2018 Year in Review – Mitchel Moles
Sprint Car Insider- Driver Exclusive. FRESNO, Ca. (December 5, 2018) –
Mitchel Moles showed up to the track in 2018 with a different attitude – a different winning attitude.
Moles comes away from 2018 with a staggering top 5 percentage of 51% along with 9% of his races in victory lane after winning on six occasions out of 45 races.
Each time Moles strapped into the racecar the only position he would consider a success was first. Moles was able to land four victories on the year but perhaps more impressive was how often he contended for them.
Moles landed in the top 5 in 24 of his 45 features. He finished in the top 10 in 34 of his 45 features, and earned 18 different podium finishes across the two classes he raced. To be exact he rounded out his season with a winning percentage of 9%, top 5 percentage of 51%, Top 10 percentage of 74%, and 37% of the time he was on the podium.
Although according to Moles he wishes he would have won more, the numbers do not lie. Every race Moles showed up to, he was in contention to win. Moreover, he also transitioned to a different brand in the final quarter of the season and switched his primary class around the same time while sprinkling double duty in there on multiple occasions.
Moles’ first victory of the year came at Lemoore Raceway on June 2, in the Non Wing class. On that night he drove to his first victory in over three years.
With the performance level Moles brought to the table on such a consistent basis, it was hard to think he nearly gave up racing for good. Just one short year prior to the beginning of his 2018 season Moles was all-in on becoming a professional bass fisherman. Racing was merely a forethought until somewhere along the 2017 season the spark was rekindled.
Mitchel Moles will tell you today that the difference for him was learning, and becoming more involved with the day to day maintenance and performance of the car.
“Once I started working on them more, that was the difference for me,” said Moles. “It’s one thing to race them, but being able to work on them brings along a whole new appreciation.”
The fruit of his labor became evident the very next weekend when he achieved a long time goal of his. On June 8, at Keller Auto Raceway Plaza Park, Mitchel Moles beat his predecessor, and long-time friend, Tj Smith, straight-up, for the first time.
This night at Plaza Mitchel Moles became the man to beat. He went 30-laps ahead of one of the greatest Micro Sprint racers in history to claim his second win of the season and first King of California triumph.
Although his performance elevation was already noticeable, it advanced yet another notch on this night in June.
June ended up being quite the month for Moles.
Plaza Park had always been a special place for the Moles family and it would prove to be yet again. Just when it looked as if Moles was riding the wave of momentum to its maximum status Moles etched himself another notch higher on the elite scale when he came out and pulled off something only achieved by the all-time greats. Well on his way to being known as that caliber of driver Moles cemented his status when he pulled off the double-duty sweep at Plaza Park during the Budweiser Outlaw Nationals.
Once known as the claim to fame for Plaza Park Raceway the Budweiser Outlaw Nationals hold some serious clout when it comes to west coast Micro Sprint racing. Now proceeding Speedweek drivers from far and wide found themselves on the hallowed grounds of Plaza Park where they met the juggernaut named Mitchel Moles. Moles was simply untouchable on night one of the Outlaw nationals, with, or without a wing on.
He first dominated the 30-lap Super 600 main event, marking his first win with a wing on since the days of the restricted class. Going into Speedweek this also served as a huge momentum builder heading into the most significant stretch of the season. Then it was time for the non-wing main with a sweep on the line.
Moles went out and laid down the gauntlet. He drove his way to a dominant 30-lap victory adding another page to the storied history between Plaza Park Raceway and the Moles family. After that win, Plaza became the sight of his first career sweep of Super 600 and Non-Wing in the same night. Moles had already been establishing himself as a prominent threat but from that moment he transformed from threat to favorite.
Plaza Park would come to play even more significance for Moles later in the year.
Moles then drove his way to victory once more at Delta Speedway after returning from a quality showing at the Clay Cup. In September Moles made another career-changing adjustment when he took a chance on the all-new TEN-J chassis.
Right out of the gate he was fast. He drove his way to QuickTime in his first qualifying attempt aboard a TEN-J and a podium at the Mark Hagopian Memorial.
He capped off his season by picking up his first win in a TEN-J and fourth of the season at Lemoore Raceway’s California Cup. He won in dominating fashion.
However as the 2018 season comes to a close and everyone’s eyes shift to Tulsa, Moles may have knocked down his most impressive feat. Mitchel Moles is now your track record holder at Keller Auto Raceway Plaza Park.
On the very last weekend of racing for the year Mitchel Moles eclipsed a 7-year standing track record at Plaza Park by dropping into the low 10 second bracket in the Super 600 class.
The speed is there, his confidence is high, and after an extremely successful 2018 campaign, Mitchel Moles now shifts his focus to the Tulsa Expo Center and bringing home the most coveted prize in all of Micro Sprint racing – the Golden Driller.
Mitchel Moles full 2018 statistics are listed below.
In the coming days and weeks be sure to stay right here on Sprint Car Insider for all of the Official Releases regarding Tulsa. We are set to take you all the way up to the 34th Annual Tulsa Shootout following his quest to capture the coveted Golden Driller presented by Southern Pacific Farms.
