NASCAR notebook: Victorious Long a good investment

TOOELE — Fundraising is a new experience for Patrick Long. But that is a step he had to take to make his return trip to Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday possible.

When it comes to American Le Mans Series racing, Long has been a paid member of a factory team for the last eight years. The biggest worries he has had in that series is worrying about managing appearance days and their corresponding fees.

But in the world of NASCAR, he is less of a proven commodity. So getting his feet wet in a stock car required some investment from friends and associates — including local drivers Martin and Melanie Snow.

Long credits their support with helping to keep his NASCAR pursuits alive.

"These guys wrote checks out of their pocket because they believe in me and they thought I could win this weekend," Long said. "They knew how close I had come at Sonoma and at Watkins Glen and they didn't want to see me fall by the wayside without putting my name in the record book."

Their faith in Long paid off as he beat rookie driver Paulie Harraka by 5.007 to claim first place in the NASCAR Camping World Series West 125 race in Tooele on Saturday.

Getting a victory at Miller Motorsports Park is just the start. Long hopes to turn that win into several others at different NASCAR courses — including the traditional oval ones.

"I would like to win on an oval," Long said. "Maybe it won't happen this year. But the ultimate gratification in NASCAR is to win in their backyard. This is my backyard."

For now, Long's immediate goal is to finish out the ALMS season with a season title in the GT2 class. He has won four straight races in that series. Two of those victories have come since he won at the Utah Grand Prix in May.

ROUGH DEBUT: Mike Self's first NASCAR race in front of the hometown crowd did not turn out as well as he hoped.

Self, who resides in Park City, only lasted two laps before disaster struck. The engine blew out in his No. 84 car on the first turn in the third lap and he spun off the course.

It led to the first of several sets of caution laps during the race. Self ended up being one of six racers who did not complete the 41-lap race.

AT THE DERBY: Miller Motorsports Park entered a car in a demolition derby that was featured as part of the Tooele County Fair on Saturday. The vehicle was built by the MMP Vehicle Maintenance shop and was driven by the Utah Jazz Bear.

EMAIL: jcoon@desnews.com