BOISE, Idaho — It has been since 2006 that Lynn Hardy has seen victory lane in the CarbonX
"The next event on the 2012 schedule is Saturday, May 19 at Meridian (ID) Speedway."
Rocky Mountain Challenge Series but his winless drought ended this past Saturday night at Rocky Mountain Raceways outside Salt Lake City, Utah. Hardy claimed Fast Time honors in qualifying and stormed through the field during the 100-lap event to score his third career series triumph
Hardy notched his tenth career Sharp Powder Coating Fast Time Award to move into second place all-time behind Dave Minegar (23). The rest of the fast five qualifiers included Steve Jones, Zan Sharp, Bruce Quale, and John Nesmith. Both Quale and Sharp won their respective heat races.
While hardy was certainly the fastest car on track all night, the drive of the night belonged to Las Vegas Nevada's Thane Alderman. Alderman has been a mainstay on the circuit for the last five years traveling to every series event. Alderman had just completed his third lap of practice early Saturday afternoon when the car in front of him lost oil covering the track and causing the #09 of Alderman to back into the retaining wall.
The damage was significant and with the help of last year's championship contender Jeff Hillock">Jeff Hillock, the Alderman crew spent the entire afternoon and evening re-clipping the rear of the car. The team finished repairs just in time for the main event where Alderman would start shotgun in the filed.
A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning Rookie-of-the-Year leader Tyler Bailey led the first three circuits before giving way to Eric Rhead on Lap 4. Rhead held the top spot for the next ten laps when Steve Jones moved to the front of the field.
Jones has always been fast at RMR and Saturday night was no different. The 2010 champion has nine top four finishes in the last nine races at RMR. Jones took the lead on lap 15 and held the top spot until Hardy closed in on his bumper and made the pass for the lead on lap 40.
Hardy would not look back and ran away with the victory. He was followed to the line by Jones with Bruce Quale finishing third. 2011 series champion Zan Sharp finished fourth with Thane Alderman rallying his wounded race car home in the fifth position.
John Nesmith, Eric Rhead, Tyler Bailey, Travis Monett, and Rick Fowble rounded out the top ten finishers in the second of 11-races this season.
With his second place performance, Steve Jones takes over the point lead with 387 points. Quale (353) moves up to second place followed by Nesmith (322), Alderman (275), and Bailey (270) rounding out the top five.
The RMCS utilizes a racing format not found in ANY other regional touring series around the country. The RMCS inverts up to the top 20 from qualifying putting the fast qualifiers at the back to start each race. This format ensures race fans see what they paid for and that is passing. Each driver is awarded three points per position gained in the event. Points are also awarded for qualifying and heat race finishes. Through the history of the series, the winning driver has averaged a 15th place starting position. To ensure competition, the RMCS pays it purse based on total point accumulation for the event and provides several special performance awards at each race.
CarbonX, the world leader in fire protective clothing, is title sponsor of the RMCS for the fifth season and along with Century Boatland, based in Twin Falls, which is also back with the series for the third year providing significant event and series support. Since 1985, Century Boatland has been the Magic Valley headquarters for new and used recreational, pleasure, and fishing boats.
The series is supported by a great family of sponsors including: CarbonX, Century Boatland, Project Filter, ESI, A-1 Heating & Air Conditioning, Sharp Powder Coating, Five Star Racing Bodies, Hoosier Racing Tires, Frank's Radios, Performance Solutions, Kidd's Performance and Dyno, Joes Racing Products, PPG Paint, Circle Racing Wheels, and Mike Minegar's Auto Body.
The next event on the 2012 schedule is Saturday, May 19 at Meridian (ID) Speedway. The event is the first of three races over two race weekends at the historic quarter-mile paved oval. Thane Alderman, Brett Thompson, and Dave Minegar have won the last three races staged at Meridian.
