Thompson Posts Sixth Place Performance at Portland

JEROME, IDAHO (July 26, 2011) Brett Thompson, driver of the RTTI/Jerome Truck Service Inc. Chevrolet, notched his best road course finish of the season this past weekend at Portland (OR) Int'l Raceway in the Bi-Mart Salute to the Troops "125" for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series-West. Thompson overcame three off track excursions en route to his fourth top ten finish of the season.



The Thompson Motorsports crew was excited to complete the third of three road course events on the schedule. Part of that optimism was the fact the team had a really good race car for the event coupled with Dale Quarterly joining the team for the weekend as driver coach.



The coaching paid off as Thompson was among the fastest in both practice sessions on Saturday and backed up his practice speeds with one of his best road course qualifying efforts to date Sunday morning. "Dale really helped me with my lines and how to better race the track," Thompson said. "He was a big help to me and the team this weekend."



Thompson started the 68-lap (the race went extra distance and finished with a green/white/checkered) event from the 14th position but quickly moved up during the first third of the race. By lap 25, he was running fifth and pitted a few laps later. He rejoined the field outside the top ten but by lap 38 he was back in the top ten closing on the leaders.



While his race was not without challenges, the veteran competitor persevered and overcame three spins to finish in sixth place to record his best finish in the last four races.



"Road racing is not easy but I really enjoy the challenge," Thompson offered. "I over-drove one of the corners and looped the car myself. The other two I got run off the track. But that is just close racing and I am glad we were able to make it back through the field and get a solid finish."



While a top ten finish is always on your mind, the result did little to close the gap on the top five as he still sits 33-points out. "All the guys ahead of me in the points had good runs and finished ahead me in the race," Thompson said. "The important thing is we finish races and complete every lap, the points take care of themselves. I am really looking forward to the next three short track races. We have a great car and we feel we have a great shot at getting back into victory lane."



Of the three tracks the series will visit in the next month, only Colorado National Speedway is familiar to Thompson. "I love Colorado," Thompson said. "We have always run really good there and if it were not for cutting a tire a couple years ago we had the win in our sights." The series will also visit Montana Raceway Park in Kalispell, MT, and an inaugural event in Spokane Labor Day weekend.



Through nine races this season, Thompson has averaged a finish of 11.5 while completing 94% of all laps contested and has been running at the conclusion at eight of the nine races. He currently holds down the sixth position in the point standings on the strength of two top five and four top ten performances. In his NASCAR K&N Pro Series career, Thompson has started 108 NKNPS races since 2000 scoring one win, one Coors Light Pole Award, 22 top five and 60 top ten performances. His best points finish was fifth in 2009.



Thompson Motorsports is a premier racing 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 or NASCAR Hometracks.

Thank you for your interest continued support of Thompson Motorsports, a premier motorsports operation in Jerome, Idaho fielding entries in NASCAR, regional Late Model racing, and local short tracks.
~Thompson Motorsports