ELEVENTH WIN FOR JONES, FIRST FOR GOMEZ AT MVS

TWIN FALLS, Idaho -- Magic Valley Speedway welcomed a newcomer to Victory Lane last Saturday night as Budweiser Grand Nationals driver Jonathon Gomez turned the tables on Jerry McKean to capture a main event win Gomez narrowly lost in the previous contest in the division.

Gomez took over the lead on lap 12 on a restart after the caution flag flew for an incident involving point leader Louis Lopez and Kent Jensen in turns three and four. Jerry McKean was practically attached to Gomez’ right side door for the remainder of the race however, with rookie driver in the division Josh Pitz, driving the Grand Nationals “truck” directly behind the duo. Meanwhile Lopez was on a mission to catch up to the leaders and a late race caution gave him a good opportunity to advance his position, but the three drivers in front of him were even more determined to hold him off.

Gomez held his ground to the bitter end, crossing the finish line less than one-half second ahead of McKean as the drivers treated the crowd to another edge-of-their-seat finish.

“When we went side-by-side that early in the race I just couldn’t believe it,” Gomez said. “He (McKean) seemed like he was next to me the whole time. But I was being really careful just to feather the gas and hang on to it.”

Josh Pitz, who also is a regular driver in the NAPA Pony Stocks along with Gomez, also stood his ground throughout the entire race – finishing third in a vehicle he had a minimum amount of practice in just the night before race day.

“I was at home sleeping when Eddy McKean called me and said they had put together another car for Kenny Hatke - and he said he had the truck open if I wanted to race it, and I said ‘Why not, I’ll give it a try,’ Pitz said. “It was way fun.”

As for Hatke, he has a few bugs to work out on the No. 50 car after its debut Saturday night only netted him just six trips around the track in the main event race.

For Pepsi Premier driver Steve Jones it was just another night in the winner’s circle.

Jones has now won three of the five “chase” races and baring any catastrophes, looks to be on his way to the 2007 championship.

The feature division main event race began with 15 cars as the No. 77 car of Dale Rogers was allocated to the pits after an incident with Travis Monett in the qualifying race. Things did not look good for Monett’s ride either – however the No. 5 did make it back out for the main event after repairs were made to the car.

Mike Greco held the lead in the race for the first 11 laps and then Stevie Fisher took over for the next five. From lap 17 on it was all Jones, with TJ Woodhall following in second, hoping for a caution as Jones continued to put more space between himself and Woodhall as the 50-lap main event race wound down. The race went smoothly however, and Woodhall had to settle for yet another second place finish behind the seemingly unstoppable Jones.

“The guys on the crew have done such a good job,” Jones said. “We’ve been together for years and they know what I want – what I expect - and they just make it happen. It’s just one of those years where everything has been coming together for us.”

Jones also piloted the No. 2 school bus to his first main even win in the series. Seven full size and one short bus, driven by Kris McKean, rumbled their way around the track at times four wide in the front stretch before Jones was able to sneek around leader Alan Larson on the final lap.

“The bus race was fun – those buses actually drive pretty good,” Jones reported.

However McKean’s bus route took a different turn – on its side – laying the bus over in the backstretch at the end of the race. McKean made his escape out the rear door of the bus after the incident and jogged around the infield showing the crowd he was unhurt.

“My face might be a little bruised tomorrow,” McKean said. “But I wanted to do it. I cranked it left and it pushed it sideways, then I just turned it to the right real fast and then cranked it left again. I felt it go up and I was just waiting for it.”

Desi Ahrens, 2005 Magic Valley Pipe Thunder Stocks champion, won his first main event of the season after holding off a pesky Jim Shirley throughout the 30-lap main event race. Craig Nuthak, who came into the night second in the point standings struggled to keep his car straight all evening long and brought in a seventh place finish in the main event. Shirley’s runner-up finish combined with Nuthak’s less then desirable showing puts Shirley up 14 points on Nuthak with only two races remaining on the schedule for the division.

Misty Greco turned in another win for the Quale’s Electronics Queen Bees and in doing so has extended her lead in the standings to 22 points over new runner-up in the division Alecia Dalton. The Queen Bees also have two races remaining in the 2007 season.