As a three-time champion in what’s now the ARCA Menards Series West, Eric Holmes is considered one of the best West Coast stock car competitors of his generation.
He never got the chance to compete at NASCAR’s top level, but that doesn’t mean his accomplishments have gone unnoticed.
The Escalon, California native last month was announced as part of the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame class of 2024, his third year on the ballot. He’s joined in the class by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, Indianapolis 500 winner Jimmy Vasser, multi-time Bullring at Las Vegas track champion Dick Cobb and motorsports executive Cal Wells III.
“I think my wife and kids were more disappointed that I didn’t get in the first year,” said Holmes, 49. “I was pretty confident I’d get in. I was excited. I haven’t raced in a few years and your name isn’t out there as much. Now my name is in there, and it’s a pretty exciting feeling to have that back again.
“Never being a Cup driver, it means a lot. You quit racing, you think people forget about you.”
Holmes’ career in the West Series began in 1997, when he made his debut at Mesa Marin Raceway and finished fifth in a car owned by Allen Beebe.
During that time, he also was a regular face in the NASCAR Southwest Series, scoring nine wins in 81 starts. After a few years of doing the best they could with what they had, Beebe gave Holmes the proverbial keys and told him to go get what he needed to be competitive.
“I hired Ty Joiner, who was just a young kid, but his brother Junior Joiner was very well known and respected,” Holmes said. “We built ourselves a brand new car, and we went Phoenix and just dominated and won. Then we went to the Toyota All-Star Showdown, which was a big deal in those days, and we kicked their (butts) both days.
“I felt like I made it at that point.”
RELATED: Eric Holmes’ career statistics
Holmes in 2006 ran his first full season in the West Series. He earned his first victory that year and scored nine top-five and 10 top-10 finishes en route to his first championship.
Coincidently, 2006 was also the year Johnson captured his first NASCAR Cup Series championship. Holmes still remembers a special moment from awards week that year that he shared with Johnson.
“I probably haven’t seen Jimmie very much over the years, but in 2006 it was his first championship and that was my first championship,” Holmes said. “They took us all to New York, and Jimmie was kind enough to let all us sign his helmet. It’s kind of cool that we both won our first championships and we’re both going in this Hall of Fame together.”
After splitting his time in the East Series and West Series in 2007, Holmes returned to the West Series for the full season in 2008. This time he was driving for the powerhouse Bill McAnally Racing team.
What followed is one of the best four-season stretches in West Series history. From 2008-11, Holmes won 14 races and two championships. He never finished worse than second in the series standings during that four-year stretch.
“Getting the call from Bill McAnally … I’d been calling Bill since 1999, so finally in 2008, he finally called me and put me in his car,” Holmes recalled. “To go win our first race together and win that championship, between winning the All-Star Race and my first championship with Bill, those are probably my highlights right there.”
Holmes raced two more seasons in the West Series, with his final victory coming in 2012 at Washington’s Evergreen Speedway. His final start came at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in Bakersfield, California in 2013.
Following his tenure in the West Series, Holmes continued to race late models for a few seasons before becoming a spotter. This year, he’s primarily working with Jack Wood in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series West while also serving as a second spotter on road courses for Ross Chastain in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Away from the track, Holmes and his wife own a mobile coffee and bar business. When he’s able, he also drives the motorhome for his son-in-law, Todd Gilliland, who married his daughter Marissa in 2023.
“I’m pretty satisfied with how it all ended,” Holmes said of his racing career. “I ended competing for wins, and I won a lot of late model races after that. I still might go do a few late model races here and there so it keeps me in it.
“If the right opportunity came up at the right track that I felt comfortable going to, then I would definitely still go race.”
Holmes, along with Johnson, Vasser, Cobb and Wells, will be enshrined in the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame on June 6 at Sonoma Raceway’s Turn 11 Club VIP/Hospitality complex.
“It means the world to me,” Holmes said. “I know what I did and got to do it for many years, and actually made a living doing it. Now to be in the West Coast Stock Car/Motorsports Hall of Fame, it means a lot.
“I’m proud of it, and I’m proud of everybody that helped me.”
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