Pope Drives Like a Veteran at Irwindale

Michael Pope of Orange raced cars this season for the first time, but he didn’t race like a rookie in winning the inaugural season points title at Irwindale Speedway in street stocks.

“Obviously, it’s a great thrill,” said Pope, the only Orange County driver to finish in the top five in any of Irwindale’s six competitive classes. “To win the first championship at a brand new track, especially a great track like Irwindale, means a lot to me and my crew.”

Pope’s first venture for CNM Racing--the CNM stands for Cheryl (his wife) ‘n Mike--was largely a company effort by his employer, Acme Petroleum. Pope’s crew was comprised of his colleagues, who worked on the car at the company’s Buena Park site.

And next year, they’re adding a speedtruck to the team, along with an additional sponsor.

Pope said it wasn’t easy. “There’s still so much to learn, which is why we chose to add a speedtruck over late model --they’re a lot more user-friendly,” he said.

Pope, 35, dreamed of racing cars as a child, but it wasn’t until last year that he attended a driving school, DriveTech. Things worked out financially, he said, and his Saturday night career began. His season at Irwindale is over, but he will try to race twice more, at the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino, Oct. 16 and 30.

Pope said the speedtruck should arrive in time to race twice at Irwindale. He will drive it once, and Adam Leiter of Long Beach will drive it once. Next season, Pope will drive the speedtruck when he’s not competing in street stock.

CHAMP CARS

All American Racers team owner Dan Gurney quashed the rumor Wednesday that Team Rahal driver Brian Herta will drive next season for AAR.

Herta visited Gurney’s Santa Ana race shop in the last month, but there is no match for next season.

“We talked about racing in general,” Gurney said. “He paid us some compliments and we did the same with him.

“[But] he’s not coming on board.”

SPEEDBOATS

Laguna Beach’s Matt Alcone and his throttleman, Jerry Gilbreath, won the 120-mile Superboat Grand Prix over the weekend in the Bahamas. It’s their third victory in four years for the team, which used a 45-foot Douglas Skater.

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