Bret Holmes, driver of the #23 Holmes Excavation Chevrolet, looks on before the General Tire #AnywhereisPossible 200 for the ARCA Menards Series at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania on Friday, June 26, 2020. (Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing)
Bret Holmes, driver of the #23 Holmes Excavation Chevrolet, heads to Kansas Speedway Friday second in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings. (Adam Glanzman/ARCA Racing)

Bret Holmes Hopes To Finally Find Victory Lane at Kansas Speedway

www.arcaracing.com July 23, 2020

Bret Holmes has every reason to feel optimistic heading to Kansas Speedway.

Holmes enters Friday night’s Dawn 150 (10 p.m. ET, FS1) on the best run of his career. Starting with a return to racing with a third-place finish in the ARCA Menards Series East race at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway, the 23-year-old from Munford, Alabama, has piloted the family-owned No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet to five finishes of fourth or better in his last six starts.

A third-place at Iowa Speedway last weekend has Holmes sitting second in the ARCA Menards Series championship standings,

“I feel really good about where our intermediate stuff is right now, even more so of our short track stuff and I feel really good about that,” said Holmes in a video conference call with the media this week.

“We’ve been working hard to get to this point, and I think we have a shot to win this weekend.”

Holmes has improved from 26th (2017) to 10th (2018) to fourth (2019) in his last three starts at the 1.5-mile tri-oval, which is also scheduled to hold the season finale on October 16.

“The way we’ve been running on intermediates has been really good,” Holmes said, “so I think this weekend will finally be our weekend.”

RELATED: Dawn 150 Entry List | Bret Holmes Career Statistics

Repko Aiming To Continue Venturini Success

Victory Lane has been the province of Venturini Motorsports, with four wins in the first five races, and Ty Gibbs, who has won three of the last four.

With the 17-year-old Gibbs sitting out the Dawn 150 because of his age, Venturni is looking to resume their winning ways.

Ryan Repko will be back in the No. 20 Craftsman Toyota and will look to join teammates Self, Drew Dollar and Chandler Smith (twice) as waving the “V” flag in Victory Lane this season.

“I like to think I put myself in a position to have a lot of success when I signed to drive for them this season,” said the 20-year-old from Denver, North Carolina, in a video conference call with the media this week. “I think we’re leaving Kentucky with a lot of momentum. This race at Kansas is one I am really looking forward to.”

RACE CENTER: Dawn 150

Sharing the No. 20 with Smith, Repko followed up a runner-up finish behind Dollar at Talladega SuperSpeedway with a strong sixth-place performance at Kentucky.

“It’s not like one of those deals when you have a bad week you can just look forward to next week,” Repko said. “I don’t necessarily have a next week. My next week might be four weeks out. I just have to capitalize on every opportunity.

“I sat down and talked a lot after (Kentucky) with Michael Self, he’s great on the mile and a halfs. I have been able to lean on him and learn a lot heading into Kansas this weekend.”

Self won at Kansas in 2018 and was second to teammate Christian Eckes there last year.

Tribute To Shawn Balluzzo

After sitting out Iowa, Ryan Huff returns to the track with a new look on the No. 10 HB Hankins/Land & Coates Chevrolet for Andy Hillenburg.

Huff, who is sixth in the championship standings as a rookie, will pay tribute to will pay tribute to racer Shawn Balluzzo. Balluzzo was a multi-time Modified division champion at Virginia’s Langley Speedway, and was killed in an accident during a race at Langley on July 11. A native of Williamsburg, Virginia, Huff said Balluzzo was a mentor to him growing up.

“Shawn Balluzzo meant a lot to me,” said Huff. “He always had time for me or any young driver for that matter. I respected his advice and he taught me just as much on the track as he did off the track.

“I decided not to go to Iowa Speedway last weekend so I could go to Langley and join others and pay our respects to him. He was the definition of a true racer and I hope I can go to Kansas this weekend and not only make him proud, but my team too.”

Notes

The Dawn 150 will be Race 5 of the General Tire Superspeedway Challenge, which recognizes the car owner who accumulates the most points in designated events.

RELATED: General Tire Superspeedway Challenge Recap & Points Standings

Hailie Deegan is looking to bounce back after back-to-back disappointments. She returns to Kansas in her No. 4 Monster Energy Ford after finishing eight last year in her debut at an intermediate track. “Kansas is really fun,” said the Temecula, California driver. “We have a good piece to work with based on how we baselined at Kentucky. We are kind of perfecting that set-up right now to bring it to Kansas. Hopefully we have a good run and win soon.”

Deegan’s teammate, Tanner Gray, will pull triple-duty at Kansas. He’ll race both the ARCA and NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races on Friday night, followed up by another Truck Series race on Saturday afternoon. He’ll have a new look on his No. 17 for the ARCA Menards Racew, with . Pneumatechas the primary sponsor for the race.

Chad Bryant Racing will have rookie Derek Griffith in the seat for the No. 22 Original Gourmet Food Company Ford. The 23-year-old from Hudson, New Hampshire, was seventh at Kentucky. “Although the tracks are different, the mindset is still the same,” added Griffith. “I know I’ll be able to trust the car and we can keep working on it. The more the race went on at Kentucky the more comfortable I became. I have to get into that frame of mind as if I’m competing in those last couple of laps at Kentucky during practice at Kansas to put us in a good spot for the race.”

In addition to airing live on FS1, fans can also listen to the race on MRN, including online on MRN.com, and SIRIUSXM Ch. 385 and online Ch. 985. The MRN Broadcast can also be streamed on the ARCA Menards Series Race Center along with live timing & scoring.