Confidence Leads to a Championship for David

-Speedway Illustrated December 2007 by Kevin Green
Mike David began the 2007 Season confident he was with a team that could capture the NASCAR Grand National Division, West Series Championship. That confidence was well founded, as the 40 year old veteran driver from Modesto, Calif. won the title this yeat in the West's oldest stock car racing circuit.

The 2007 season amounts to the consummate encore performance; David finished the 2006 season second in the championship standings.

"I was proud of what we accomplished and knew that, even thoughwe were second, we had one of the best teams out there," he said of his runner up finish with the team owned by Randy Lynch. "I think it made the whole team even hungrier to try and win it this year."

The team is headed up by crew chief Mario Isola, a veteren of the West Series who joined Lynch Racing at the beginning of 2006. Whether it was the second place finish that incresed their hunger for a title or just having a year's experience together, the team appeared to take command in the series from the drop fo the green flag in 2007.

"This was our second season with Mario and the team that we raced with the past two years," David said. "I think we gelled a little more and our communication was better. I think we were just sharper as a team this year."

While confident the team was one of the best in the series, David was often reminded not to be too confident.

"I felt like we had the best equipment and the best team," he said. "So, our confidence was pretty good, but I have enough good people around me that keep me grounded and we don't get over-confident or cocky. We still make sure everything gets done and don't overlook anything. all of our preparation makes us a good contending team. I'm confident in my guys and all they do in prepping the cars."

Bolstered by three consecutive podium finished to start the season, David was able to quickly establish a solid lead in the championship standings. By the conclusion of the fourth race, he had a 100 point lead. Although that gap later narrowed to 76 points, David quickly responded and increased it to a 125 point margin. With a third place finish in the season finale, he clinched the title by 114 point over two time series champion Mike Duncan. Looking back, it appeared the championship was David's to lose.

"It's funny, because we parked next to Duncan most of the year," David recalled. "I get along with their guys real well and Bill kept telling me 'You guys are trying to give it away', every time we'd have a little hiccup or driver error at Sonoma or stuff like that. He'd give us a hard time about them catching us. But it was good to be on top of the standings, instead of chasing."

Now that he has had some time to reflect about winning his first championship in the series, David said he had mixed emotions.

"It's almost a relief more than anything." David said. "It was one of our goals when we started out. I felt like it was an achievable goal. So, to finally accomplish it, I'm excited and proud....and feela little bit of relief also."