Broken Bracket Busts Thompson's Run at Miller Motorsports Park

JEROME, IDAHO (May 2, 2011) Brett Thompson, driver of the RTTI/Jerome Truck Service Inc. Chevrolet, thought he had played the perfect hand Saturday afternoon in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series event at the 2.2-mile East course at Miller Motorsports Park located in Toole, UT thirty minutes West of Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, the race did not play out as scripted after a broken bracket dropped Thompson from the lead pack late in the race.




Thompson qualified 20th for the 50-lap/110-mile race at the world-class Miller Motorsports Park. The plan was to stop early and gain track position in order to be among the leaders late in the race.



Thompson pitted for fuel and tires on lap 11 under caution dropping him back in the field. As the laps clicked off, Thompson had moved up through the gaggle of cars and was running third on lap 21. So far so good.



By lap 26, a couple of cars were able to move by Thompson then on lap 27 as Thompson took the hard left hand corner in turn one his rear panhard bar bracket broke causing his Chevrolet to cascade off a car to his outside. Thompson manage to keep the car on track and limp back around to the pit area.



The damage was significant but the crew was able to re-weld the bracket and get Thompson back out into the fray albeit five laps down. For the rest of the race all Thompson could do was ride around and hope others dropped out.



"I thought we had the right strategy playing out," Thompson said. "This is the second time a bracket like this has broken on us so we are going to have to take a hard look at what is coming from the manufacturers. The "attitudes" section of the course is real hard on the chassis and it probably caused the bracket to crack." I am disappointed as we had a really good car and had put ourselves in position for a good finish. But that is racing."



Next up for Brett Thompson and the Thompson Motorsports team is the annual EAST/West combination event at Iowa Speedway May 21. Last season at Iowa, a cut tire late in the race dropped Thompson from contention. "I love the Iowa track," Thompson said. "I wish we could run all our races there. It is fast, wide, and a lot of fun to drive. We have a great car for the race and I am looking forward to 200-laps. It is going to be a lot of fun."



Thompson has started 102 NKNPS races since 2000 scoring one win, one Coors Light Pole Award, 21 top five and 58 top ten performances. His best points finish was fifth in 2009. The finish at Miller dropped Brett Thompson to seventh place in the championship standings after three races just 29-points out of the top five. Thompson has finishes of fifth, eighth, and 22nd so far this season.



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 driver. TMS prepares and fields race vehicles 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 Service Inc., Eibach Springs, Schroeder Torsion Bars, United Oil, Speedbear Fasteners, and Hagerman Valley Spring Water. For all the latest news and information about Brett Thompson and Thompson Motorsports, log onto www.brettthompsonracing.com.