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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Keeping Pace

Thompson Scores First Career Victory On Rocky Mountain Challenge Series

Brett Thompson, who hails from Jerome, Idaho, heads to Madera, Calif. for this week's stop on the NASCAR Camping World West Series. (Photo courtesy of NASCAR) (Todd Warshaw / The Spokesman-Review)
Brett Thompson, who hails from Jerome, Idaho, heads to Madera, Calif. for this week's stop on the NASCAR Camping World West Series. (Photo courtesy of NASCAR) (Todd Warshaw / The Spokesman-Review)

Brett Thompson has done plenty of racing in his late model and NASCAR West Series career but he'd not yet scored a main event win on the Rocky Mountain Challenge Series until Saturday night in Meridian, Idaho.

Courtesy: RMCS Media Relations

BOISE, IDAHO (June 26, 2010) The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series visited
Meridian (ID) Speedway for round five of the championship series and it was Brett
Thompson out of Jerome, Idaho scoring his first career series victory. Thompson and
John Dillon waged a terrific battle over the closing laps but Dillon spun when he
got on the outside of Thompson with four laps to go. Thompson hung on after the
restart to take the checkers ahead of local hero John Nesmith, with Thane Alderman
making the tow all the way from Las Vegas, NV finishing in third. New point leader
John Newhouse finished fourth with Dillon rebounding for fifth.

Thompson has four top three finishes in five starts this season in his quest for the
series title. "I never thought my first win would come at Meridian but I am
thrilled," Thompson said. "This is a big win for the team and a great
boost in the point standings. It was an awesome day and what a great crowd. I am
sure they saw a heck of a race."

Newhouse has a 24-point advantage on Thompson with Steve Jones falling to third
after a practice crash sidelined the team and he did not turn a lap in the race.
Lynn Hardy is fourth with Thane Alderman moving into the fifth position. Dave
Minegar, Bruce Quale, Eric Rhead, Joe Miller, and Russell Butler round out the top
ten.

Minegar set a new qualifying record with a quick lap of 13.145 seconds lap around
the newly paved quarter mile oval.

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. The motto of the series is to
“Race Hard and Have Fun!” For all the latest news and information
regarding the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series log on to our website at
MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "et.ratepoint.com" claiming
to be www.rmcsracing.com or follow all the racing action from around the west at
MailScanner has detected a possible fraud attempt from "et.ratepoint.com" claiming
to be www.racingwest.com.



Keeping Pace

Motorsports correspondent Doug Pace keeps up with motorsports news and notes from around the region.