HOLMES REGAINS THE NASCAR CAMPING WORLD SERIES WEST POINT LEAD

Source: Bill McAnally Racing/kr
Date: 06/25/2008

ANTELOPE, California – The weather wasn’t the only hot factor at the road course of Infineon Raceway. Bill McAnally Racing’s Eric Holmes, driver of the No. 20 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota Camry was fired up to regain the series point lead.

With temperatures soaring in the 100 degree range, the first order of business was to get a great starting position on the 1.99-mile road course in Sonoma, California. The No. 20 NAPA team led by crew chief Ty Joiner gave Holmes just what he needed to put the No. 20 NAPA Toyota on the pole with a time of 78.035 seconds; less than 2/10th of a second from the record set by NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Gilliland last year.

At race start, Holmes had the lead and held on to it until lap 12 when driver PJ Jones moved out front. With pit stop strategy crucial on a road course, Joiner made the call to come in under caution at lap 21 for fuel only. Holmes reentered the race in 16th but by lap 26 of the 64 scheduled laps, the No. 20 NAPA Toyota was back in the top ten. Five laps later, Holmes was fourth on the board with his sight set on the leader, Jason Bowles. The race had 12 caution periods including two red flag stops. Under a green-white-checkered scenario, Jason Bowles would record his third road-course win with a margin of victory of only .35 seconds ahead of Holmes.

“I was trying to get (Bowles) to make a mistake but he didn’t,” said Holmes. “It was a real drag race at the end. It’s hard to pass a good car driven by a good driver here.”

With the second place finish, Holmes regains the series points lead by two over the 2007 series champion, Mike David.

“Eric was so patient,” said team owner Bill McAnally. “We had to play catch up after our finish at Phoenix earlier this season. We had to keep moving forward and not let a bad result slow us down. Eric and the whole NAPA team did a great job and I’m so proud of them all. He could have just taken the leader out but that’s not the kind of driver Eric is. I’m really happy with the way we ran and with our finish at Infineon.”

The next race for the NCWS West is at Toyota Speedway in Irwindale California on Friday, July 4th. The race will be televised live on HDNet and be presented as an enhanced replay on SPEED Channel.

For more information on Bill McAnally Racing and our race partners, please visit our website at www.billmcanallyracing.com. The website also contains the latest news on drivers and show car appearances.

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