Five With The Five: Michael Self

2019 has five different drivers competing for the championship, Travis Braden, Michael Self, Bret Holmes, Joe Graf Jr., and Christian Eckes. Come follow each of their journeys this season with our “Five With The Five” where each week we set the timer for five minuets  and sit down with them to find out what’s been going on both in and out of the race car. 

Next up, Michael Self!  

ARCA: Alright, Michael so what have you been up to since your win at Salem? 

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Michael: Working on the house mostly. My wife and I bought a total fixer-upper almost exactly a year ago. Around May 7th I think it was. And it’s a house that’s required a massive massive amount of work. I mean, work on pretty much every part of it. Inside, outside, landscaping, yard, bathrooms- pretty much everything you can imagine. So we’ve been focusing really hard the last couple of weeks on getting our landscaping done, and we’re just about there. So we’re focusing on keeping everything alive, and getting everything planted and growing strong. And that takes up pretty much every morning and every evening working on that kind of stuff. And throughout the day I’m in school full time at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro working on getting my bachelors degree in business administration. So that takes up a lot of the time during the day, and we’ll be going to a little bit of testing with my Trans Am clients this week and next as well. 

A: Fun! So did you guys do anything to celebrate after Salem on Sunday? 

M: Haha, not really. After the race we went and saw Christian in the hospital in Louisville (Billy, Emily and I did). Got home about 1-1:15 on Monday morning. And then Monday was just a normal day back settling into everything.  We’ll get with our friends, my wife Dana and I, we’ll go to dinner and celebrate with our friends. We try to do that whenever we win. Otherwise we just kind of get back to our adult life. 

A: Right, and it sounds like you have a million things to do between now and Talladega where there isn’t a whole lot of time for celebration, right?  

M: Yeah, not a whole a lot. Unfortunately we don’t. Frankly you just try to get as much done-like when we go to Talladega you know that’s going to be a week at the racetrack. So you just try to cram everything in at home, and early in the week and try to get a bunch of school done early in the week so you don’t have to worry about it while you’re at the racetrack, and that keeps things really busy and stacked up. 

A: So you mentioned in the “What Do You Think Of When You Hear Daytona” video that you always go mini golfing. Any traditions at this upcoming super speedway? 

M: No, so I’ve only driven at Talladega once, and that was last year, and didn’t have any traditions there. One things that’s kind of cool is my dad has a tun of family down in Birmingham. So his brother and sister both live there, that’s where my dad grew up, so they come out. We try to see them on race day or before race day. My aunt is a huge race fan- a huge fan of mine. She brings a tone of people from her work out, and she is just like stereotypical Alabama- funny and loud and likes to have a good time, and come to the races and enjoy it. We love that. We love being around them, having a good time with them. Kind of a home crowd there and so that’s what’s really cool for me about Talladega. 

A: Does that add any pressure knowing that they’re all watching or is it just more motivation?  

M: No, it’s just about fun. Knowing they’re there having a good time. I mean they’re going to support me and support our program no matter what. And it makes it kind of fun to see them. You know, I don’t get to see them all that often and racing is something they really enjoy. So to bring those things together makes it a lot of fun and special, but not any added pressure. 

A: What is something you’ve got going on that you’re most looking forward to between now and when we see you in Talladega? 

M: I guess… this weekend we’re finally going to get the garage cleaned out so we can finally park our car in the garage. So pretty excited about that! 

A: Oh nice! It’s the little things in life. 

M: That’s right 

A: So you mentioned you went to see Christian after the race, as well as saying in your post race interview that competing without him wasn’t your ideal way of winning. Clearly you too are close, yet, competitive teammates, and he was still on your mind during the race. Hopefully he’s doing alright now. 

M: Yeah! I mean, when I saw him on Sunday he was still feeling a little bit down- wasn’t feeling great. I think everyone was still kind of questioning what exactly was going on. At that point we didn’t have a whole lot of answers. Despite being down I think he was still in pretty good spirits, despite having to miss the race that day. I know he got to come home yesterday, he was excited about that. I’m sure he’s happy to be settled back in know what to expect, knows what’s going on now, and I know he’s excited to get out there at Talladega. 

A: Awesome! And that is five minutes, thanks Michael!