RMCS DRIVERS, TEAMS, AND FANS LOOKING FOR MAGICAL NIGHT

The CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series returns to action tomorrow night at Magic Valley Speedway in Twin Falls, Idaho and the drivers, teams, and fans are hoping for some "magic" as the series has lost two races this season due to weather and a power outage. More than 24 of the region's top Late Model drivers will be on hand for the annual Pepsi sponsored event.

The Pepsi "125" is the third of four races to be staged at the 1/3-mile paved this season and is the 19th series event to be run at MVS. Last year's winner Bobby Latham III has been mired in bad luck so far this season but knows tomorrow could all change that. Latham won three big money races in the series last season and all coming at Magic Valley Speedway. "I can't wait for the race," Latham said. "We just love racing at MVS and this would be the perfect weekend to turn our luck around."

Latham drives a Dodge prepared by Shane Prince out the Thompson Motorsports camp and is focused on adding another championship to his resume'. I really want to win races and championships in all division I compete in," Latham said. "The RMCS is a tough series and you have to be really good every race because the competition is. We invert 20 cars at each race so that means you have to qualify fast if you hope to get the points. Winning is great but qualifying is critical."

Dave Minegar holds the track qualifying record at MVS with a quick lap of 14.216 seconds set last fall. He also holds the series records for most Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Awards (17) and has already set fast time in both races this season. Minegar finished 4th at MVS in the opening round then swept the action in the last race at MVS. "We feel like we are finally getting a handle on what it takes at Magic Valley," Minegar said.

Steve Jones is a local fan favorite at Magic Valley Speedway and multi-time champion. Jones has won more than 100 features races at MVS in nearly twenty years of competing at the track. Jones is currently second in the A-1 Heating and Air Conditioning Rookie-of-the-Year honors on the CarbonX RMCS Tour. Jones has scored two top five finishes at MVS this season and is looking for more.

"I love racing this series," Jones stated. "It is a lot different than running the weekly show. These guys are great drivers and you can tell they work on their cars until they are perfect. Racing is racing, but racing the RMCS is really testing our team. We have been good so far but we need to great to beat these guys,"

Other Magic Valley regulars will join the field for the Pepsi "125" including Bruce Quale who is driving a partial RMCs schedule this season. Former Pepsi Premier driver Travis Monett is battling Jones in the rookie along with Dan Koyle who made the jump to the RMCS from the local truck series. Koyle currently leads the A-1 rookie point standings. Defending series champion John Newhouse sits second in the point standings and eyes his third victory at MVS. "This is going to be a great race on Saturday," Newhouse said. I think we have something for the rest of the guys."

Also joining the series this weekend is TJ Woodall who will be making his second career series start on Saturday. Woodall scored an impressive sixth place finish when the series visited MVS last month.

Dave Minegar leads the point standings by 79 markers over John Newhouse. Former NASCAR champion John Dillon is third with Craig Bell and Thane Alderman rounding out the top five. The second five are lead by Latham followed by Jones, Tom Hill, Koyle, and Shane Thompson from Wyoming.

CarbonX, the industry leader in fire resistant underwear and clothing, is title sponsor of the premier Late Model series. Along with CarbonX several new sponsors have joined the RMCS team including: Thompson Motorsports, Performance Solutions, Kidd Performance, and Joe's Racing Products. Long-time sponsors ESI, A-1 Heating and Air Conditioning, Sharp Powder Coating, Five Star Racing Bodies, Frank's Radios, and Hoosier continue their long association with the series

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 passing. Each driver is awarded three points per position gained in the event. 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 the event including: The ESI Hotshoe Award paying $400 to the driver who sets fast time and goes on to win the race. CarbonX will pay a Lap Leader Bonus of $5 for every lap led. Sharp Powder Coating pays $100 for setting fast time at each series race. The Thompson Motorsports Halfway Challenge will pay $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.

"Despite some economic fears that are out there, this series is growing and we could not be more excited," stated Mike Minegar, president of the RMCS. "We have a great racing formula that fans love and the drivers respond to. The Pepsi "125" is always a great event for us as Brian Bolton and his team really makes this a fun event."

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!" For all the latest news and information regarding the CarbonX rocky Mountain Challenge Series log on to our website at www.rmcsracing.com

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