ARCA Menards Series
General Tire 200
Talladega Superspeedway
April 26, 2019
Bret Holmes finished 14th at Talladega Superspeedway in the second plate race of the ARCA Menards Series season. During his group qualifying session on Friday afternoon, Holmes posted the 16th-fastest time, awarding him a starting position in the outside lane. After the initial green flag was displayed, Holmes used the draft to advance to the ninth spot. The field shifted from two-wide pack racing to single-file groups. Holmes found himself leading the second single-file pack of cars on lap 29. Quiet on the radio, Holmes remained fixed on the yellow line as his group of cars raced to catch the lead pack. Holmes relinquished his track position on lap 43 when he pitted under yellow-flag conditions. The No. 23 Holmes ll Excavation team pitted for fuel only and restarted fifth on lap 50. After a quick green-flag run, the field was slowed again, and Holmes was scored fourth. On the ensuing restart, Holmes was caught on the outside and was forced out of the draft. He was able to slip down into the inside lane and finished in the 14th position.
Start – 16th Finish – 14th Points Position – 3rd
BRET HOLMES QUOTE:
“We didn’t get a good starting spot. With the group qualifying, it really depends on the cars in your group and how well you all work together. So, that put us further back than we wanted to be for the start of the race. We really had a top-five car on single-car run speeds. It was a weird race. It stayed single file for a lot longer than I thought it would. When that caution came out and we got to restart fifth, I could have gotten a little better of a restart. We kept our position and restarted fourth for the next restart. We were just on the top lane. The only way that could have worked is if everyone on the outside worked together. Our drafting partner dropped to the bottom before we could get clear and left us up there without any help. All the other cars on the top lane started fading to the bottom, and the top draft went away. It’s an unpredictable race. It’s hard to say what we would have, or could have done differently. You just never know how things are going to turn out. We’ll keep our heads up. Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville is one of my better tracks. I’m hoping we can turn our luck around there next weekend.”