DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — After encountering a run of misfortune in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West this year, Eric Holmes hopes his recent win at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Wash., is a sign of things to come. The three-time series champion knows from experience how to turn around a rough season.
"Holmes Aims To Build Momentum From Recent Win"
He rebounded from some bad luck last year to make a late-season charge. Eighth in the championship standings after six races – the Escalon, Calif., driver reeled off top-five finishes in each of the remaining races to finish second in points.
He found himself in a similar position this season, failing to finish in three of four races and slipping to fifth in the standings. Now, after scoring his first win of the season on July 14, Holmes hopes to build momentum to fuel another second-half charge.
Next on the series schedule is NAPA/Toyota 150 on Saturday, July 28, at Colorado National Speedway – a favorite track for Holmes and one where he has two wins and two poles and has not finished out of the top 10 in four starts.
“Colorado is definitely my favorite track on the circuit,” he said of the 3/8-mile oval just north of Denver. “In the old NASCAR Southwest Tour cars and the West series, it’s always been a favorite of mine. I’ve won a lot there. I look forward to it and I’m looking forward to it even more right now, because we finally got our car running better and we’re coming off a win at Monroe.”
Holmes is optimistic about building momentum from that win and making a strong charge with his Bill McAnally Racing team and the No. 20 NAPA Toyota.
“It’s probably a little too late,” Holmes said of a title run. “If I could have pulled off a win at Sonoma, I thought I still could be in it. You just never know what could happen. I think we finally got it turned around. We’ve just been behind all year on getting stuff done and now we’re caught up and the car is getting faster every race. We’re taking the same car and I think it will be really good. I think we can at least make a charge for it and hopefully win some races and be there at the end and have a shot at it.”
