Eric Holmes Rides the Outside Line to Victory

Saturday, 14 August 2010 20:50

Points leader Eric Holmes of Escalon, CA takes a well earned victory at Colorado National Speedway after fending off the ever approaching Luis Martinez, Jr. This win marks Holmes' 4th win of the season and his 2nd consecutive win after blowing the doors off the competition at Montana Raceway Park on August 7th.

West Cars Toyota Napa Bonus Challenge
The lightning fast West cars started the 150 lap A Main with #6 Luis Martinez Jr on the pole, beside him sat point leader #20 Eric Holmes on the outside. Eric Holmes won the brief battle for the lead, but Martinez stuck close behind. Third in points, hard charger #22 Jonathon Gomez passed #88 Michael Seif for 4th place at lap 22. At lap 37 the leaders approached lapped traffic. Lap 46 saw the top 5 Eric Holmes, Martinez, #26 Greg Pursley, Jonathon Gomez and Seif intermingling with heavy lapped traffic. By lap 57 Holmes had broken through the lapped cars and taken a tremendous 10 car length lead on the nearest competitor, Luis Martinez. Holmes' lead was nullified as a spin out in turn 4 brought on a yellow flag and a double file restart. Martinez made a slick move on the inside of Holmes when the race resumed, but couldn't take over the lead. Only 2 laps after resuming green flag racing, Gomez spun out coming around turn 2 which signaled another yellow flag. Gomez left the track and returned a few laps later at the rear of the field. Undiscouraged after his first failed attempt, Martinez took advantage of the restart, rocketing into a comfortable lead over Holmes via the outside. A few laps later, the #17 machine of David Mayhew lost it's right front tire, bringing on a 3rd yellow flag. After his success on the outside of Holmes, Martinez elected to ride the outside line on the restart. The choice paid off as he sprang into the lead once again. The victory was short-lived as Holmes retook his spot in 1st place via the outside at lap 112. At lap 145 #12 Paulie Harraka made a last minute pass over Martinez, taking the spot behind leader Eric Holmes. Holmes took the win followed by Harraka, Martinez, and Pursley.

Two Doors Down Figure 8s
Lost body panels, dirt smoke screens and general mayhem weren't enough for officials to wave the yellow flag through the first 6 laps of the 20 lap figure 8 A Main. Drivers were inadvertently doing donuts in the dirt and along the front stretch to avoid the massive field of cars rocketing through the X. #24 Joe Martinez moved to the front of the pack from the get go, hanging onto the lead as #4 Joe Matlock maneuvered his way into 2nd from a start in 8th place. Matlock was gaining on Martinez when #01 Pete Moss stopped in the X to avoid oncoming traffic and stalled. Officials allowed green flag racing to continue as dozens of cars collided and spun out to avoid the poorly parked Moss. Just as the yellow flag flew, Moss got his car started and green flag racing resumed shortly after. #15 Jeremy Wall was traveling on a collision course through the X with pack leaders Martinez and Matlock who were dueling for the lead. Instead of driving straight through, Wall rounded the X. Matlock took advantage of the situation going around the approaching Jeremy Wall as Martinez was forced to slow down. Matlock took the win followed by Martinez.

Sheds-R-Us Super Stocks
#22 Payne Mattlock, #90 Kyle Pattee and #10 Todd Finley were involved in a collision between turns 1 and 2 only one lap into the 30 lap Main Event. Extensive damage to Mattlock and Patee's machines forced them to leave the track, taking the car count down to 26. When racing resumed #46 Richard Lothert and #00 Dennis Edwards shuffled back and forth for the lead. By lap 17 Lothert had emerged from the battle victorious as he pulled away for a 3 car length lead. At lap 22 our leaders were coming up on lapped traffic. With only 2 laps to go a car stalled between turns 3 and 4 lining the field up for a double file restart. Lothert took the win followed by #17 Jeremy Barclay, #00 Dennis Edwards, #36 Matt Burton and #92 Aj Grasso.

ERA Super Modifieds
The Super Modifieds hit the track for a 30 lap Main Event. #02 Johnny Pickard used the first 5 laps to build a commanding lead on the rest of the field. Meanwhile, #3 Harold Evans was making short work of his competitors, taking 2nd from a start in 7th place. Pickard took the win by a mile followed by Evans and #40 Harry Stone.

K&N Pro Series West
20, 12, 6, 26, 17, 61, 88, 13, 38, 21, 51, 14, 22, 07, 16, 60, 9, 15, 5

Figure 8s
1 #4 JOE MATLOCK, AURORA, 2 #24 JOE MARTINEZ, CENTENNIAL, 3 #23 AL DURAN, LAKEWOOD, 4 #17 HARRY LIVERMORE JR, ENGLEWOOD, 5 #67 KEITH SWENSON, AURORA, 6 #03 LUKE ZIKE, MORRISON, 7 #8 X MATT WILLAMS, ARVADA, 8 #01 PETE MAAS, 9 #69 TAMMY TOTOS, COMMERCE CITY, 10 #81 DAVID SMITH, ENGLEWOOD, 11 #52 JARED WALL, COMMERCE CITY, 12 #15 JEREME WALL, 13 #50 JUSTIN MCKEACHIE, 14 #05 JEROME HOHN JR, DENVER, 15 #16 VINNY SMITH, 16 #5 DENNIS SUMMERS

Super Stocks
1 #46 RICHARD LOTHERT, 2 #17 JEREMY BARCLAY, 3 #00 DENNIS EDWARDS, 4 #36 MATTHEW BURTON, 5 #92 AJ GRASSO, 6 #09 JOHN PATEE, 7 #23 X HARRY LIVERMORE JR, 8 #02 CECIL SMITH, 9 #21 JUSTIN PURVIS, 10 #75 EMILIO ABEYTA, 11 #5 JEFFREY SLUSS, 12 #13 JASON MORRIS, 13 #84 BRYAN EUBANK, 14 #10 X TODD FINLEY, 15 #0 X ANDREW MUES, 16 #31 DAVID HARRIS, 17 #40 X THOMPSON BAILEY, 18 #19 SCOTT MILLER, 19 #30 CONNIE COX, 20 #72 X HANS BREWSTER, 21 #43 ROBERT SEARS, 22 #77 X KEVIN D KELLER, 23 #79 SHANE COUNCILMAN, 24 #18 CHRIS PINELLI, 25 #49 X COLE WHITFORD, 26 #29 KEENAN RIDDELL, 27 #3 MICHAEL COX, 28 #90 X KYLE PATEE, 29 #47 DONALD MCATEE JR, 30 #22 X PAYNE MATLOCK

Super Modified
1 #02 JOHNNY PICKARD, 2 #3 HJ EVANS, 3 #40 HARRY STONE, 4 #33 CHRIS SCHEIL, 5 #51 JOE PRISELAC, 6 #2 RICH CASTOR Jr., 7 #29 MOORE CRAIG, 8 #22 IRA CASTOR, 9 #88 KEVIN DAY