Thompson Makes 100th Career NASCAR K&N Pro Series Start Memorable

JEROME, IDAHO (February 25, 2011) Brett Thompson, driver of the RTTI/Jerome Truck Center Chevrolet, returned to the NASCAR K&N Pro Series where he has spent much of the last decade carving out a place in series history. His return to action at Phoenix (AZ) International Raceway in the 3 Amigos Organic Blanco "100" Thursday evening netting him a fifth place finish in his 100th career series start.




Thompson qualified his Jerome Truck Center Chevrolet in the 17th position in the 36-car field. Thompson's game plan was to take it easy and just ride around until about 30-laps to go then get after it. But like most game plans; they often change once the action begins.



Thompson used the early laps to let the field spread out and he quickly found his rhythm. The action during the first 30 laps was slowed twice for two separate incidents allowing the field to bunch back up. During the second caution period on lap 28 while running in the 11th position, Thompson pitted for fuel but opted to not take on tires figuring he would have an opportunity later in the event.



Thompson restarted in the 18th position and quickly asserted his RTTI Chevrolet into the fray and moved to within sight of the top ten when the next caution flew on lap 38. While riding around under caution, Jim Inglebright moved alongside Thompson and signaled that he had a left front tire going down. Thompson quickly pitted and changed both left side tires and then returned the following lap to change right side tires.



The move set Thompson up with the freshest tires of any of the front runners, but he would have his work cut out for himself as he was mired back in the 20th position. Over the next ten laps, Thompson quickly dispatched several cars and moved into the ninth position on lap 58.



By lap 65, Thompson had managed to make one more pass but found the going a bit more challenging as the entire top ten were racing side-by side nearly every lap.



At lap 71, Thompson had moved into the fifth position, exactly where he wanted to be to close out the race. Over the closing laps he got as high as third but a final caution on lap 90 would set up a seven lap dash to the finish after the field took the green flag on lap 93.



Thompson. Jonathon Gomez, Ty Dillon, and Derek Thorn were all chasing race leader Greg Pursley and on the final restart, Thorn missed a shift allowing Gomez to sneak to the inside and stacking up Thompson and Dillon behind. They all sorted out their machines and over the final three laps the trio wrestled for positions with Thompson crossing the finish line in fifth.



"We are really happy with the finish," Thompson said. "We have always had good cars here at Phoenix but miserable luck during the race. We did not have the speed in qualifying but we knew we had a car that could race really well. Charlie Wilson (crew chief) and all the guys did an awesome job on the pit stops and with the setup. This finish pumped us all up!"



The turning point in the race for Thompson was getting a hand from Inglebright. "Jim is a great competitor and when he let us know the tire was going down we were able to duck down pit road without having to make another lap," Thompson explained. "That made the difference. Since we were already at the tail of the lead lap we opted to come back down and change right side tires giving us one the fastest cars late in the race."



"We rolled the car into the hauler just like we unloaded it; without a scratch. We are all thrilled with the finish and cannot wait until All American."



The next event for the Thompson Motorsports team is Saturday, April 16 at All American Speedway in Roseville, CA. Thompson did not compete in the two races at All American last season but had finishes of 15th and 6th in 2009.



Brett Thompson has started 100 races in NKNPS scoring one win, one pole award, 21 top five and 57 top ten performances. Thompson's best Phoenix finish in his 16 previous starts are a pair of fourth place finishes (04, 08). His fifth place finish Thursday positions him perfectly for a title run in 2011.



Thompson Motorsports is a premier motorsports organization based in Jerome, Idaho providing complete race car preparation and fabrication supporting the local grassroots racer and experienced professional drivers. TMS fields cars in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR K&N Pro Series, CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series, Intermountain Pro Truck Series, and entries at local area short tracks. TMS has corporate partnerships with Rich Thompson Trucking Inc. (RTTI), Jerome Truck Center, Ron's Rear Ends, United Oil, VaCom Technologies, Windmill Inn and Suites, and Speedbear. For all the latest news and information about Brett Thompson and Thompson Motorsports, log onto www.brettthompsonracing.com.