On the heels of David Mayhews dominate performance in the Camping World West Series at Iowa Speedway Friday Night, MMI Legends pilot Dallas Montes scored the hat trick Saturday Night at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale winning his third race in a row.
"I was so pumped for David, Steve (McGowan), Terry (Henry) and the rest of the team after Friday it really helped me focus on Saturday night and I didn't want to let Steve down," said Montes. "They have been so fast and deserved to win other races this year, it was good to see them get the win."
With the victory Friday night in the books, it was Montes' turn to shine and he did not disappoint. Posting the third fast time in qualifying meant starting outside of the second row with the six car invert. After getting shuffled back to sixth on the initial start, Montes began his march to the front. Getting into second in less than ten laps allowed Montes to glue himself to the rear bumper of the leader and make laps.
"I tried to get right by the 98 car, but he was pretty strong and I didn't want to push it just yet," said Dallas. "We didn't have much pressure from behind so I just rode for a while and hoped he would make a mistake or use up his car."
With ten laps to go it appeared neither was going to happen. "He (98 car) didn't really make any mistakes so when we got down to five to go I really gave it all I had," commented Montes.
With two laps to go the leader finally bobbled and Montes was there to take advantage winning by two car lengths. With the victory Montes takes a commanding lead in the rookie of the year battle and pulls within striking distance of the top five in points. With car counts averaging 25 a weekend, winning one race is difficult while winning three in a row has been unheard of this year until now.
"It still hasn't sunk in yet," said the 16 year old Junior at Frontier High in Bakersfield. "I am so happy for the whole team. All the guys working on the West car really help us and we are like one big team. I root for David and I know he roots for me."
" Steve has put together a group of guys who just love to race and they don't care if its Legends, West or dirt cars they want to win and we all try to help each other out," said Crew Chief and Dad Allen Montes. "Not many West teams run up front without full time people, but Steve gets great equipment and puts good people in it and look what is starting to happen."
While MMI offers the bulk of the help Dallas could not do it without the support of others including Kalgard, A-1 Spring and Supply, Holliday Designs, Quality Electric, H&S Body Works and Towing, and American Fab.
