BOISE, Idaho -- Thane Alderman of Las Vegas, Nevada has waited patiently for success to knock on his door since joining the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series three years ago. His wait was worth it as he scored his first career victory this past Saturday in front of a capacity house at a track he had never seen before. Alderman bested Tom Hill to capture the Duel for the "200 100-lap race at Stateline Speedway in Post Falls, Idaho.
Alderman's climb to the top of the finish order did not look that promising earlier in the weekend as he and his crew struggled with new car blues with a car that had never been on track. Although Alderman had been among the fastest cars in practice, he found that his rear trailing arm bracket had moved along with the panhard bar. After making adjustments and correcting the issues, Alderman found his car not to his liking when he went out to qualify, posting the 19th best lap.
Though his qualifying effort was poor, he was gifted with a front row starting position after the customary 20-car RMCS invert set the starting grid. Fast qualifier and INSSA hotshoe Dave Garber grabbed his first Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Award with a quick lap of 13.495 seconds around the tight quarter mile paved oval and lined up 20th. Garber edged perennial fast qualifier Dave Minegar of Boise by one-one thousands of a second.
Alderman led the field of 24 cars to the green and for the first time in series history, led all 100 laps to capture the win. Tom Hill worked his way from his sixth starting position to finish in the runner up spot. Hill also finished fifth in the Idaho 200 on Sunday afternoon. Dave Garber finished third followed by Craig bell and Darrell Midgley.
"We planned our family vacation around this event," Alderman said. "The whole family was here so this win is extra special. This race weekend is pretty neat and it was a lot of fun. I am proud of the all the guys in the RMCS for towing up here and of the local competitors that ran with us. I hope we can repeat again next season."
"I really enjoy racing in the RMCS as it is some of the best racing around. The series continues to grow and to be part of the Idaho 200 weekend is a great thing for the series. I am glad the race was only 100-laps as Tom (Hill) was coming and after he cleared lapped traffic he was right there."
Dave Minegar maintains his point lead despite a 15th place finish after cutting a tire early in the race. He holds a 112 point margin over John Newhouse who finished 6th in the race. Craig Bell moves up to the third spot with Alderman and Bobby Latham III rounding out the top five in the standings.
For the fourth time this season Dan Koyle was the top finishing A-1 Heating and Air Conditioning rookie of the race and extended his rookie point lead over Steve Jones to five markers after his 8th place performance.
The action was slowed five times for cautions. Alderman collected the CarbonX lap Leader Bonus of $500 along with the CarbonX winner's bonus of $150 along with the Thompson Motorsports $100 Halfway Challenge. A-1 rookie Travis Monett earned the Thompson Motorsports Driver Improvement Award of $200 for improving the most positions over the previous race (). Koyle earned the $100 A-1 rookie bonus with Garber collecting the $100 Sharp Powder Coating Award. The ESI Hotshoe Award was not claimed so it will roll over to the next event and be worth $1200 to the driver who sets fast time and is able to go on an win the race.
The next event for the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series is Saturday, August 23 at Rocky Mountain Raceway in SLC for the annual NAPA Auto Parts "125". For all the latest news and information regarding CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series please log onto www.rmcsracing.com.
