Gomez seeks first NASCAR K&N Pro Series victory this weekend

July 10, 2012 - PRLog -- Jonathon Gomez, driver of the #22 Century Boatland/Living Like a Pirate Chevrolet, first visit to Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA back in 2008 resulted in a top ten performance in only his second start in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series. This Saturday, Gomez is hoping for some of that same Monroe magic in round nine of the 15-race championship series.

Gomez currently sits in the sixth in the point standings after a seventh place performance in the series last event at Sonoma (CA) Raceway three weeks ago. A solid result this weekend will go a long way in the championship standings as he is only 7-points out of fifth place and 71-points out of the top spot.

Gomez last competed on the 5/8-mile super speedway of the west two weekends ago at the Late Model Summer Showdown, and while he was among the fastest drivers all weekend qualifying second, he was involved in a mid-race accident destroying his Late Model.

"I was really disappointed about the finish at Monroe for the Summer Showdown," Gomez said. "We were fast and had a car that could have won but that's racing sometimes. I am focused on this weekend and really think we have a car that can win our first K&N Pro Series race."

After a 24th place finish in round one at Phoenix back in March, Gomez has finished no worse than 16th with five consecutive top ten performances completing 99.5% of all laps in competition. That consistency has vaulted him back into championship contention.

"In this series if you are not consistent then you are not really in the hunt," Gomez said. "We need top five finishes from here on out if we hope to make a run at the leaders."

The NKNPS also demands strong qualifying efforts as rarely does the winner come from outside the top ten. "Qualifying is one area we are still working on each race," Gomez said. "While the layout at Evergreen is larger than most short tracks we race, we still need to start up front as the track can get pretty narrow."

The team's next NKNPS start will be July 28 at Colorado National Speedway. Gomez has made 34 career starts in the NKNPS after making his series debut at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, OR on July 11, 2008. In his 34 career starts he has seven top five and 16 top ten performances. He has a career best finish of second place twice (Iowa & Phoenix).

Gomez Motorsports is owned by John Gomez, a successful farmer and businessman based in Idaho. The team is lead by crew chief Ron Copeland and supported by Craig Raudman, Blaine Bergem, Derek Copeland, Kyle Cattanach, Adam Wyse, and Mike Mulder.

Grab yourself a new "Living Like a Pirate" t-shirt from Jonathon at  http://www.livinglikeapirate.com/categories/jonathon-gome....

RACE: NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by Gene Price Motorsports

PLACE: Evergreen Speedway

DATE: Saturday, July 14

TIME: 8 p.m. PT

TV SCHEDULE: SPEED, July 26, 3 p.m. ET

TRACK LAYOUT: .646-mile oval

2011 WINNER: Greg Pursley

2011 POLESITTER: Greg Pursley

EVENT SCHEDULE: Saturday: Practice 12-12:45 p.m., 1:15-2 p.m., Qualifying 4:30 p.m.

TRACK CONTACT: Traci Hobbs (360) 805-6122 traci@evergreenspeedway.com

TWITTER: @WAStateNascar

EVENT HASHTAG: #NAPA150

NASCAR IMC CONTACT: Shon Sbarra, (704) 309-5493 or ssbarra@nascar.com, Twitter: @shonsbarra

If photographs or graphics are needed for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, please contact Kevin W. Green at kgreen@nascar.com or (661) 392-8543.

FAST FACTS
The Race: This event is the ninth of 15 events on the 2012 schedule for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West.

The Procedure: The starting field is 24 cars, including provisionals. The first 20 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials. The remaining four spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps.

The Track: Evergreen Speedway is a semi-banked .646-mile paved oval with turns banked eight degrees and four degrees banking in the straights.

The Records: Qualifying: Greg Pursley, July 10, 2011, 101.862 mph, 22.831 seconds; Race: Ray Elder, July 6, 1975, 80.071 mph, 1 hour 10 minutes 15 seconds.

The History: Evergreen Speedway has hosted 51 NASCAR K&N Pro Series races, dating back to 1964.

About Gomez Motorsports
Jonathon Gomez is supported by Century Boatland, Living Like a Pirate, J&C Custom Harvesting, United Oil, Modern Machinery, DJ Safety, and Gomez Farms. Jonathon Gomez has competed in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series since 2008 and 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 http://www.jonathongomez.com or NASCAR Hometracks at http://hometracks.nascar.com or the SRL Southwest Tour website. You can also follow all of the best in West coast racing action by visiting http://www.racingwest.com.

About DJ Shannon Enterprises LLC
From one-time press releases, total event coverage, to full a season campaign, we have a grassroots motorsports marketing program to fit your budget and needs.  Get started today by calling Derrick at 208/870-8066, email derrick@djssportsmarketing.com  or at http://www.derrickshannon.com