Concord, NC (February 7, 2018) – Coming off a breakout season, driver Michael Self looks for continued success starting with the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards season-opening Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire event this coming Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.
Michael Self
Self, 27, made offseason news by aligning with Venturini Motorsports (VMS) for the upcoming season. After months of anticipation the pair is set to unveil the team’s No. 15 Sinclair Oil Toyota Camry.
“I’m very excited to finally get behind the wheel of the No. 15 Toyota Camry with the Sinclair colors on board, but would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous as well. I only have one superspeedway start, which was Daytona last year, and even though I feel like I learned a ton, I’m definitely still learning and building my confidence with this kind of racing,” said Self.
“I’m looking forward to utilizing all the knowledge that Venturini Motorsports brings with them to this track. I’ll be leaning heavily on my crew chief, Kevin Reed, my teammate Tom Hessert, and my spotter Mike Herman Jr. to learn as much as I can before, and during the race.”
Self, who made his ARCA Series debut with VMS in 2014, participated in the last month’s open test session in preparation for this weekend’s highly anticipated event.
“We had a good test a few weeks ago and brought home a car we felt good about but knew we could be a little better with, so I’m anxious to get back and try a few things out to see if we’ve found some speed. The VMS guys have built beautiful new racecars over the offseason, and the Sinclair colors have never looked better on a car. I’m hoping we can kick things off strong this weekend and put on a good showing for all the fans of the Dino car.”
With nine career ARCA starts, Self made his mark in 2017 by earning his first series victory during the season finale at Kansas Speedway. In nine series attempts, Self has posted one victory, five top-fives and five top-ten finishes.
Selected to pilot the team’s Toyota Camry for a partial series schedule, the Park City, Utah native will also compete at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville (April 7), Talladega Superspeedway (April 27), Charlotte Motor Speedway (May 24), Michigan International Speedway (June 8), Chicagoland Speedway (June 28), Iowa Speedway (July 7), Lucas Oil Raceway (Sept. 7), Salem Speedway (Sept. 15) and Kansas Speedway (Oct. 19).
The Lucas Oil 200 Driven by General Tire is the first of 20 races on the 2018 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. Practice begins Thurs., Feb. 8 from 4 – 6 p.m. ET. Final practice is Friday morning, Feb. 9 from 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and group qualifying is set for 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon. The Lucas Oil 200, which begins the 66th consecutive season for ARCA, is set to get the green flag at about 4:50 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 10. The race is live on FS1 beginning at 4:30. ARCARacing.com will stream live timing and scoring and chat throughout the entire weekend festivities.