46 NASCAR K&N Pro Series competitors from across the country attempted to qualify for one of 40 spots on the starting grid and while Gomez was competitive during two practice sessions, the Craig Raudman led Heritage Cattle Co/Century Boatland/United Oil crew were anxious about qualifying. At stake was a starting position in the event. When qualifying was completed, Gomez clicked off his fastest lap of the weekend (18.587 seconds) around the ultra-fast half-mile paved oval, but was relegated to the 14th starting position in the all-star line up.
The 225-lap event would be broken into three segments. Two 100-lap segments and a final 25-lap shootout to the finish. During the first segment, Gomez just let the race unfold and stayed out of trouble dodging several incidents that took out several cars. By lap 50, he had made his way inside the top ten and moved to as high as sixth place by lap 102 when the first break was called.
The ten minute break allowed teams to make small chassis adjustments and put on a fresh set of tires for the next 100-laps. The Heritage Cattle Co. crew freed up the car a bit for the second 100-laps.
The second segment went caution free for 95-laps during which Gomez fell back as far as tenth but by lap 197, he had moved back up to sixth place. Also during the second segment his Chevrolet developed an oil leak which had the team concerned as NASCAR officials were ever watchful of the car.
The dash to the finish in the last 25-lap segment brought out a lot of fireworks as several of the front runners tangled for position causing numerous caution periods. The last caution set up a 10-lap dash to the finish and by this time Gomez had worked his way up to the third position in sight of the leaders.
Gomez held his own but was unable to catch the top two and settled for a third place finish and his best result to date in the All-Star event.
"I am thrilled with the finish," Gomez said. "Craig Raudman and this whole Heritage Cattle Co. crew did a fantastic job all weekend and this is an awesome way to close out last season and begin this season. I owe so much to my dad (John Gomez) and my wife Chelsia for all their support."
While the smoke from his car had many concernd, Gomez offered, "What smoke? The car was awesome all night and we were able to make the right adjustments late to put us in the position. I was able to avoid the wrecks this time out and bring home a great finish for the team. I can't wait for Phoenix."
Gomez will open up the 14-race 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series campaign February 23 at Phoenix (AZ) Int'l Raceway. Gomez finished 4th at PIR last spring en route to a sixth place final points finish. Gomez led all competitors last season with laps completed (1700 out of 1705) and was the recipient of the Driver Achievement Award for the 2010 season.
Gomez will also defend his SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour championship title again this season in the popular California based Late Model tour. The SRL season gets underway April 2 at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Jonathon Gomez is supported by Heritage Cattle Company, Century Boatland, J&C Custom Harvesting, United Oil, Modern Machinery, DJ Safety, and Gomez Farms. Jonathon Gomez is the 2010 SPEARS SRL Southwest Tour Champion. Gomez is also a winner on the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series and in the Mustang Challenge Series at Miller Motorsports Park. For more information on Jonathon Gomez, please log onto his website at www.jonathongomez.com or www.nascarlocalracing.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.
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