RMCS Kicks Off Seventh Season Saturday Night
The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series, which holds an event during the annual Idaho 200 weekend at Stateline Speedway this summer, kicks its 2010 season off in Twin Falls, ID on April 24. Dave Minegar is a past champion of the series and looks to contend again this season with Craig Bell serving as his crew chief.
Courtesy: RMCS Media Relations
BOISE, IDAHO (April 23, 2010) The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series opens up
its seventh campaign Saturday night at Magic Valley Speedway in Twin Falls, Idaho.
The series known for its 20-car invert will stage the 24th series event at the
one-third mile paved oval that has seen 13 different series winners.
CarbonX returns for its third season as primary sponsor of the Late Model Stock Car
touring series know for producing some of the best short track racing around.
"I am thrilled to have CarbonX back with us," stated Mike Minegar,
President of the RMCS. "CarbonX has been a great partner and they produce the
world's finest protective and fire resistant clothing and this series is a great
vehicle to promote their message."
Turning his first laps in the series this season will be NASCAR West standout Brett
Thompson from Jerome, ID. Thompson is building a second team to compete in the
NASCAR K&N Pro Series so he will scale back his driving in that series planning
on making only five starts. But he still wants to compete and the RMCS schedule fits
nicely. "I love racing for points," Thompson said. "The RMCS is a
great series and I have always had a lot of fun attending the events helping other
guys. I am going to run five West races and three Camping World Truck races this
year so I can focus on building up the team but I look forward to running the
complete RMCS schedule since all the races are close to home."
Bobby Latham III of Twin Falls leads all drivers with four victories at MVS with
two-time series champion Dave Minegar scoring three wins. Tom Hill, Bryan Warf,
James Eaton, John Newhouse, and John Dillon each have to wins a piece at MVS with
six other drivers claiming one victory. Of the multi-time winners, only Minegar and
Newhouse will be in action this weekend.
Although they are both legends at MVS, neither Bruce Quale or Steve Jones have
claimed an RMCS victory at MVS and both have retooled
over the winter to challenge for the win Saturday night and the season championship.
Track record holder Jonathon Gomez of Twin Falls will only race selected RMCS races
this season as he is competing in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and the SRL
Southwest Tour full-time. "I love running the RMCS," Gomez said. "We
just did not have a car ready to go but we will make several shows this year. I will
be at the race though, sitting in the stands being a fan."
Minegar's new crew chief Craig Bell has opted to take a break from driving this
season but will bring a lot of expertise to the team as he has the most top five
finishes at MVS with eleven followed by two-time champion Zan Sharp with ten. Both
John Newhouse and Tom Hill have nine top five finishes followed by Minegar with
eight.
The last time the series ran an event in April at MVS, Tom Hill picked up the win on
April 19, 2008. This season will see a lot of new faces and new incentive programs
for the drivers making this the most anticipated season yet. The series also return
to MVS in June and again in September to close out the campaign.
A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning is back with the Rookie-of-the-Year program which
will pay $100 to the top finishing rookie in each event. Welcome news for both Kenny
Vanderham and Lonnie Lowder who will lead a talented rookie class this season.
Sharp Powder Coating will again sponsor the fast time award worth $100 for driver
who sets fast time in each RMCS event plus $100 to a random driver in the field. ESI
Construction will pay $5 per lap led at each event all season with the ESI Lap
Leader Award.
Century Boatland located in Twin Falls is a new sponsor this season to the RMCS
providing a significant contribution to this season ending point's fund. Longacre
Racing Products, Joes Racing Products, and Circle Wheels all have product deals in
place awarded to random finishers in each event this season.
The RMCS utilizes a racing format not found in ANY other regional touring series
around the country. The top 20 qualifiers are inverted for every race putting fast
time in the 20th starting position. This format ensures race fans see what they paid
for and that is passing. Each driver is awarded three points per position gained in
the event. Points are also awarded for qualifying and heat race finishes. Through
the history of the series, the winning driver has averaged a 15th place starting
position. To ensure competition, the RMCS pays it purse based on total point
accumulation for the event and provides several special performance awards for each
event.
The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series is a regional touring series that allows
all competitors to race and gain experience on different types of racetracks. It is
a high-quality professional racing series that offers maximum opportunity at an
affordable price serving the intermountain West.