Gomez Nets 8th Place Finish in NASCAR K&N Pro Series Event in Iowa

Jonathon Gomez 8th Overall and 2nd Among West Drivers
NEWTON, IOWA (May 23, 2010) Jonathon Gomez rallied Sunday afternoon at Iowa Speedway to post an eighth place effort in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series Goodyear Dealer's of Iowa "200". The fourth annual event brought the top talent together from across the country for an all-star race of sorts for competitors in NASCAR top developmental series.

The game plan was simple for the 27-year old competitor from Twin Falls, Idaho; save the tires, and avoid the big one. The big one never happened and fresh tires would be a premium as the event wore on. Gomez qualified 12th out of the 49 competitors on hand for the 200- lap race.

Gomez took the slow and steady approach most of the race and was running 14th at the lap 50 mark. By lap 75 he had moved up to the 11th position with his sights set on the top ten. A caution at lap 79 bunched up the field and many of the leaders opted to pit for tires. Gomez stayed out and restarted the race in the fourth position.

As Gomez crossed the start/finish line at the mid-way point of the race he was running fifth; still on his original set of tires. The Heritage Motor Sports team opted to pit during the caution on lap 127 giving him fresher rubber than the leaders. He restarted tenth setting up a 70-lap sprint to the finish.

Two more cautions bunched up the field but Gomez maintained his position in the top ten. He never fell lower than tenth and survived two late restarts and a green white checkered finish to score an 8th place finish overall and a second place performance among the drivers in the West.

"It was a really good run for us but the car just kept getting tighter the longer we ran," Gomez said. "I passed everyone in the West but Mayhew and everybody out there ran a clean race. It is the first time I finished the race without a scratch. Junior Joiner and everyone on the crew did a great job this weekend filling in for Craig (Raudman) so I could not be happier."

Gomez moved up to fourth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series-West standings after three races just four points out of third place and 81 points out of first. " I know we are really close winning one of these race and finishes like this at Iowa give us a lot of confidence heading into the next race at Roseburg (OR)," Gomez offered. "This was a great points day for us and we are making back the points we lost at All American."

It was a great effort for Gomez and the team after receiving their new car for the race on Friday evening from KHI. "We had a lot of final prep to do on the car all day Saturday," Gomez said. "It didn't have any stickers or graphics on it but it was fast. Junior (Joiner) had a really good setup and I know the more we work with the car the better we can get it."

Jonathon Gomez is in his fourth year of competitive racing having won local track titles at Magic Valley Speedway in Twin Falls and competed in various Late Model events the past couple of seasons. He has started eleven NASCAR K&N Pro Series races since 2008 scoring two top five and six top ten finishes and is in his first full-time season in the NKNPS. Gomez will contend for championships in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour this season.

Jonathon Gomez is supported by Heritage Cattle Company, Century Boatland, J&C Custom Harvesting, United Oil, Modern Machinery, DJ Safety, and Gomez Farms. The next NASCAR K&N Pro Series event for Gomez will be at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, OR June 5. The next event on the SRL schedule is June 12 at Stockton (CA) Speedway. Gomez will also be in action Monday, May 31 in the annual Memorial Day CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series event at Rocky Mountain Raceways in SLC, Utah. For more information on Jonathon Gomez, please log onto his website at www.jonathongomez.com.