CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series Set for Seventh Season

April 23, 2010 - PRLog -- The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series opens up its seventh campaign Saturday night at Magic Valley Speedway in Twin Falls, Idaho. The series known for its 20-car invert will stage the 24th series event at the one-third mile paved oval that has seen 13 different series winners.  

CarbonX returns for its third season as primary sponsor of the Late Model Stock Car touring series know for producing some of the best short track racing around. "I am thrilled to have CarbonX back with us," stated Mike Minegar, President of the RMCS. "CarbonX has been a great partner and they produce the world's finest protective and fire resistant clothing and this series is a great vehicle to promote their message."

Turning his first laps in the series this season will be NASCAR West standout Brett Thompson from Jerome, ID. Thompson is building a second team to compete in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series so he will scale back his driving in that series planning on making only five starts. But he still wants to compete and the RMCS schedule fits nicely. "I love racing for points," Thompson said. "The RMCS is a great series and I have always had a lot of fun attending the events helping other guys. I am going to run five West races and three Camping World Truck races this year so I can focus on building up the team but I look forward to running the complete RMCS schedule since all the races are close to home."

Bobby Latham III of Twin Falls leads all drivers with four victories at MVS with two-time series champion Dave Minegar scoring three wins. Tom Hill, Bryan Warf, James Eaton, John Newhouse, and John Dillon each have to wins a piece at MVS with six other drivers claiming one victory. Of the multi-time winners, only Minegar and Newhouse will be in action this weekend.

Although they are both legends at MVS, neither Bruce Quale or Steve Jones have claimed an RMCS victory at MVS their "home track", and both have retooled over the winter to challenge for the win Saturday night and the season championship.

Track record holder Jonathon Gomez of Twin Falls will only race selected RMCS races this season as he is competing in both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series and the SRL Southwest Tour full-time. "I love running the RMCS," Gomez said. "We just did not have a car ready to go but we will make several shows this year. I will be at the race though, sitting in the stands being a fan."

Minegar's new crew chief Craig Bell has opted to take a break from driving this season but will bring a lot of expertise to the team as he has the most top five finishes at MVS with eleven followed by two-time champion Zan Sharp with ten. Both John Newhouse and Tom Hill have nine top five finishes followed by Minegar with eight.

The last time the series ran an event in April at MVS, Tom Hill picked up the win on April 19, 2008. This season will see a lot of new faces and new incentive programs for the drivers making this the most anticipated season yet. The series also return to MVS in June and again in September to close out the campaign.

A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning is back with the Rookie-of-the-Year program which will pay $100 to the top finishing rookie in each event. Welcome news for both Kenny Vanderham and Lonnie Lowder who will lead a talented rookie class this season.

Sharp Powder Coating will again sponsor the fast time award worth $100 for driver who sets fast time in each RMCS event plus $100 to a random driver in the field. ESI Construction will pay $5 per lap led at each event all season with the ESI Lap Leader Award.

Century Boatland located in Twin Falls is a new sponsor this season to the RMCS providing a significant contribution to this season ending point's fund. Longacre Racing Products, Joes Racing Products, and Circle Wheels all have product deals in place awarded to random finishers in each event this season.

The RMCS utilizes a racing format not found in ANY other regional touring series around the country. The top 20 qualifiers are inverted for every race putting fast time in the 20th starting position. This format ensures race fans see what they paid for and that is passing. Each driver is awarded three points per position gained in the event. Points are also awarded for qualifying and heat race finishes. Through the history of the series, the winning driver has averaged a 15th place starting position. To ensure competition, the RMCS pays it purse based on total point accumulation for the event and provides several special performance awards for each event.

The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series is a regional touring series that allows all competitors to race and gain experience on different types of racetracks. It is a high-quality professional racing series that offers maximum opportunity at an affordable price serving the intermountain West. The motto of the series is to “Race Hard and Have Fun!” For all the latest news and information regarding the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series log on to our website at http://www.rmcsracing.com . Click this link to watch an interview with RMCS President Mike Minegar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC6Xf8cRr6w



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