BOISE, Idaho — Dave Minegar, driver of the BodyBuilding.Com Chevrolet, had the fastest car this past weekend when the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series visited Meridian (ID) Speedway for round five of the ten race championship series. But the old adage that the fastest car does not always win held true as a mechanical failure late in the race relegated Minegar to a 12th place finish in the NAPA Auto Parts Treasure Valley "100".
"I am really disappointed. We had a fast race car and we were coming but when stuff breaks there is not much you can do."— Dave Minegar
Minegar blistered his old track record setting a new standard with a 13.145 second lap around the newly paved quarter-mile paved oval. That lap gave Minegar his 22nd career Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Award, the most in series history.
Minegar would start the 100-lap race shotgun on the field and used the first 30 laps to let the race sort itself out. By the midway point of the race, he had moved into the third position running the fastest lap times of any competitor in the field. In what looked like the perfect strategy, Minegar kept pace with leader Brett Thompson and 2009 champion John Dillon for the next 15 laps.
At Lap 65, Minegar started to challenge Dillon for the second spot and made several moves alongside the veteran. On lap 67, Minegar pulled to the outside of Dillon and got wheel-to-wheel heading down the backstretch only to have his distributor fail leaving the two-time series champion without power. He pulled his BodyBuilding.Com Chevrolet into the pits ending his night.
"I am really disappointed," Minegar said. "We had a fast race car and we were coming but when stuff breaks there is not much you can do."
With an eye on a third championship, the finish drops Minegar to sixth in the standings 151-points behind point leader John Newhouse. "It could have been a lot worse," Mineger offered. "We have had more than our share of back luck this season and that will need to turn around if we hope to get back in this thing. This was a big event for us and it was the first time we felt the car was working at its best. I thrilled that we were fast and set a new track record, but I am really disappointed we couldn't be there at the end. Congratulations to Brett (Thompson) on his first victory and we will get ready for RMR and see if we can get our BodyBuilding.Com Chevrolet into victory lane."
Minegar racing is owned by Pat Minegar and is sponsored by BodyBuilding.com, Redline, Gaspari Nutrition, Supreme Nutrition, MusclePharm, Optimum Nutrition, A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning, Lennox, and Dillon Auto Craft. Minegar is in his seventh season in the CarbonX Rocky Mountain Challenge Series and is a two-time series champion (06, 08) with 56 career starts, six wins, 23 top five and 42 top ten finishes along with twenty (22) career Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Awards and most career money won.
Minegar's crew is lead by crew chief Craig Bell, with support provided by Larry Bowers, Matt Wolfkiel, Kirk Wartman, Ron Minegar, Heidi Minegar, and Tyson Garten.
The BodyBuilding.Com Mission-
"To help our visitors reach their health, fitness and appearance goals through information, motivation and supplementation." BodyBuidling.Com is the world's largest online retailer of nutritional supplements. Visit their website at www.bodybuilding.com.
The Jayden DeLuca Foundation-
The Jayden DeLuca Foundation was established in 2007 to honor Jayden Riley DeLuca, who passed away due to a cardiac condition. After her death, her parents, Jeremy and Karalie DeLuca, knew they had to continue Jayden’s fight for her. They began working with the American Heart Association, collecting donations in Jayden's name, to go toward research of heart disease. Visit the foundation at www.jaydendelucafoundation.org.
For complete team information log on to www.minegarracing.com and follow the team all season at and www.rmcsracing.comwww.racingwest.com.
