NASCAR Cup Series

Drive for Diversity profile: Jonathon Gomez

Published Jan. 22, 2009 6:42 p.m. ET

foxsports

Team Owner: RTD Motorsports

Hometown: Twin Falls, Idaho

Years in Racing: 10

Date Of Birth: 1/4/83

Jonathon Gomez, 26, lives in Twin Falls, Idaho. From the age of 15, he raced motocross locally, primarily on a limited schedule due to a busy work calendar. By the age of 21, work had gotten too busy for any racing. His passion was still there, however, the family business came first. In the spring of 2007, Gomez went back to racing. He bought a cheap mini stock and headed for the 1/3-mile Magic Valley Speedway in Twin Falls. The plan was just to run a couple of races, but he got hooked and ended up running the whole season. He went on to win five races and Rookie of the Year honors.

In 2008, Gomez competed in both the Late Model Division and the Super Stock Division for the entire season at Magic Valley Speedway. By the end of the season he had won the championship and Rookie of the Year award and finished with 13 wins. These great achievements earned Gomez a spot at the 2008 Drive for Diversity Testing & Evaluation Combine presented by Sunoco at South Boston Speedway.

He also ran two Camping World Series West races. With no previous seat-time in a NASCAR Camping World Series car, he arrived at Douglas County Speedway in Roseburg, Ore., the day of the race. He qualified 14th and finished ninth. Two weeks later he went to Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., and qualified 17th and finished eighth. He also ran three late model races at I-10 Speedway in Blythe, Calif., at the beginning of the season finishing in the top five in all three. Gomez also tested an ARCA Re/Max Series car for Bobby Gerhart at Daytona International Speedway in December.

For 2009, Gomez will be competing fulltime in the NASCAR Camping World Series West driving for RTD Motorsports as a member of the 2009 Drive for Diversity class. He also plans to run Dover and New Hampshire in the NASCAR Camping World Series East, as well as one NASCAR Nationwide Series race if funds permit.