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Bret Holmes Rebounds From Daytona Disappointment with Solid Sixth-Place Run in Pensacola

www.arcaracing.com March 18, 2019

After a trying 2018 season, Bret Holmes returns to the ARCA Menards Series in 2019 re-energized with the intention of racing for and winning the series championship.

Holmes and his family-owned team struggled in 2018. A spate of finishes outside the top twenty and a general lack of speed forced Holmes and company to step to the sidelines and reorganize. He missed six races last year and started three of the races he did run for Ken Schrader Racing. After the race at Berlin in August, Holmes was done for the year and focused on 2019.

The attention spent looking forward has helped.

The addition of Shane Huffman to the team as crew chief has given Holmes added confidence, and a positive attitude that has allowed the Munford, Alabama native to shake off a disappointing finish at Daytona.

Just like he was last season, Holmes was fighting for the win at Daytona when trouble broke out around him. Through no fault of his own, he went from running third with a chance to win to sliding backwards in the grass and fighting to stay in the top twenty in the blink of an eye.

But with Huffman’s leadership, Holmes quickly put that out of his mind and turned his attention to Five Flags Speedway. The banked half-mile is a track Holmes is familiar with, afterall, he was the track’s 2016 pro late model champion.

Experience at the track paid off handsomely as Holmes ran among the top five most of the night. A late race caution and struggles on restarts cost him three positions, but Holmes charged through the pack the last 25 laps of the race and gained two of them back to finish sixth.

After the race, Holmes lamented the last restart, which he felt cost him a chance at a top-five finish.

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“We lost some ground there (on restarts) and at a place like Five Flags, they’re hard to gain back,” Holmes said. “It goes to show how important it is to get a good restart, you can easily gain or lose spots. That’s the biggest part of the race where I know I could have improved on. On that last restart, I just got too aggressive and spun the tires. I wanted to get a good restart and make up a couple of spots. That really hurt us in getting a top-five finish. I knew we had a car that could run upfront. That was our goal today, a top-five finish.”

Holmes’ rebound after disappointment in Daytona has him energized for Salem and beyond.

This was the first real race together as a team at a short track,” he said. “We have a good baseline for the rest of the season. I’m proud of all the hard work these guys put into the car each week. I’ll remember what I learned tonight and keep it in the back of my mind for Salem next month.” 

Practice for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200  is set for 11 am ET on Saturday, April 13 with General Tire Pole Qualifying scheduled for 3 pm ET that afternoon. The green flag on round three of the 2019 ARCA Menards Series season will drop shortly after 2 pm ET on Sunday, April 14. The race will be televised live on MAVTV and ARCA for Me members can access live timing & scoring, live chat, and live track updates at ARCARacing.com. New members can register for free at ARCARacing.com/login.