Michael Pope Looks Forward to Home Field Advantage

In sports, teams always look forward to the ‘home field’ advantage. The claim is that the support of the hometown fans helps when it comes to beating opponents. This weekend, 17-year-old Michael Pope is looking for that home field advantage as he heads to Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA) to compete in the next Georgia Asphalt Series event.

“I am pretty excited to be racing at home,” said Pope. “It’s about as close as we get to my hometown, just a little over an hour. A lot of my friends from school are actually talking about getting together and heading on down, so I think that we should have a pretty good crowd. And it always makes it a little easier and a little bit more fun to race in front of a big group of fans.”

In 2006, Pope made three starts at the track, and he was able to improve his performance each time. The last time he paid a visit to the track was back in the fall of ’06, but he netted himself a top-10 finish. Considering the string of finishes that Pope has brought home thus far in ’07, another top-five or even a win is definitely not out of the picture.

“The last time that we were at Watermelon Capital, we

finished seventh. This time we are planning on being up front for the win. We’ve been good so far this year, and there is no reason for us not to be up front.

“The success that we have had this year has just built my confidence and my team’s confidence up so much. Last year we had a lot of rear-end problems with the racecars, so now this year we know what a messed up rear-end feels like. And we haven’t been having any problems. I think that we should do real well.”

Pope hopes that the momentum from this season will continue into this weekend, and he has taken a few extra measures just to make sure that everything goes smoothly at Watermelon Capital Speedway.

“We went and practiced down at Cordele a few weeks ago. It was the first place we went and practiced when we switched over to the crate motor, and so we have a good amount of laps on the track. We were turning some really good times. I think that we will be good.”

In addition to it being a home race for Pope, Watermelon Capital Speedway is also a track that is close to one of Michael’s Charities, which he carries on his car. The Children’s Hospital located in Macon, Georgia, will be able to have a presence in the event.

“We are going to have a patient from the Children’s Hospital come down for the race,” added Pope. “He is from my hometown of Dublin, but he goes to the Children’s Hospital to get treatment, so we are going to get him down to the

racetrack and see if we can get him involved with some of the pre-race activities. It would be awesome to be able to win for him and make it a good weekend for everybody.

For more information on the charities that Michael supports, the Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Miracle Network, or to make a donation, please visit their site at www.medcenfoundation.org

Michael Pope’s racing season will continue next weekend on Saturday, March 24th, at Watermelon Capital Speedway when the Georgia Asphalt Series heads to Cordele, Georgia. Racing will get underway at 7:30 pm.