TWIN FALLS, IDAHO (November 5, 2010) Jonathon Gomez of Twin Falls, Idaho may technically be a rookie in the SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour but he performed like a veteran all season and claimed his first touring series championsip with a third place finish in the series finale this past weekend. Gomez had to finish 14th or better in the Real Fast TV 200 presented by K&N Filters at the Bullring in Las Vegas, NV to secure the title, but laying back has not been his style all season.


Gomez qualified for the 200-lap event with the second quick time demonstrating his desire to not only win but leave nothing on the table. Gomez would start in the 6th position after the invert and the plan for the race was get to the front and try to lead as many laps as possible. But that too was the plan for championship rivals Jim Pettit II and Derek Thorn.

Gomez ran the entire race in the five and kept the leaders in sight and was able to make several late race passes for position and take the third spot with a handful of laps left in the race. While Pettit won the race, Gomez continued his streak of eight top five finishes with a third place performance and a trip into the SRL record books.

"I planned to treat this race like any other," Gomez offered. "But once the green flag dropped I got real nervous and just wanted to avoid any wrecks. We had a great run and it was a lot of fun racing all night. I will admit late in the race I was a bit on edge. I have to credit my spotter Dave Reed for keeping me calm and focused; especially during the late stages of the race as every noise got me nervous."

Gomez also credits his crew for the championship. "We never had a single mechanical failure or issue all season and that was the difference," Gomez continued. "We were competitive all season at every track and to come out on top over guys like Jim Pettit and M.K. Kanke demonstrate the caliber of this Bob Strandwold team."

While Gomez will have a little time to savor this accomplishment, he climbs back behind the wheel of his NASCAR K&N Pro Series car next weekend in Phoenix. "It is just an amazing feeling to win a championship at this level of racing," Gomez said.

“I’m just so thankful for the opportunity that my team and to Bob Strandwold who put us in a position to win a championship in a major series like the SRL. Ron (Copeland) and Craig (Raudman) did an excellent job preparing the car all year, with no mechanical failures all season which is what it took to win this championship against all these great teams in the SRL.”

In eleven career SRL starts, Gomez has scored two wins, nine top five and ten top ten performances along with one quick time award. Gomez will be back in SRL action on November 27 at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale (CA) for the Lucas Oil California Classic that will be broadcast live to a nationwide audience.

Gomez also sits in the sixth position in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series-West standings, 14-points out of fifth place and 44-points behind fourth place. After eleven races this season he has scored three top five and six top ten performances with his best result of second place at Iowa Speedway back in May. The final event for the NKNPS is Saturday, November 13 at the one-mile oval of Phoenix International Raceway as part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend.

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 19 NASCAR K&N Pro Series races since 2008 scoring ten top ten finishes and is in his first full-time season in the NKNPS. Gomez has averaged a 10.6 finishing position through ten races and has completed 1,425 of 1,430 laps (99.6%) contested so far this season to lead all competitors.

Jonathon Gomez is supported by Heritage Cattle Company, Century Boatland, J&C Custom Harvesting, United Oil, Modern Machinery, DJ Safety, and Gomez Farms. Gomez is currently sixth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series standings heading into the final event at Phoenix in mid November. Gomez also won the series finale for the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series in September for his first career RMCS victory. For more information on Jonathon Gomez, please log onto his website at www.jonathongomez.com. You can also follow all of the best in West coast racing action by visiting www.racingwest.com.

Marketing partnerships and sponsorship opportunities for the 2011 racing season are still available with Heritage Motor Sports and rising star Jonathon Gomez. For a custom proposal and additional information please contact John Gomez at 208/731-1288.

Thank you for your interest and continued support of Jonathon Gomez, driver of the Heritage Motor Sports/Century Boatland Chevrolet in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series-West, SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour, and the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series.
~John Gomez