This Week, Great Lakes Post Spoke with ARCA Menards Series Driver and Alabama Native Bret Holmes as he prepares for this week’s ARCA Race in Talladega
How do you think your season is going so far?
BH: “I feel like the No. 23 team is in a really good place right now. You know it always takes time for a new team to get to know each other, learn how each other works, really gel together, but I think we’re past all that and are working well together. I have no doubt in Shane (Huffman, crew chief) and our crew with everything that they’re bringing to the table. They’re building fast cars every week. They’ve all been a huge key to our team that we’ve been lacking the last two years.”
What do you think about all of the changes your team made this offseason?
BH: “We decided we needed to regroup and figure out what we needed to be successful for this season. We worked hard to rebuild our team over the offseason. Racing is a family sport. You travel a lot with your team and get to know everyone really well. It’s important to have a strong leader and hardworking crew members. We wanted to find the right guys for the job, and we did just that.”
How do you feel about coming home to your home track in Talladega?
BH: “I spent about seven years of my life racing across the street at the dirt track. This is the race on the schedule that I circle. Being an Alabama native, I’d love to win here more than anything. It would mean the world to me. I went to school in Anniston, Alabama, that’s about 20 minutes down the road. I attend Auburn University now which isn’t far and grew up in Munford. That’s about 10 minutes away, literally almost my backyard. It’s fun to race in your hometown.”
How do you balance racing and school?
BH: “I’m kind of used to balancing the two. I’ve been doing it most of my life. When I’m at school, I focus on my classes. Especially right now. I have four tests this week and two finals when I get back from Talladega. When I’m at the track, I focus on racing and team. It’s hard work, but I like the challenge. After these finals, I’ll be on break for the summer. I’ll be able to focus on just racing for a few months.”
What does it take to win at a track like Talladega?
BH: “Patience and luck. You have to be in the right place at the right time. Not to be confused with the wrong place at the wrong time. In these ARCA cars, we run more two wide than anything. You’re still racing close together at high speeds. You can’t get too aggressive, but you have to be aggressive enough to take positions.”
What would it mean for you to win in your home state?
BH: “My friends always ask me what I would do if I won here at Talladega. It would be the coolest feeling in the world. A win here would be for more than just me and the team. It would be for my dad, too. We both have a lot of history racing around this place. I’ll have a lot of family and friends at the race and being able to perform well in front of them and my hometown crowd would be a great feeling. We’re hungry for our first win but to do it here, at Talladega Superspeedway, it would definitely be the biggest win of my career.”