PHOENIX, Arizona -- Mike David scored his seventh career win in the NASCAR Camping World Series West with a victory in the Jimmie Johnson Foundation 150 at Phoenix International Raceway on Thursday.
David, the defending series champion, charged into the lead with 11 laps remaining and then held on in a two-lap dash to the finish after a late-race caution.
One of David’s chief competitors, Eric Holmes, dominated much of the first half of the race – but coasted to a stop out of gas on lap 87. David, who had taken the lead from Holmes, relinquished track position when he pitted soon after and fell back to eighth. David battled his way back to the front in the closing stages of the race. Teenager Marc Davis, who finished second in the event a year ago, paced the field for much of the second half of the race – but faded with a flat tire late in the event.
Nick Lynch trailed David in his charge to the front to score a career-best runner-up finish. Veteran driver Jeff Jefferson also made a late-race charge to take third. Brett Thompson and Jeff Barkshire finished fourth and fifth.
The win propelled David into the early lead in the championship standings, with two of 13 races in the books for 2008.
