Michael Self Rides Momentum into ARCA Series Return to Salem Speedway
Concord, North Carolina (April 10, 2019) – Coming off his first series’ short track victory of his career last month in Pensacola, Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Oil Toyota) is set to return to the track this weekend when the ARCA Menards Series resumes action at Salem Speedway on Sunday, April 14.
“Winning at Pensacola was such an awesome night for everyone on this Venturini Motorsports’ Sinclair Oil team,” said Self. “After a disappointing outcome in the season opener at Daytona, I love the way the 25 team rebounded. I feel we’re really clicking right now going into Salem and the relationship I’m building with (crew chief) Shannon Rursch is getting stronger. I think we’ll continue to learn more about each other and I know I can have confidence in his set-ups, so it’s exciting to go to the racetrack right now.”
Self, 28, a four-time ARCA Series tour winner, is in the midst of competing in his first full season effort. Currently occupying the fifth spot in the championship standings, Self’s upcoming Salem start marks just his second career visit to the famed Southern Indiana short track.
“We went up to Salem a couple weeks ago and had a pretty solid test to prepare for this weekend’s race. Our Sinclair Oil Camry had really good speed right off the trailer, so we kind of got to spend the day fine-tuning and experimenting with different set-ups. We made a lot of gains throughout the day and I had a lot of time to work on my technique which was really helpful. I’m excited to get back at it on Sunday.”
During his first career attempt at Salem last season, Self qualified third and ran up front most of the night but finished a disappointing 16th after a controversial run-in with series’ driver Zane Smith ended his day prematurely during the late stages of the fall classic.
“What happened last year at Salem was obviously disappointing, but that’s something I’ve moved on from,” added Self. “That’s got to stay in the past, and as of now, I’m looking forward to getting back to Salem and trying to pick up from where we were going to have a good night last fall.”
Since making his ARCA Menards Series debut with VMS in 2014, Self, a native of Salt Lake City, Utah, has accumulated 4 wins, 12 top-5 and 12 top-10 finishes in 21 series starts.
Self’s VMS Toyota team returns winners of four of the last six series events on Salem’s half-mile track. Overall the longtime ARCA team has collected eight of its 54 series wins at Salem.
Practice for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 is set for 11 am ET on Saturday, April 13 with General Tire Pole Qualifying scheduled for 3 pm ET that afternoon. The green flag on round three of the 2019 ARCA Menards Series season will drop shortly after 2 pm ET on Sunday, April 14. The race will be televised live on MAVTV and live timing & scoring will be available at ARCARacing.com.
ABOUT VENTURINI MOTORSPORTS
With 54 all-time victories, Venturini Motorsports, an official Toyota Racing Development team, has been a permanent fixture in the ARCA Menards Series since 1983 and is considered one of the early pioneers in NASCAR driver development programs.
Since Joey Logano, last year’s 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup champion, raced for the team in 2007, VMS has gone onto assist many of the sports’ top driver prospects in pursuit of making it to the highest levels of stock car racing.
The growing list of drivers racing today in one of NASCAR’s top-three touring series include current Toyota drivers Erik Jones, Christopher Bell, Harrison Burton, Christian Eckes, Chandler Smith, Brandon Jones, Todd Gilliland, Brennan Poole, Ryan Reed and Natalie Decker. VMS Alumni also include Joey Logano, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, Alex Bowman, Daniel Suarez, Bubba Wallace, Matt Tifft, Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier and Justin Haley.
Sources: Venturini Motorsports PR