DUNCAN EXPECTS ANOTHER BATTLE AT THE BULLRING

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 8, 2002) – When the NASCAR Winston West Series made its inaugural visit to The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway a year ago – it resulted in some exciting door-to-door action, a near-record 16 cautions and numerous crumpled fenders.

Mike Duncan, who collected a career-best runner-up finish in that race, expects more of the same when the series returns to the .375-mile oval for The Orleans 222 on Saturday, April 13.

“There was a lot of banging and bumping at that track and I don’t expect anything different,” said Duncan, who had to replace the body on his Chevrolet Monte Carlo following last year’s race. “I assume we will probably be repairing some fenders when we’re done with this race.”

Duncan’s second-place finish came despite the setup on the chassis of his car being a little off initially. “When the day began, we had missed it a little bit,” the 30-year-old competitor from Lamont, Calif., recalled. “The race setup is kind of a gamble. You gamble that you’re going to be within a certain window, so to speak, for the setup. We were a little bit outside of that. So, that’s why we had to make some changes and went a few laps down. Through the pit stops and cautions we were able to make those laps back and have a shot at it at the end.

“We worked on the car during the race and got it better,” Duncan said. “As the race went on we got better and better. We were just real strong there at the end. So, the pit stops were probably the key thing for us.”

Although he began his career and has some of his best finishes on short tracks, Duncan said he does not favor short tracks over superspeedways. “I like all the tracks,” he said. “They’re all fun when your car is working good. If you can hit the setup, any track is going to be a good track for the driver. I don’t prefer one over the other. I think the short tracks are more of an endurance type race, where you have to stay sharper longer. I think I’m physically fit for that type of racing.”

Duncan, a former minor league baseball player who had left the game to return home and help run his family’s farm, turned his focus to racing in 1996. He grabbed the spotlight in his first full year in the NASCAR Winston West Series during 2000, notching four top-five finishes and the rookie title.

Last season was another story, however. Although he garnered a career-best finish at The Bullring, many of his other races resulted in finishes that were more reflective of a sophomore jinx. In an effort to get his program back on track, Duncan has added two-time champion Bill Sedgwick as his crew chief.

“It’s not a mystery that Bill Sedgwick coming over to our program is going to make a big difference,” Duncan said. “He has so much experience and so much knowledge – not only as a crew chief, but as a driver. He knows these tracks. He’s given me the confidence that these cars are going to be good at every track. I know it’s going to take a little more time for he and I to jell, but within a couple of races I think it will start to show.”

The Orleans 222 is the second event on this year’s NASCAR Winston West Series schedule. The $124,870 event will be televised to a national audience on NASCAR TV on SPEED Channel. It will air on a tape-delay basis at 8 p.m. on April 22.

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