Brett Thompson is heading to Phoenix with renewed confidence and momentum after scoring his first top-5 finish of the season at Roseburg, OR. Thompson drove the Rich Thompson Trucking Chevrolet Monte Carlo to a fifth place finish after qualifying ninth and restarting eighth in the rain delayed NAPA 200 at Douglas County Speedway.
Thompson has improved his qualifying and finishing position at PIR at each NASCAR Grand National West there over the last three years.
Thompson qualified 9th and finished 13th in the January 2004 race at PIR.
At Roseburg, Thompson benefited from a crash involving leaders Mike Duncan and Austin Cameron but also made a couple of clean on track passes to gain 3 spots after the restart. The rain delay after lap 68 prompted NASCAR officials to move the halftime pit stop up while waiting out the rain and track drying efforts.
The team elected to go with sticker tires, which benefited Thompson on the long run (112 laps) second segment of the race.
The fifth place finish is Thompson's best finish since scoring a 7th place finish at California Speedway back in May. It's been an up and down year for Thompson Motorsports with good runs being spoiled by accidents at Evergreen Speedway and Irwindale. A problematic pit stop kept Thompson out of the top 10 at Rocky Mountain Raceway. Thompson was also pleased to run well with local representatives from associate sponsors Windmill Inns and Richardson Cap Co present at the race and in the pits.
Thompson's fifth place finish completed a busy weekend for Brett and the team. Thompson visited the local VA Hospital in Roseburg on Friday with fellow NASCAR Grand National West series drivers Scott Lynch and Austin Cameron. A tradition that Thompson Motorsports started three years ago with the first GNW race in Roseburg. Brett and his wife Brooke also visited patients at Mercy Medical Center.
