When it comes to monkey business, the Golden Gate Racing Team takes it very seriously. This Saturday, such will be the case as the Richard Childress Racing Driver Development team and Utah driver Michael Self will debut their newest sponsor when the Shining Monkey #21 Chevrolet Impala takes to the track for round two of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West at All American Speedway in Roseville, California.
"This is a very exciting race for us at Roseville," said team owner Jim Offenbach. "With Shining Monkey as our brand new sponsor, the GGRT/RCR #21 has a bright new look and we are hoping it will be running up front. Our driver is ready, our crew is ready and I think we're going to have a great race in Roseville this weekend we always look forward to racing at one of the tracks closer to home."
Saturday's event is the Toyota-Napa Auto Care 150 that brings the future stars of NASCAR to the action packed .333 mile All American Speedway on the Placer County Fairgrounds. The event is one of 14 in the regional touring series and just one of two events of its caliber in the area that will draw thousands of hungry NASCAR fans to the small town of Roseville.
For the Golden Gate Racing Team, the track in Roseville has produced mixed results over the years. It's one of the smaller tracks on the circuit where passing is limited and qualifying is of the utmost importance as gaining track position during the race is difficult. With Michael Self from Park City Utah behind the wheel of the bright yellow Shining Monkey #21 the team has the right man for the job when it comes to finding his way around this popular track. Self has had great success in late models at All American and showed great perseverance in last October's NASCAR West event here.
"This place is a tight little race track but it's also a fast track so it's tough to pass at this place," said Steve Portenga, Competition Director for GGRT/RCR. "Michael knows how to get around this place and he qualifies well here. I think we have the car and the driver to run up front as long as we stay out of trouble."
Self joined the Golden Gate Racing Team for the final two events of 2010 and signed with the team as their primary driver prior to the 2011 NASCAR West season. It was then the rising late model star was named a Richard Childress Driver Development driver for the year and he is hungry to give his successful, supportive team a long awaited return to victory lane along with the brand new sponsor and the associates of Shining Monkey.
"There's definitely something special about Roseville for me, it's almost like it's my home track since it's where I drove a circle track for the first time and started my circle track career," said Self. "I've got a couple late model wins there so I feel really comfortable going in to Roseville and I know I've great backing behind me with everyone at GGRT."
In the recent series opener at Phoenix International Raceway, Self was en route to a top five finish until a collision in the late laps of the race sent the #21 spinning and resulted in a 15th place finish. The team is currently 15th in the series standings with one race complete in the 14 race campaign. As they debut the new look at Roseville, Self feels that the team and himself are stronger then ever.
"We head in to this race with a new sponsor which I'm really excited about and with the amount of fan interaction and promotion Roseville has, I don't think there's a better place to introduce Shining Monkey to the racing world," said Self. "I've done a lot of training and some new routines over the last few weeks preparing for the season which has given all of us a whole new level of confidence about this season and what we're capable of."
Shining Monkey is based in Caledon, Ontario (northwest of Toronto) and is quickly becoming a recognized car care brand. The product line offers a full range of treatments for virtually all surfaces of your vehicle. Each product is formulated with the most advanced research in polymers and rich emollients which will ensure your vehicle is always looking its best from the tires all the way up to the roof and everywhere in between.
The new partnership with the Golden Gate Racing Team is the first venture into the world of NASCAR for Shining Monkey and the announcement has been well received by the racing community thus far. The addition of Shining Monkey came after the hard work of Self and Offenbach and was recently featured on the NASCAR Home Tracks official webpage. With many promotional opportunities in the coming week at Roseville the colorful #21 is sure to be one of the most popular entries on the roster with many of the fans.
The Golden Gate Racing Team is supported by Northern Carolina's Richard Childress Racing Driver Development. Over the recent weeks, RCR has had a great streak of success in the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Childress is hoping some of that recent luck for his teams will carry over to Northern California this coming weekend.
"RCR has had really good streak of success this past month, especially with the #29 of Kevin Harvick," said Childress. "We're hoping some of that recent success will carry over to the #21 in Roseville."
Prior to his success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and then taking over the driver's seat for the late Dale Earnhardt for Childress, Harvick was once a part of the Golden Gate Racing Team. A native of Bakersfield, the popular RCR driver was introduced to Childress by Offenbach which is living proof how successful the driver development program is today as it fosters the future stars of NASCAR's elite series.
Saturday's action will begin at Roseville with the first practice at 12:30 p.m. Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series will start at 5:30 p.m. Self will participate in the drivers autograph session at 6:15 p.m. The green flag will fly for the Toyota/Napa Auto Care 150 at 8:45 p.m. Information on tickets for the race can be found at www.allamericanspeedway.com.
In addition to the title sponsorship of Shining Monkey, The Golden Gate Racing Team has a number of associate sponsors that support them. Among their partners are the Richard Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma , Bay Bio Diesel, Hill Meat Company, Golden Gate Meat Company, Superior Farms, Harraka Racing Equipment Sales, Foodcomm International, Signco, Praxair, Corte Madera Tow and JW Web Design.
For additional information on the Golden Gate Racing Team's new sponsor, visit their official website at www.shiningmonkeycorp.com. For an in-depth look at the Golden Gate Racing Team and additional news, visit their official website at www.goldengateracingteam.com. To learn more about the Richard Childress Racing Driver Development program visit www.rcrracing.com Michael Self's personal website can be found at www.michaelselfracing.com. All four entities can also be found on Facebook, become a fan today.
