BOISE, Idaho -- 19-year old Bryan Warf of Meridian, Idaho claimed his third career NAPA Auto Parts Rocky Mountain Challenge Series victory Saturday night at Rocky Mountain Raceway in Salt Lake City. Warf took the lead on lap 25 of the 75 lap event and held off a fierce charge from David Minegar en route to a .132 second victory. Retro-Design Rookie-of-the-Year competitor John Newhouse finished third with new point leader Zan Sharp finishing fourth and Lynn Hardy rounding out the top five finishers.
Local hotshoe Nick Parker won the Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Award with a quick lap of 15.510 seconds/87.041 mph around the 3/8-mile paved oval to best twenty-three drivers. Minegar, Hardy, Sharp, and first-time competitor Thane Alderman from Las Vegas, NV rounded out the top five after qualifying was completed. Before the feature would grid, Chad Cannon, Scott Uddy, and Rick Webster retired form the event with motor problems.
Joe Miller grabbed the early lead from his outside front row starting position and would lead the first six circuits. The fist of four cautions came out on lap five when John Wood, James Eaton, Lynn Hardy, and Craig Bell tangled at the front of the field. Bell ended his night on the hook while the others where able to continue.
Jeff Hillock took the lead on lap seven and would hold on through lap 24 wagging a spirited battle with John Newhouse then Warf for the lead. Warf drove underneath Hillock as the pair exited turn four and would never look back. Hillock would run with the leaders but eventually lost two laps and finished tenth.
With Warf pacing the field, quick qualifier Nick Parker made his way to the front from his 16th starting position and was dogging Warf by lap 26. Parker hounded Warf for the next 18 laps but started to fade by lap 45. Minegar followed Parker up through the field and took advantage of Parker’s misfortune and moved into the third spot on lap 46. Newhouse continued to run in the second position followed by Minegar, with Parker, Hardy, Wade Frey, Sharp, Hillock, Tom Hill, Dennis Wurtz, and Eaton rounding out the top ten in the running order at lap 50.
Hardy moved by Parker on lap 51 with Sharp in tow two laps later. Warf continued to dictate the pace and lead the field holding off continual challenges from Newhouse. Meanwhile, Minegar waited for an opportunity to take advantage of any miscues the pair might make.
Minegar dove past Newhouse on lap 73 and clued his Body Building.Com Chevrolet to the bumper of Warf but was not able to make the pass before the 75-lap distance was complete. Warf claimed his first victory of the season by .132 seconds over Minegar who recorded his third top five of the season. Newhouse held on for third, with Sharp and Hardy rounding out the top five finishers.
Warf was thrilled to be in victory lane and score his third career win. “I am happy this race was only 75 laps,” Warf said. “To win at RMR is pretty neat. I just took it easy and tried not to make any mistakes. This is a big win for us.”
Finishing second and moving up two spots in the standings was David Minegar. “Bryan (Warf) was good tonight,” Minegar said. “I don’t know if I could have gotten around him but I wish I had a few more laps to try. My team continues to prepare a great car and I am happy to finish second. We did not put new tires on tonight, but it did not hurt us at all.”
Adding to his Retro-Design Rookie lead was John Newhouse of Twin Falls, Idaho. “We ran real well and I thought we had a shot for a while,” Newhouse said. “This is a very competitive series and I am very happy that we can run up front. It is on to Chaparral and we’ll see what we can do there.”
Parker collected the $100 sharp Powder Coating bonus for setting quick time while Newhouse earned the $100 Retro-Design Rookie-of-the-Race Award. By virtue of his fourth place finish, Sharp takes over the point lead after seven races with Warf moving into second just 23-points behind. Minegar moved up to third with Craig Bell falling out of the point lead to fourth after his first career DNF. James Eaton rounds out the top five in the standings heading into the race this Saturday at Idaho Motor Speedway (formerly known as Chaparral) located outside Eagle, Idaho.
For all the latest news and information regarding the NAPA Auto Parts Rocky Mountain Challenge Series log onto www.rockymountainchallengeseries.com.
NAPA Auto Parts Rocky Mountain Challenge Series
NAPA “75”
Rocky Mountain Raceway, SLC, Utah
July 9, 2005
Finish/start/driver/laps/status
1. (9) Bryan Warf, 75, Running
2. (15) David Minegar, 75, Running
3. (8) John Newhouse, 75, Running
4. (13) Zan Sharp, 75, Running
5. (12) Lynn Hardy, 75, Running
6. (16) Nick Parker, 75, Running
7. (4) Tom Hill, 75, Running
8. (10) Dennis Wurtz, 75, Running
9. (1) John Wood, 74, Running
10. (3) Jeff Hillock, 73, Running
11. (5) Jim Cooksey, 72, Running
12. (7) James Eaton, 72, Running
13. (11) Wade Frey, 58, Mechanical
14. (18) Dave Doan, 30, Mechanical
15. (19) Bruce Rennemann, 23, Mechanical
16. (20) John Wong, 20, Mechanical
17. (2) Joe Miller, 16, Mechanical
18. (17) Kelly Bettridge, 12, Mechanical
19. (6) Craig Bell, 4, Mechanical
20. (12) Thane Alderman, DNS
NAPA Auto Parts Rocky Mountain Challenge Series
Top-10 Point Standings as of July 10, 2005
1. Zan Sharp 1,108
2. Bryan Warf 1,085
3. David Minegar 1,083
4. Craig Bell 1,059
5. James Eaton 991
6. Dennis Wurtz 987
7. John Newhouse 804
8. Tom Hill 753
9. Craig Doehling 622
10. Wade Frey 619
