2016 SPEARS Southwest Tour Series Championship Standings – 6th Place: Jacob Gomes
Gomes Roller Coast Season End up Sixth in SPEARS Southwest Tour Points
2015 SPEARS (SRL) Southwest Tour Series Champion, Jacob Gomes, finished the 2016 championship season, sixth in the final series standings. Gomes entered the final event of the season, at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, fourth in points, but an early race accident saw Jacob drop to sixth in the final rundown. It was the end of a season that was full of ups and downs, for the six-time series winner. It was a season which has him looking forward to a rebound in 2017.
Gomes started the season off strong, with fourth and third place finishes at “The Bullring” and Irwindale Speedway. A disappointing ninth at, Kern County Raceway, preceded a championship killing 22nd place effort, at Irwindale Speedway, when the starter came off the car. Jacob came back strong with four consecutive top five finishes, heading to the season finale. Unfortunately for Gomes, his first accident of the season, on lap 7, dropped him to sixth in the standings, with a 28th place finish.
After Gomes’ 2015 championship season, his follow-up effort resulted in six top five, and seven top ten efforts, in nine contests. While many drivers would be happy with those results, Gomes was disappointed in their final standing, and a lack of a victory on “The Tour”.
“This season was a long and hard roller coaster of a year”, Gomes told the SPEARS Southwest Tour Series. “It didn’t really go the best this year, and we were happy to get the season over, so we could get ourselves back together again. We plan on coming out in 2017, and racing the hardest that we ever have for wins.”
Even though Gomes season was somewhat tumultuous, he did have multiple good runs, with one second, and three third place finishes. The most remarkable was the second event at Kern County Raceway where he finished third. The first 75 laps saw Jacob struggle to stay on the lead lap, with what turned out to be missing brake pads. At the halfway break, the crew discovered the problem, which led to a rally in the second 75 laps in the 26 car field.
“I think my most memorable race of the season would probably be the last race at Kern County Raceway”, Gomes recalled. We really kind of figured that place out, a little bit better, with regards to our car. We are really looking forward to the (2017 Winter) Showdown in February.”
Watch for Jacob, and his Sunny Valley Smoked Meats Inc., Dennis Arbini Chevrolet, to make a strong comeback in 2017. That comeback is scheduled to take-off on February 9-11, at the 2017 version of the Winter Showdown, at Kern County Raceway.
