BOISE, Idaho -- Jimmy Eaton of West Jordan, Utah notched his second win of the 2005 NAPA Auto Parts Rocky Mountain Challenge Series season Saturday night in dominate fashion at Magic Valley Speedway located outside Twin Falls, Idaho. Eaton took the lead on lap 69 of the 150-lap NAPA sponsored event and never looked back. Eaton crossed the finish line less than half a second ahead of three-time series winner Craig Bell of Kuna. Idaho. Bryan Warf, Zan Sharp, and Dennis Wurtz Jr. rounded out the top five finishers in the season finale for the second year series.
While Eaton celebrated the win, it was teammate Zan Sharp from Wellsville, Utah that collected his second series title in as many years. Sharp used patience throughout the 150-lap race, the kind of patience that he displayed all season, en route to a fourth place finish. Sharp set the mark to beat in qualifying with a 14.487 second lap around the third-mile paved oval. Eaton, championship rival Dave Minegar, Retro-design Rookie-of-the-Year John Newhouse, and Bryan Warf rounded out the top five qualifiers.
Minegar saw his championship hopes diminish when his Chevrolet made contact with the front-stretch wall after posting the third fast qualifying lap. Minegar’s car was damaged beyond repair forcing him to a back up car. Minegar would start the race shotgun on the field after Tom Hill of Boise vacated his mount in order for Minegar to have a chance in the title chase.
Dave Doan started the race on the pole after the top twenty qualifiers were inverted. Doan grabbed the early lead and led the first eleven laps before Mike Marston took the top spot on lap twelve. Marston’s time at the top came to an end on lap 21 when he pitted after losing oil pressure. Doan reassumed the lead under the caution and led the green flag action through lap 32.
Scott Walker, who has started only a handful of races this season, took the lead from Doan on lap 33 before giving way to Bryan Warf who moved to the top spot on lap 40 from his 16th starting position. By lap 50, Warf held onto the lead over Craig Bell. Jimmy Eaton moved into third from the 19th starting spot with rookie John Newhouse, and local star Bruce Quale rounding out the top five in the running order. Walker dropped back to sixth followed by Jeff Hillock, Zan Sharp, Russell Butler, and Dennis Wurtz Jr. rounding out the top ten.
Warf led pack through lap 68 before Eaton took the point. By the half way mark, Eaton had extended his lead over Warf to more than three seconds with Bell glued to Warf’s bumper. Newhouse, Hillock, Sharp, Butler, and Wurtz all maintained their positions in the top ten. Dave Minegar made his way into the top ten on lap 87 and set his sights on the top five.
Hillock saw his top ten run go away after a spin in turn four, bringing out the caution. The caution bunched up the field and erased Eaton’s substantial lead. While Eaton led the field, Warf had his hands full of Craig Bell who pressured the 19-year old for most of the race and finally took the second position on lap 125. Bell then set his sights on Eaton as the top three could have been covered by a blanket.
Sharp moved into fourth but was not able to mount a charge on the top three over the closing laps. A late caution set up a four-lap shootout to the finish with Eaton holding on for the victory. Bell finished second followed by Warf, Sharp, and Wurtz. John Newhouse clinched the Retro-Design Rookie title finishing sixth with Russell Butler, Dave Minegar, Scott Walker, and Clint Eames rounding out the top ten finishers.
“I just want to thank Zan and Vivian (Sharp) for letting me drive their car,” Eaton said from victory lane. “Zan gives me the best equipment to race and that makes my job very easy. I am so happy for Zan and the team for the championship and to NAPA for all of their continued support of our team and this series.”
Finishing second to score his tenth top five finish of the season was Craig Bell. “Jimmy (Eaton) has a fast car tonight and I don’t think I had much for him,” Bell said. “This has been a great season and we are real happy to finish strong. It took a lot to get around Bryan (Warf) and even more to hold him back. We are happy to finish second tonight.”
“We had another great car tonight,” Warf said. It was fun racing tonight.”
Celebrating his second championship in as many years, Zan Sharp was thrilled with his fourth place performance. “We were not going to do anything silly out there tonight,” Sharp said. The car was great and we just picked our spots. I am glad to see Jim win the race and thrilled that we were able to hold on for the title. Dave (Minegar) has done a tremendous job all season and I want to congratulate him on a great season. We did what we set out to do and this championship feels great. It was much harder to defend this year as everyone has stepped up their programs.”
Minegar was philosophical about the evening. “After I made the mistake in qualifying, I just set out to have the best race I could and hold onto second in the points,” Minegar said. “I want to thank Tom Hill for allowing me to race his car and to my team for all of their hard work all season. We’ll go after it again next year.”
Sharp took the title by 165 points over Minegar, with Warf holding on for third. Bell finished fourth with Eaton moving into the top five with the win. Wurtz dropped to sixth with Newhouse finishing seventh. Tom Hill held onto the eighth spot with Dave Doan and Chad Cannon rounding out the top ten in the final standings.
The NAPA Auto Parts Rocky Mountain Challenge Series will celebrate the 2005 season and crown Sharp as champion at an awards banquet scheduled for Saturday, October 22 at Cactus Pete’s in Jackpot, Nevada. For all of the latest news and information regarding the NAPA Auto Parts Rocky Mountain Challenge Series please log onto www.rockymountainchallengeseries.com.
