Michael Self- “Christian stole it from me at Nashville and it worked for him. I’m a little bit salty about it! “

2019 has five different drivers competing for the championship, Michael Self, Travis Braden, Bret Holmes, Joe Graf Jr., and Christian Eckes. Come follow each of their journeys this season 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: So typically we always start these by asking what you’ve been up to in the last week, but knowing what your last five days have been between a race on Sunday and a test two days later- I can assume it’s pretty busy. Are you hanging in there okay?

Michael: Yeah, testing yesterday, I had a final I had to take on Monday, Sunday obviously was Nashville. So lots of traveling and finishing up schoolwork.

A: Obviously Nashville didn’t end how you wanted it to. In a situation like that where something out of your control happens, how do you handle that afterwords? Are you venting to Dana (wife) on the way home, or your teammates? Or are you one to kind of isolate yourself and deal with it on your own and calm down?

M: I think a little bit of everything. I mean, it’s easy to vent and tell other people what happened and what went wrong, but I don’t think a lot people want to hear it (or care sometimes) once they hear it once. But it definitely feels good to vent out-loud a little bit, and I’ve definitely done some of that. But otherwise, maybe I dwell on it a little bit too much. I’ll sit there, and while I’m doing stuff maybe like working in the yard or washing my car or doing stuff around the house and think, “What could I have done differently to avoid that or stay out of that situation?” Then you realize, “Well I only had one chance to do something” and that one chance was basically a matter of five seconds to make that decision and obviously it didn’t pan out. You can sit there and think about the what-ifs and hopefully that’ll apply in the future,  and plan for if it happens again and what you would do differently, and use it to your advantage. 

A: You said that you kind of dwell on those things, but I’m sure that’s incredibly easy to do when it’s something that’s important to you like winning a race or working your way to the ARCA championship. 

M: The hardest part is that we were in a really great spot going into Nashville. And it’s not a track that’s been great for me, and not a track I particularly enjoy, but we were having a good day. We were running fourth and felt like we knew what changes we needed to make and maybe we could have gone for it a little bit. It was kind of the circumstances of what happened that I think are the most frustrating. That makes it a little bit disheartening and a little bit more disappointing- but it is what it is. 

A: Right. So on a positive note, all three of the Venturini cars finished with the top three fastest times at the test yesterday. I’m sure that feels really good. 

M: Yeah that was nice! I think all our cars were really solid. I think my car was really good throughout the early part of the day. We were really really strong and then as night went on the track conditions kind of change. So we actually got a little bit behind and then had to play catchup kind of as the night went on. And I think we were able to do that so we ended up in a pretty positive spot. All three of our cars kind of know which direction they need to go and what our strengths and weaknesses were. We had three really good, experienced drivers- Christian having the least amount of experience on the mile and a halves. I think Harrison and I were able to help him, and get him up to speed and then utilize all of our feedback. Which is something that’s really important- having more feedback on the mile and halves than we’ve had in the past so what we can continue to develop that program and make it better. 

A: So I was peeking at Harrison’s Instagram during the test and saw his video of you and Christian laying on the ground to “become one with the track” and I remember seeing something similar from one of Christian’s posts earlier in the year… 

M: I STARTED THAT! I started that Pensacola and Salem, and Christian stole it from me at Nashville and it worked for him. I’m a little bit salty about it! 

A: Haha! Stealing all of your tricks. Alright that’s all I have. I’ll let you get back to your day. 

M: Thanks! Talk to you soon!