires. That’s the way it is. We don’t expect anything different. We don’t really want it to be any different. We want to go there knowing that our notes are still good and we can try to improve on where we’ve been in the past.”

Although the track does not change from year to year, experience is important in knowing what to expect during a race – especially with this year’s race distance extended to 300 laps. “I think somebody without experience at a place like that would most likely be at a disadvantage,” Duncan said. “If you’re not educated on the tendency of the track, it could be a problem. Everybody pretty well knows the tendency of the track – but to experience it and know where your setup needs to be to stay underneath you for the whole night, that’s a different situation,” said Duncan, knowing that both of Sedgwick’s wins at Monroe were 500-lap races (1990 and 1992).

“Even I have never ran 300 laps there,” Duncan admitted. “So, it’s going to be a new challenge for me, as well.”

While he plans to alter his approach for the longer race, Duncan has yet to determine his exact strategy. “We haven’t really sat down yet to strategize what our game plan will be,” Duncan said. “I’m sure it’ll be a little different approach.”

See Also .:

• Mike Duncan Driver Card
• Evergreen Speedway Track Page

News Index | E-mail to a Friend