Going back to the final months of last season there’s arguably no hotter driver to suit up than 27-year old racer Michael Self. Self is red hot!
Winner of back-to-back ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards races and four of his last five national touring starts (ARCA/K&N Pro Series) dating back to October 2017, Self enters this weekend’s Music City 200 at Nashville looking for his third consecutive ARCA trophy.
Coming off the biggest victory of his career in ARCA’s season opener at Daytona, Self, with his Venturini Motorsports prepared Sinclair Oil Toyota, now turns to the famed Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville aiming to keep his streak alive.
“The last few months have been truly amazing. Picking up where we left off at the end of last season and winning at Daytona was a dream come true. We’ve been incredibly strong and honestly with a little bit of luck we could’ve easily won a couple more races in the closing months of last year,” said Self.
Riding high with “Self” confidence, the Salt Lake City, Utah native is focused on winning.
“I think my expectations are going to be high no matter what race track we go to this year because of the effort and energy that’s going in to the equipment and racecars that are coming out of the Venturini Motorsports shop right now.”
“It’s been great to win at two totally different race tracks (Daytona and Kansas) during my last two ARCA starts. When I look back at last season I was just narrowly missed out on a win at Lucas Oil Raceway Park, so that gives me a lot of confidence going back a short track at Nashville. I don’t really feel any pressure. I’m not planning on running the race after Nashville, so driver points don’t really mean anything to me right now. My goal is to just go do what I’ve been able to do the last few races and try and bring home another win and a good day for Sinclair Oil and VMS.”
With 10 career ARCA starts (two wins, six top-5’s and six top-10’s) to his credit, Saturday night’s start will be Self’s first at the Tennessee fairgrounds.
“I’ve never raced Nashville, but I’ve been watching a lot of video to become more familiar with the track. I’ve also spent some time up there watching races and I’ve always heard people talk about how fun the track is. It seems like it’s really similar to a lot of the tracks we run on the K&N West schedule with the abrasive surface, so with lots of experience out on those tracks I’m hoping some of it will translate.”
With nearly a two-month pause in the schedule between Daytona and Nashville, Self has kept busy and doesn’t think much of all the talk about the time between races.
“To be honest I really just keep with my normal routine. The long break between races is no different than handling the off-season. I keep going to the gym to stay in shape, and have watched some video of last year’s race at Nashville, but at my age and position in life right now there’s not a whole lot about my schedule that I’ve really been able to alter. Life has had to go on as normal. I’m busy with school, coaching my Trans Am clients, working on activation and off-track projects with Sinclair, and my wife and I are frantically house hunting, so that’s taken up the majority of my mind space.”
Piloting one of VMS’ four Toyota team entries, Self will join teammates Natalie Decker, Christian Eckes and newcomer Chandler Smith at Nashville.
The Music City 200 will air live on MAVTV, Saturday, April 7 at 9:00PM EST.
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