MIKE ZAMORA EARNS LMCS CROWN IN STELLAR ROOKIE SEASON

Source: LMCS media
Date: 11/01/2005

Graham, Washington--Mike Zamora has quite a bit of hometown know-how at his local tracks of Yakima Speedway WA and Tri-Cities Raceway WA; but unfortunately these tracks were not on the Late Model Challenge Series’ (LMCS) 2005 schedule. The 30 year-old Kennewick WA driver took on a huge challenge this last season electing to chase the championship title in a Super Stock touring series that had all its point races scheduled at racetracks he and his team had never visited before. Couple that with many of the tracks being much smaller and tighter than the ½-mile venues he was accustomed to and it all boils down to one heck of a tough rookie season ending on a very high note.….. the 2005 LMCS Champion title!

Things started out on a good note from the beginning as the #57 car of Zamora & crew set fast qualifying time at the LMCS’s 2005 season opener ‘Apple Blossom 100’ race at Wenatchee Valley’s Super Oval on April 30th. Zamora earned a fourth-place finish (of 29 cars) at the fast, tight ¼-mile oval and proved to all that he would be a strong challenger in his rookie year. Unfortunately, rain cancelled the following LMCS feature event at Stateline Speedway ID with just 16 laps on the books, but Zamora stayed focused and placed 5th overall (of 26 cars) at the 150-lap ‘Washington 150’ at WVSO on June 25th against stiff competition. He then took home a 3rd place finish at Montana Raceway Park’s ‘Firecracker 100’ event on July 2nd.

All his team’s hard work and commitment finally paid off with Zamora’s first of two 2005 LMCS victories at Stateline Speedway, ID ‘RockStar 100’ on August 6th and the second on September 3rd at the ‘Labour Day Can-Am 150’ race at Western Speedway on Victoria Island. A third potential victory slipped away after he led a total of 92 laps at WVSO on August 13th, only to have a flat right front tire slow his final 8 laps, and ultimately costing him 11 finish positions. Bad luck almost struck again at the season championship event at Evergreen Speedway when Zamora’s motor blew up during Friday night practice session at the 5/8th-mile big track oval. On a borrowed motor and finishing 16th of 32 cars, he maintained the points lead securing the championship in a very competitive rookie season.

Zamora finished the season with 812 championship points after securing feature event starting positions at all eight points events, against 86 different driver who participated in this season. Mike gives a lot of credit to his crew chief Sam Morris who has been with him for 10 years, his complete team; and the support of his wife Tobi and two children Jarrod, 11yrs and Brittany, 6yrs. His Chevrolet Monte Carlo sponsors include: Tritan Plumbing of Kennewick, Brashear Electric, Able Bail Bonds, Craig Racing Engines, X-Caliber Concrete, and Atomic Signs.

The Late Model Challenge Series has grown in popularity over its six years running, and has become one of the largest and most recognized Late Model Super Stock touring programs in the Northwest region. The series again achieved the region’s best average of 26 cars showing for each point event. In addition, the level of competition, professionalism, and ‘depth’ of the field has increased with each successive season. Overall, the series has hosted 61 scheduled events with more than 160 drivers participating at tracks in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and BC Canada. Five different Champions have been crowned: 2000 – Ron Wolf, 2001 – Mike Sauls, 2002 – Ron Oline, 2003 – Jason Hedrick, 2004 – Ron Wolf, and now for 2005 – Mike Zamora.

LMCS 2005 top-10 in points: 1.) Mike Zamora #57 – Kennewick WA, 2.) Mark Sundberg #7 – Seattle WA, 3.) James Spiering #18 – Redmond WA, 4.) Steve Thompson #17 – W. Richland WA, 5.) Jay Sauls #20 – Puyallup WA, 6.) Loran Payne #21 – Renton WA, 7.) Jim Johnson #69 – Orting WA, 8.) Mike Kenyon #44 – North Bend WA, 9.) Lon Werremeyer #02 – Yakima WA, 10.) Ron Wolf #43 – Auburn WA.

For more information on the LMCS, please visit: www.LateModelChallenge .com or contact series director Jerry Losch at 253.312.1080

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