San Bernardino County 200 at California Speedway Preview
OVERVIEW
posted on February 19, 2008
California Fast Facts:• The San Bernardino County 200 will mark Mitchell’s first-ever start at California Speedway.
• Mitchell averages a 19th-place finish at tracks two miles in length or more (includes two seasons in ARCA and last week’s NCTS race).
• Mitchell finished in 13th-place last weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
• The No. 15 Ergon team is unloading Chassis No. 22 this weekend. Bill Lester qualified in 8th-place and finished in 18th-place at Texas Motor Speedway in 2007 using Chassis No. 22.
• The No.15 Ergon Hyprene Chevrolet will compete in 21 races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2008. Mitchell is competing for Rookie of The Year Honors.
“California is going to be my first trip out to the west coast. The farthest west I’ve ever been has been Phoenix, Ariz. I only spent a day there, though, so it’s going to be a great experience for me. I’ve heard a lot of great things about the race track. My teammate, Kyle Busch, he has won a Cup race out there. He knows how to get around the place, so I’m going to lean on him to hopefully shorten my learning curve. It’s a flat track and that should play into my hand a little bit. I seem to do pretty well on the flat tracks that you slide around on, so I’m looking forward to getting out there.
“Hopefully we’ll figure it out when we get there, but everything I’ve learned on the mile-and-a-half tracks tells me the best place to pass will be on the straightaway. You can try all day long to get around someone through the corners, but you start your pass in the corners, and complete it down the straightaway. It makes it a whole lot easier to race that way, heck, makes it a whole lot easier to pass that way.
“The truck we’re taking this week has been a really good truck. Everybody that has run in it before has done really well. That puts a little bit of pressure on me because I don’t want to let my team down, but it gives me a ton of confidence that that my Ergon team provides good equipment and has a proven track record. I'm expecting us to have a great run this weekend in the Golden State.”
