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2009 ‘DMS Driver Challenge’ Champion Announced
3.23.09 – Madera, California
The first-ever DMS Driver Challenge came to a close with a final round of competition on March 17th, and the team, led by owner Marc DeBeaumont, quickly came to a decision on a winner. Tucson, Arizona’s Alex Bowman will represent the program as the chosen driver to race the DMS house car throughout the 2009 season.
Bowman, a 15-year old USAC National Ford Focus Midget champion, was coming off a win in Focus competition on Saturday in Lake Havasu City, Arizona and parlayed that success into an impressive day on the 1/3-mile Madera Speedway. In addition to turning the fastest lap of the day among the ten finalists, he also accumulated the best overall time in both runs of the day.
“Alex showed an incredible amount of natural ability in a pavement midget. His speed and consistency were impossible to ignore, and with his résumé coming into this, I’m confident that he will race well for us this year,” DeBeaumont said concerning Bowman’s performance.
The schedule for Bowman in the DMS Racing team will be a work in progress as he does not turn sixteen, the age required to race with USAC, until late April.
Asked about the final day, Bowman said, “I was just trying to focus on what I needed to tell Marc about the car after the first run, and after that, it was all about running my line and not making mistakes,” and went on to say, “having Marc’s experience on my side will help me get better in the full midget and hopefully lead to running really well together.”
In addition to Bowman, DMS will also attempt to field cars, on a limited basis, for Challenge competitors Levi Roberts (Broomfield, CO) and Jonathan Beason (Broken Arrow, OK) as well.
Roberts was consistently strong in both rounds of competition and is expected to be a threat to win right out of the box in DMS equipment.
“The whole experience was great, especially being able to take some coaching from guys who really know what they’re doing,” Roberts said, adding, “I’m really optimistic going into these races knowing I have the right equipment and the right guys working on the cars to go out and be fast enough to win.”
Beason overcame a lack of pavement midget experience to become a serious contender in the final round. He will be looking to make his first pavement midget start early in the season, aboard a DMS car.
“Before the final round, I was just thinking of what I could do to get better. I wanted to show that I could pick up speed on pavement in a short amount of time,” Beason explained. He also noted, “It was nice to learn in such a good car, and the crew guys were really helpful, so that made it easier.”
All ten competitors in the finale upped the bar from the first round, resulting in a remarkably close contest. Lorin Ranier, of Motorsports Management International, joined the group of judges that included Tim Clauson, Kirk Spridgeon, and DeBeaumont. Driver coaches Bryan Clauson, Jerry Coons, Jr., and Ryan Kaplan also added their input on the outcome of the Challenge.
Stay tuned to DMSdriverchallenge.com for updates on the upcoming schedules of the DMS midgets this season. Also, be sure to stay informed on the accomplishments of all those who took part in the DMS Driver Challenge, as the site will contain the latest news on each of the drivers.
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