Until then-
Follow Mitchel Moles and his racing personally at
Twitter: @mitchelmoles01
Facebook: Mitchel Moles
Instagram: mitchelmoles
Mitchel Moles 2018 Stats
Features: 45
Wins: 6
Top 5: 24
Top 10: 34
Quick Time: 4
2nd: 4
Podiums: 18
2018 Percentages:
Win % – 9.3 %
Top 5 % – 51%
Top 10 % – 74 %
Podium % – 37%
Avg. Finishing Position: 6.72
Catch Mitchel Moles in action next
On the Horizon for Mitchel Moles
34 Annual Tulsa Shootout
January 1-5, 2019
Tulsa Expo Center
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Mitchel Moles 2018 Results
1. 4/13 – King of California 1 Dixon
DNS
2. 4/14 – King of California 2 Delta Speedway
Non Wing
Main 3rd
Qual: 5th
3. 4/27 – King of California 3 Plaza Park
Non Wing
Main: 5th
4. 5/12 – Lemoore Raceway
Non Wing
Main: 8th
Qual: 7th
5. 5/25 – Lemoore Tachi Palace Nationals
Non wing
Main: 7th
Qual: 14th
6. 5/26 – Lemoore Tachi Palace Nationals 2
Non Wing
Main: 10th
Qual: 10th
7. 6/2 – Lemoore Raceway
Non Wing
Main: 1st
Qual: 1st
8. Super 600
Main: 3rd
Qual: 4th
9. 6/8 – Plaza Park King of California 7
Non Wing –
Main: 1st
10. 6/9 – Lemoore King of California 8
Non Wing –
Main: 4th
Qual: 1st
11. 6/15 – Delta Speedway
Non-Wing
Main: 15th
Qual: 2nd
12. 6/16 – Delta Speedway
Non-Wing
Main: 3rd
Qual: 5th
13. 6/21 – Budweiser Outlaw Nationals – Plaza Park
Non-Wing
Main: 1st
14. Super 600
Main: 1st
15. 6/26 CA SPEEDWEEK Dixon
Non wing:
Main: 10th
Qual: 9th
16. Super 600
Main: 14th
Qual: 5th
17. 6/27 CA SPEEDWEEK Delta
Non Wing
Main: 4th
Qual: 3rd
18. Super 600
Main: 14th
Qual: 16th
19. 6/29 CA SPEEDWEEK Plaza
Non Wing
Main: 2nd
Qual: 1st
20. Super 600
Main: 20th
Qual: 7th
21. 6/30 CA SPEEDWEEK Lemoore
Non Wing
Main: 2nd
Qual: 4th
22. Super 600
Main: 11th
Qual: 18th
23. 7/6 Jet Bowl Classic – Lemoore
Non Wing
Main: 5th
Qual: 11th
24. 7/6 – Super 600
Main: DNS
Qual: 11th
25. 7/7 Jet Bowl Classic – Lemoore
Non Wing
Main: 5th
Qual: 6th
26. 7/13 King of California 9 – Dixon
Non Wing
Main: 19th Dnf
Qual: n/a
27. 7/14 King of California 10 – Delta
Non Wing
Main:
Qual:
28. Clay Cup night 1 (7/19) – Deming Speedway
Super 600
Qual: 12th
Main: 11th
29. Clay Cup night 2 (7/20) – Deming Speedway
Super 600
Heat: 5th
B- Main: 9th
A-Main: Dnq
30. Clay Cup Championship Night (7/21) Deming Speedway
Super 600
B-main: 5th
Main Event: 8th
31. 7/28 Delta Speedway
Non Wing
Main: 1st
Qual: 4th
32. 8/18 Delta Speedway
Non Wing
Main: 2nd
Qual: 5th
33. 8/25 Lemoore Raceway
Non Wing
Main: 2nd (technical dq)
Qual: 4th
34. 9/7 King of California 13 Plaza
Non Wing
Main: 3rd
35. 9/8 King of California 14 Lemoore
Non Wing
Main: 4th
Qual: 4th
36. 9/21 Mark Hagopian Memorial night 1 – Plaza
Non – Wing
Main: 11th
Qual: 11th
37. 9/21 MHM Super 600 *TEN-J Debut*
Super 600
Main: 8th
Qual: 17th
38. 9/22 Mark Hagopian Memorial Plaza
Non Wing
Main: 3rd
Qual: 1st (first time in 10j non wing)
39. 9/22 MHM – Plaza. Night two
Super 600
B- Main: 5th
A- Main: Dnq
Qual: 29th
40. 9/29 Budweiser Grand Prix – Lemoore
Non- Wing
Main: 8th
Qual: dns
41. 9/29 Budweiser Grand Prix
Super 600
Main: 11th
Qual: 2nd
42. 10/5 King of California 15 – Dixon
Super 600
Main: 3rd
Qual:
43. 10/6 King of California 16 – Delta
Super 600
Main: 3rd
Qual: 9th
44. 10/11 – 10/12 Cal Cup Lemoore
Super 600
Main: 1st
Qualifier: 3rd
45. 11/16 Turkey Night at Plaza – Plaza
Non Wing 600
Main: 10th
Qual: 5th
46. 11/16 Turkey Night at Plaza – Plaza
Super 600
Qual: 1st *new track record*
Main: 3rd
2018 Win Dates
6/2/2018 – Lemoore Raceway non wing
6/8/2018 – Keller Auto Raceway Plaza Park KofC – non wing
6/21/2018 – Keller Auto Raceway Plaza Park – Outlaw Nationals Super 600
6/21/2018 – Keller Auto Raceway Plaza Park – Outlaw Nationals – non wing
7/28/2018 – Delta Speedway non wing
10/12/2018 – Lemoore Raceway Cal Cup Super 600
Wins by Track:
Lemoore Raceway: 2
Plaza Park Raceway: 3
Delta Speedway: 1
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