WEST VALLEY, Utah — Steve Jones of Meridian, Idaho has won multiple championships, more than 50 wins in Late Model and Modified action while competing in weekly racing but he has struggled to find success in the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series. That has all changed this year as he has fast become the man to beat for the series championship after scoring his second career win in as many races.
On a special Memorial Day event at Rocky Mountain Raceways, Jones nearly doubled his point lead after coming from the 13th starting position and waged a spirited battle with first time starter Brian Levant from Calgary, Canada over the final twenty laps.
In the end, Jones survived two late race cautions and restarts to claim the victory. "I had a rocketship early in the race," Jones stated. "Those cautions late in the race really helped as I am not sure I could help off the #49 if it stayed green. "Cooling the tires helped me off the corner and that was the advantage at the end. Brian (Levant) drove a heck of a race and I would love to see him race with us in the future. I am glad we kept the trophy home on Memorial Day."
Second place finisher and new track record holder Levant enjoyed his first experience with the RMCS. "This was the best I ever ran," Levant said after the race. "I watched McKean run high in qualifying and thought I would try his line for qualifying. I had no idea the car had that quick a lap in it but it feels great to travel 1,300 miles and show up with a car this good. I really like this series and the track and I will definately race with these guys again."
John Newhouse, Dave Minegar, and Lynn Hardy rounded out the top five finishers in the third race of the 2010 campaign. Two-time champion Minegar scored his first top five finish since early last year. "This was a real win for the team but we still have a few things to work out," Minegar said.
Jeff Hillock, Zan Sharp, Eric Rhead, Eddy McKean, and Tom Hill rounded out the top ten finishers. Hill made his first start of the year and drove the team car to Minegar Racing. Hill plans to make several other starts during the year in his own #12 starting with Meridian Speedway event later this month.
The next event for the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series is Saturday, June 12 at Magic Valley Speedway. For all the latest news and information regarding the RMCS please log onto www.rmcsracing.com and catch all the racing action througout the west at www.racingwest.com.
CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series
| Young Chevrolet "100" |
|---|
| 1 13 03 Steve Jones 100 210 Running 2 17 49 Brian Levant 100 216 Running 3 15 26 John Newhouse 100 200 Running 4 12 9 Dave Minegar 100 179 Running 5 16 4 Lynn Hardy 100 187 Running 6 10 36 Jeff Hillock 100 155 Running 7 11 84 Zan Sharp 100 150 Running 8 20 66 Eric Rhead 100 127 Running 9 1 19 Eddy McKean 100 118 Running 10 3 99 Tom Hill 100 119 Running 11 4 5 Russell Butler 100 110 Running 12 5 48 Bryan Wordelman 99 108 Running 13 8 73 Joe Miller 91 112 Running 14 2 12 Jim Wulfenstein 89 96 Running 15 14 61 Brett Thompson 75 106 Running 16 9 09 Thane Alderman 73 92 Mechanical 17 7 17 Kenny Vanderham36 92 Accident 18 18 25 Lonnie Lowder 36 82 Accident 19 19 65 Darren Jones 34 78 Mechanical 20 6 92 Bruce Quale 11 84 Accident |
| Updated Point Standings after round 3 of 10 |
| 1 Steve Jones 615 2 John Newhouse 519 3 Lynn Hardy 487 4 Brett Thompson 482 5 Thane Alderman 429 6 Bruce Quale 411 7 Dave Minegar 397 8 Eric Rhead 374 9 Russell Butler 364 10 Zan Sharp 330 |
