25 year-old Mike Gallegos and RTD Motorsports, Inc., will be making a homecoming of sorts this weekend at Colorado National Speedway, as the Wheat Ridge, CO driver will defend his home track in the NASCAR Camping World Series West race.
Attention will be on Gallegos all weekend long, with many supporters expected in the stands, along with a feature on the race broadcast on HDNET.
Gallegos, who became the first Drive for Diversity driver to lead laps in a Camping World Series race, when he led laps at Iowa Speedway, will be looking for his fourth straight top-ten in the competitive series.
Last year, Gallegos recorded his first career top-ten in the series with an eighth place finish at Colorado National.
“This race is a home race for a lot of the team,” Gallegos said. “The guys in the shop who help out deserve a win. The best payback I can give them is to run good.”
Gallegos began his career racing Legends cars at the speedway, before becoming the youngest Late Model driver in Colorado. His success earned him a spot in the Drive for Diversity program held by NASCAR.
Now in his fourth season in the program, Gallegos is beginning a meteoric rise in the NASCAR Camping World Series West points. After leading 31 laps at Iowa, Gallegos is now 10th in the series points and only 70 points out of third.
RTD Motorsports, Inc. team owner Rob Dixon also has ties to the Colorado area, working with Rick Carelli when Carelli ran in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Engine builder Dave Capriotti of DC Racing Engines is also based in Colorado and has worked in the past with NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team Furniture Row Racing.
A long-time Gallegos supporter, Service Plus, has joined on to sponsor the RTD Motorsports, Inc. Chevrolet this weekend. Service Plus is a general contractor throughout the Denver area.
Gallegos has competed in several Super Late Model races at the 4/10s mile track this season, and the team completed a successful test last week.
“I think I have better knowledge of the track,” Gallegos said. “It’s beneficial to know the track; the track changes so much in a race.”
While chances are high that Gallegos could become the first Drive for Diversity driver to win in the NASCAR Camping World Series, Gallegos is keeping perspective.
“There’s a lot of pressure to win, but if we don’t, we can’t let it get morale down for the rest of the season,” Gallegos said. “You can’t cut the other competitors in the series any slack either.”
Saturday’s NAPA/Toyota 150 will be broadcast live on HDNET, at 6:30 p.m. Pacific.
