BOISE, Idaho -- Rocky Mountain Raceways located outside Salt Lake City, Utah is one of the West's marquee racing facilities. Its wide racing surface has produced some of the best short-track racing over the past decade and has been a mainstay on the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series since inception. The Young Chevrolet “100” is an annual Memorial Day tradition for area race fans and the competitors of the RMCS.
James Eaton of West Valley, Utah is the all-time RMCS event winner with six career triumphs and four of those coming at RMR. Two of Eaton’s wins have come in this event. His teammate and fan favorite Zan Sharp of Wellsville has two career victories at the 3/8-mile speedplant along with local star Lynn Hardy who has seen victory lane twice at RMR in RMCS competition.
Last season, 2006 RMCS champion Dave Minegar of Boise, Idaho won two of the three series races staged at RMR winning not only the feature event on both occasions but also taking home victories in his heat races and the trophy dash dominating the action along with setting the fast qualifying mark. He is looking for more of the same this year.
"We have really done well at RMR,” Minegar said. “It is such a fun track to drive. It is the kind of track we drivers just love. We were disappointed that our event early this month at RMR was cancelled (Power grid failure in the West Valley) and we are all excited to be back for the Memorial Day event.”
Minegar knows a little something about getting around the racetrack as he is the series all-time Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Award winner with 17 career fast times. Local standout Hardy holds the track record set back in May of 2006 with a quick lap of 14.944 seconds/90.334 mph.
Over the four previous Young Chevrolet “100” Memorial Day events, the winner of the race has had an average starting position of 16th with Minegar starting the deepest (20th) last season.
Thane Alderman has led the most laps in competition this season (79) followed by Bobby Latham III (25). Latham is looking to rebound after a flat tire derailed his finish at MVS last weekend. “We have a fast racecar but our finishes don’t tell the story,” Latham stated. “This is a race I have really wanted to win and we are focused on winning Monday night. I love racing at RMR but have just not had any luck. I hope to change that Monday night.”
Dan Koyle holds a one point advantage over Steve Jones in a talented group of A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning Rookie-of-the-Year competitors after two events. Other rookie competitors include: TJ Woodall, Shane Thompson, Mitch Dickinson, Travis Monett, David Peterson, Dylan Caldwell, Nathan Olsen, and Eric Rhead.
Minegar holds a 79 point advantage over defending series champion John Newhouse of Twin Falls, Idaho after two races. Former NW Tour champion John Dillon sits third in the standings with Craig Bell and Thane Alderman rounding out the top five in the standings.
The RMCS utilizes a racing format not found in ANY other regional touring series around the country. The top 20 qualifiers are inverted for every race putting fast time in the 20th starting position. This format ensures race fans see what they paid for and that is a lot of passing. Each driver is awarded three points per position gained in the event. Points are also awarded for qualifying and heat race finishes along with finishing position points for the race. Through the history of the series, the winning driver has averaged a 15th place starting position. To ensure competition, the RMCS pays it purse based on total point accumulation for the event and provides several special performance awards for each event including: The ESI Hotshoe Award paying $400 to the driver who sets fast time and goes on to win the race. The CarbonX Lap Leader Bonus paying $5 for every green flag lap led. Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Award pays $100 for setting fast time. The Thompson Motorsports Halfway Challenge pays $100 to the driver leading at halfway of each event; and the Thompson Motorsports Performance Improvement Award pays the driver $200 who improves the most positions over the previous event.
The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series is proud to recognize its corporate marketing partners: CarbonX, Hoosier Racing Tire, Thompson Motorsports, ESI, A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning, Sharp Powder Coating, Five Star Racing Bodies, Frank’s Racing Radios, Performance Solutions, Kidd’s Performance and Dyno, Joe’s Racing Products, and PPG Paint.
The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series is a regional touring series that allows all competitors to race and gain experience on different types of racetracks. It is a high-quality professional racing series that offers maximum opportunity at an affordable price serving the intermountain West. The motto of the series is to "Race Hard and Have Fun!"
