Points Lead Flips With Newhouse Retaking Top Spot Despite Challenge
BOISE, IDAHO (August 3, 2010) Zan Sharp from Wellsville, Utah returned to form Saturday night dominating the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series NAPA Duel for the 200 at Stateline Stadium Speedway in front of an enthusiastic northern Idaho crowd. Sharp edged first time series competitor Dan Rhodes to collect his sixth career series triumph. Bruce Quale finished third with Idaho 200 winner John Dillon claiming the fourth position and INSSA star Dave Garber rounding out the top five.
Dave Minegar of Boise scored his series leading 23rd career Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Award to lead all 22- qualifiers for the 100-lap duel. Dillon, Jonathon Gomez, Sharp, and Craig Bell rounded out the top five in qualifying. Heat races were won by Garber, Rhodes, and Lynn Hardy.
On the line for the event was an automatic lock into the Idaho 200. The top six points finishers from the RMCS event would be the second six locked in after the the first six were locked in following Friday nights INSSA race.
The customary 20-car RMCS invert put fast qualifier Minegar at the rear and first time local competitor Todd Havens on the point alongside leading A-1 Heating and Air Conditioning Rookie-of-the-Year leader Eric Rhead.
Friday nights race had several caution periods for on-track incident on the tricky quarter-mile paved oval but Saturday night the RMCS event only had three quick cautions for single car spins.
While other series' and local short tracks utilize a cone for double file restarts, the RMCS relies on good old fashioned racing where the fast drivers start at the rear and move to the front providing great side-by-side racing action. The RMCS competitors did not disappoint as six of the top ten finishers started outside the top ten and eleven of the 22 starters finished better then they started.
In a race that only took 45 minutes to complete, Sharp dominated the action and was never seriously challenged once he took the lead. Rhodes, who used the race as a test session on the Hoosier 2040 rubber that would be used in the Idaho 200, finished second after starting 9th. Bruce Quale moved up from 15th on the starting grid to finish third for his second top five finish of the season.
John Dillon finished fourth after starting 19th and Dave Garber moved up from the 14th position to round out the top five finishers.
But the night belonged to Zan Sharp who moved up to the lead on lap 45 from his 17th starting position and never looked back picking up the halfway leader bonus and the win.
"The team really needed this," Sharp said. "Racing is a whole lot of fun when you can run this good and win. I had a lot of fun here at Stateline and really like this little track."
Sharp's victory did not come without complications. On Friday night in the INSSA race, his car was tagged in the rear by another competitor sending the two-time RMCS champion into the front stretch wall ending his night early. The crew had to work all night and into the morning in order to get the car back in shape to race.
"Brandon (Rhiel) and the rest of the guys did a fantastic job getting the car back together," Sharp offered. "I need to thank Kevin Richards for the use of his shop and all the guys for staying all night to get it put back together."
Finishing second in his first start was Dan Rhodes. "I had fun and these guys are good clean racers," Rhodes said. "I needed time on the tires and had a great race at the same time."
"I kind of surprised myself," stated third place finishers Bruce Quale. "We were out the lunch all day until the race. We fixed a bent sway bar bracket just before the main event and that made all the difference in the world. I am thrilled to finish third up here at Stateline. What a fun race."
John Newhouse took back the point lead after a seventh place finish. Newhouse leads Steve Jones (finished 9th) by 25 heading into the final three races of the season. Brett Thompson falls one position to third place just one point behind Jones. Lynn Hardy maintains the fourth position with Dave Minegar rounding out the top five in the standings.
Seven RMCS regulars stayed over for the Idaho 200 on Sunday afternoon. John Dillon ended Gary Lewis' win streak by dominating the second half of the 200-lap event and becoming the first Idaho driver in seven years to win the prestigious Idaho 200.
"This is what we set out to do and we did it," stated an excited Dillon. "We have wanted to win this race for some time and we had the best car and the best setup today. It was not easy and you never can count out Lewis. I was watching him in my mirror those last 20 laps."
For his part, finishing second to Dillon was just fine. "If I had to lose it then I am really happy to finish second to John Dillon," Lewis said. "He is a great champion and a great driver. He drove a heck of a race."
Craig Bell finished the Idaho 200 in the fourth position followed Jonathon Gomez in fifth, John Newhouse in sixth, Dave Minegar in seventh, Dylan Caldwell in 18th, and Zan Sharp in 19th. In total, the RMCS competitors grabbed three of the top five finishing positions and six of the top ten.
The next event on the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series schedule is Saturday, August 21 at Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley, Utah. The race will be the fourth visit of the year for the series and John Dillon is the defending race winner.
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 onto www.rmcsracing.com.
Photo credit: DJS Sports Marketing.
~Mike Minegar, President RMCS
DJS Sports Marketing | Meridian, ID | 208/870-8066 | derrick@djssportsmarketing.com | www.djssportsmarketing.co
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