Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) sped to his third General Tire Pole Award in his last four ARCA Menards Series starts for this evening’s VizCom 200 at Michigan International Speedway. Self’s fast lap of 37.296 seconds/193.050 miles per hour exceeded Joey Coulter’s track record set in 2012.
Self, not noted for his qualifying prowess, needed to regain some momentum after a tough day at Pocono last week.
“I kind of let my emotions get away from me last week so this feels good,” Self said. “I couldn’t do this without my Venturini Motorsports guys. This wouldn’t happen without them and this one is for them.”
Self has one previous start at Michigan International Speedway, a third-place finish in 2017. Without a lot of experience, he’s relying on crew chief Shannon Rursch and his notebook to keep the car under him throughout tonight’s 100-lap, 200-mile race.
“There isn’t as much track activity here today as previous years,” Self said, “but I don’t have a whole lot of experience here so I am not the best one to ask what to expect. What I do recall is that this track doesn’t change a whole lot from morning to noon to evening and it doesn’t change a lot with added rubber laid down. It’s hard to say how different the track will be but I’ll let Shannon make those calls. I am sure he’ll have us in position to win tonight.”
Self’s Venturini Motorsports teammate Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio Toyota) qualified second at 37.418 seconds/192.421 miles per hour, Tanner Gray (No. 54 Gray Motorsports/Valvoline/Durst, Inc. Toyota) was third at 37.471 seconds/192.149 miles per hour, Ty Majeski (No. 22 Crestliner Ford) was fourth at 37.488 seconds/192.061 miles per hour, and Riley Herbst (No. 18 Monster Energy/ORCA Coolers/Terrible Herbst/Advance Auto Parts Toyota) rounded out the top five at 37.493 seconds/192.036 miles per hour.
Majeski comes into Michigan with a two-race win streak, having scored victories at Charlotte and Pocono. Herbst was the dominant force at Pocono, leading 62 of the race’s 80 laps, before finishing second.
Joe Graf, Jr. (No. 77 EAT SLEEP RACE Chevrolet), Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation/Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet), Myatt Snider (No. 20 Cometic Gasket Toyota), Travis Braden (No. 27 MatrixCare/Consonus Health Care/Liberty Village Ford) was ninth, and Connor Hall (No. 7 Chad Bryant Racing Ford) rounded out the top ten qualifiers.
The VizCom 200 is slated to go green shortly after 6 pm ET. The race will be televised live on FS1. ARCA for Me members can access free live timing & scoring, live track updates, and live chat for all on-track sessions at ARCARacing.com. New users can register for free with a valid email address at ARCARacing.com/login. For ticket information log on to MISpeedway.com or call 888-905-7223.
