Bret Holmes always gets a bit of a pep in his step when its race week at Talladega Superspeedway.

The driver and team owner from nearby Munford, Alabama, always looks forward to racing at his home track. It’s something he never could have imagined when he was a young boy racing go-karts down the road at the nearby Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Alabama.

“That’s where my dad grew up racing, and that’s how I got my start, at their go-kart track, and eventually their late model track,” Holmes recalled. “It was kind of a dream or a huge deal to make it across the road to the big track, which is how we always referred to it.”

Holmes, the 2020 ARCA Menards Series champion, doesn’t compete in many ARCA events these days. He spends most of his time focused on his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series program, which debuted last year.

However, it’s almost a guarantee that you’ll see Holmes and his No. 23 Chevrolet on the entry list when the ARCA Menards Series rolls into Talladega for the General Tire 200 each year.

“There is nothing like racing at home,” said Holmes, who will again have sponsorship from Golden Eagle Syrup for his home race at Talladega. “We have all those people and support behind you. You want to perform a little extra or do anything a little extra as far as performance goes.”

Holmes returns to his home track in search of what would be a landmark win. A native Alabama driver hasn’t won in ARCA competition at Talladega since Davey Allison triumphed at the 2.66-mile superspeedway in 1985.

Allison just so happened to be driving the No. 23 that day, a connection that isn’t lost on Holmes.

“There’s not a lot of Alabama guys that have won there in the past,” Holmes said. “Davey Allison actually won there a long time ago in the No. 23 in the ARCA series. I think that’s the last time the No. 23 has been in Victory Lane in the ARCA series there.”

Last year at Talladega, Holmes was in contention for the victory having led 28 laps and running as the leader at the white flag. However, things didn’t go his way during the final circuit, and he ended up fifth.

He’s hoping for a different outcome Saturday afternoon.

“We’ve always had good runs here,” Holmes said. “Last year was our best year here. We led the most laps here in the ARCA race, and I was leading at the white flag lap, and we choked it at the end. We need to do a little better job deciding which lane to block and how to control those lanes.

“We’ve got a great car and great team and great people behind us. I think we’ve got all the pieces to the puzzle. We’ve just got to find a little bit of luck and execute just a little bit better at the end of the races. We’ll make something big happen, because winning one of these races would be huge.”

Tim Richmond takes Daytona momentum to Talladega

As the laps clicked away during the 2022 ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona International Speedway in February, Tim Richmond was in contention for an upset victory.

Richmond, driving car acquired from David Gilliland Racing during the offseason, ran as high as third in the closing laps before he was forced to pit road due to a lack of fuel during the final caution period of the race.

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise spectacular day for Richmond, who was on course for a career-best finish in his No. 27 Toyota. He ended the day 18th, a finish not nearly representative of his performance that day.

That brings us to Talladega, where Richmond returns to competition after skipping the most recent ARCA Menards Series event at Phoenix Raceway in March. It’s the second of 11 races Richmond, who works as a lineman, plans to compete in this season.

He has two previous starts at Talladega with finishes of 17th and 24th to his credit. The difference this weekend is Richmond has the same car he raced at Daytona, a car that nearly carried to him to a top-five finish.

His best finish to date in ARCA competition is a ninth-place result at Ohio’s Toledo Speedway in 2020, a finish Richmond could easily better Saturday afternoon.

The Moose is loose again in Alabama

Thomas Praytor, best known by his nickname “Moose,” is coming back for another round in the General Tire 200.

Praytor is set to make his 10th career Talladega ARCA Menards Series start Saturday and his 113th ARCA Menards Series start overall.

In his previous nine races at Talladega, Praytor has a best finish of 12th. He could better that this weekend thanks to a fresh Ilmor engine and some help from Venturini Motorsports.

“Really looking forward to being back at Talladega,” said Praytor, who has a career-best finish of seventh in ARCA competition. “My brother-in-law, Mike Abram, and the guys at Venturini have been working on our car all winter, and I’m excited about the piece we are bringing back to Alabama.”

Praytor is one of two Alabama natives entered in Saturday’s race, joining the aforementioned Holmes.

Easter Bunny brought the Moose @ThomasPraytor some fresh Ilmore horses for @ARCA_Racing @GeneralTire 200 @TALLADEGA this weekend. Happy race week! pic.twitter.com/TdKxeeRa71

— Max Force Racing (@DKLOKRacing) April 18, 2022

Notes:

• Thad Moffitt will make his ARCA Menards Series season debut at Talladega driving for Jeff McClure in the No. 44 Ford.
• Athens, Texas, resident Jon Garrett will make his maiden ARCA Menards Series start on Saturday via a partnership with Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Racing. He’ll pilot the No. 11 Ford with primary sponsorship from Fort Worth Screen Printing.
• For the second straight superspeedway race, Mullins Racing will field a pair of cars for team owner/driver Willie Mullins and rookie Brayton Laster. The duo finished 13th (Laster) and 14th (Mullins) in the opener at Daytona in February.
• Saturday’s race will be the first of five events this year that Andy Jankowiak’s No. 73 will carry sponsorship from Whelen Engineering.