There is a saying in racing that it is better to be lucky than good and 15 year old Irwindale Legend rookie Dallas Montes has had plenty of luck this year. Unfortunately for him and his MMI Racing Team it has been mostly bad.
The past four races have shown both how fast Montes is and how much luck can play into racing. While qualifying in the top four the last four races including a pole on June 27th, Montes has just one top five finish to show for it and even that was clouded by some misfortune. He was caught up in an incident not of his doing on the second lap that sent him to the pits for repairs. When the green flag waved on lap 3 he was last in the 26 car field. Montes showed both speed and patience driving up to a fourth place finish. "The car has been really fast lately, but we just need to get through one of these races not with any good luck, just no bad," said Montes. "Steve McGowan at MMI has let me drive these great cars and so we don't get too down because we know we can start winning at any time."
The race on June 13th was another example of the year Montes is enduring. After qualifying 2nd fast he was running strong on lap 18 in second place even getting under the leader a couple of times. While glued to the bumper of then race leader Ryan Reed, a bumper from a car mid pack fell off and and was ran over buy Reed and kicked up into the right front of Montes' car breaking the right front shock and ending his night. Throw in two blown motors and getting taken out while running fourth on another night and it is easy to see why Montes might be getting frustrated, but that is not the case.
"My racing luck may not be very good so far, but I am still very lucky to get to drive these cars at all," said Montes. "Steve is a great car owner who has helped me a ton and actually picks us up when we get down. I think he sees what I am capable of and knows the wins will come."
Montes has shown promise and had results over the years in go karts winning races and championships, but was unsure how the transition to Legend cars would be. "They are a blast to drive and teach you throttle control and good side by side racing that will help me down the road. I am still improving every week and really enjoy racing at Irwindale. It is such a nice track."
While Montes has had his share of bad luck, his MMI teamate in the Camping World West Series,David Mayhew, has had his share of success this year. With one victory and a current third place points position, Mayhew is primed to make a run at the title. "We have been fast every week and MMI has great cars. If things go our way we have as good a chance as anybody. I just hope none of Dallas and his Dads luck rub off on us. We won't let Allen (Dallas' dad) touch our West cars. Myself and Terry (Henry) even joke that Allen should stay home and we will take Dallas to the track so he has a chance," said Mayhew.
Dallas would also like to thank associate sponsors A-1 Spring, TNR Motorsports, Holliday Designs, Race Prep, Quality Electric, Finish Line Signs, and Kal Guard for their support.
