Michael O’Brien had not planned on running for a championship but those plans have changed as he now sits atop the Charger division standings at Southern National Motorsports Park.
The 23-year-old scored a victory in the opener at Southern National Motorsports Park on April 11th and has since scored another victory, which came this past Saturday, putting him atop the standings. Now, O’Brien plans to stay at Southern National and hopes he can come away with a championship.
“We’re going to finish out the year at Southern National,” O’Brien said. “We weren’t real sure if we were going to run for points or not but we’re leaning that way now so we’ll try to make every race at Southern National this year and see if we can wind up with the championship at the end of the year.”
The Charger division has become a hybrid between Late Models and Street Stocks. Some drivers in the Charger division have also raced in Limited Late Model races, such as Jeremy Bohne. However, O’Brien says his car is more of a Street Stock than a Late Model. As for moving up to Late Models, O’Brien says he is content in Chargers.
“I’m not sure about moving up. I drive the car for Tracey Muse. It’s his car and, actually, it’s a Street Stock car,” O’Brien explained. “It’s not a Late Model. We’re down power-wise but he knows a setup and everything on the car and we’ve got a good motor man and everything’s falling in to place for us so far this year. I’m content racing in Chargers. We’re having fun doing it. I don’t really see us moving up to Late Models next year.”
Prior to racing in Chargers, O’Brien raced in a four-cylinder Mini Modified at Southern National but the car was totaled in an accident in 2013. That’s when Tracey muse gave him an opportunity he couldn’t pass u.
“I had a Mini Mod four-cylinder and I ran it a couple years at Southern National when it opened back up,” O’Brien remarked. “We had fun with that. The last race in 2013, we got caught up in a wreck and it destroyed it. That’s when Tracey gave me a chance to drive a car. He’s given me the opportunity and I couldn’t thank him enough for it.”
