HOMECOMING RUN PRODUCES CAREER-BEST FOURTH PLACE FINISH FOR GALLEGOS

Source: RTD Motorsports/sb
Date: 06/11/2008

Mike Gallegos of Wheat Ridge, CO made the most of his return to Colorado National Speedway, taking home a career-best fourth place finish in his RTD Motorsports, Inc. / Service Plus Chevrolet Saturday night in the NASCAR Camping World Series West.

The 24 year-old Drive for Diversity participant picked up his first career top-five finish in the series, and his fourth straight top-ten in the 2008 season.

“We had a good run and I give all the credit back to the guys in the shop,” Gallegos said. “Testing gave us a good baseline and we’re progressively getting better.”

Gallegos rolled off the grid ninth and quickly battled up to the fifth position. A miscommunication the radio left Gallegos thinking the yellow was out, when it was not.

Gallegos got off the gas and lost several positions in the process.

The hometown driver quickly worked his way back up to fifth, and satisfied the fans with an exciting battle with Canadian Darryl Harr for fourth.

“The field got a little bit stretched out so it was hard to make up ground on the top-three,” Gallegos said. “You never know what could have happened but I’m happy with fourth.”

The fourth place finish was a great run for the team with Colorado roots. Not only is Gallegos from Colorado, his sponsor Service Plus is based in Denver. Engine builder Dave Capriotti owns DC Racing Engines in Colorado, and team owner Rob Dixon got his start in motorsports working in Colorado.

RTD Motorsports, Inc. and driver Mike Gallegos are now eighth in the series points, just 53 points out of third.

Gallegos now sets his sights on one of the most important races of the 2008 NASCAR Camping Series West season at Infineon Raceway June 20 and 21. Saturday’s race is part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at the 1.99 mile road course in Sonoma.

The race is also a multiple pit stop race, a format that RTD Motorsports shined in at both Phoenix and Iowa.

“I am excited about Infineon and I think we can turn some heads,” Gallegos said. “A race with pit stops is a lot easier because if you start out with a good car, you can make adjustments throughout the race and make the car great.”

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