Holdaway Contends For Win In Spring Derby At Sunset Speedway

By Greg Calnan – Although it was one day late and a few degrees cooler than expected the 2014 racing season for Taylor Holdaway finally got underway. The Orillia, Ontario native not only competed in the Spring Derby at Sunset Speedway on Sunday, May 4^th, he was a major contender. At the end of the 100 lap main event he finished 4^th and led for a good portion of the race.

“I’m really happy with how fast the car was out of the box. We usually struggle the first couple of weeks so it feels great to be quick from the start” said Holdaway. “We led laps and were in contention for the win the whole race. I had a great time battling with my good friends Mike Bentley, Chris Morrow and Jason Witty” he added.

Taylor completed his first goal of the day in qualifying in the top ten. “I have never been good at qualifying, so we were aiming for a top 10. We ended up 9th so we were very happy with that” he said.

The top 12 qualifiers were inverted for the 100 lap feature placing Holdaway in the 4^th starting position. He quickly moved towards the front of the field and led a large portion of the race.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to hold on to the top spot in the closing laps. A late race restart bunched the field up. The driver fastest in qualifying, Chris Morrow, had worked his way from his 12^th place starting position and into contention. On the restart Holdaway got high in corner two and that gave Morrow all he needed to take the lead away and drive on to the victory.

In the end Holdaway would finish 4^th behind race winner Morrow, Mike Bentley and Jason Witty. “We unloaded out of the trailer pretty good on old tires and knew that if we could get the car handling well on them we would be good in the feature on new tires” said an upbeat Holdaway after the race. “We may not have won, but I am excited to see what we can do this year”. If the season opener was any indication, the #41 Ford Fusion should be a challenger all season long.

Taylor Holdaway and the #41 Holdaway Motorsports team return to action on Saturday, May 10^th for the 100 Lap Pro Late Model Invitational at Sunset Speedway. Race time is 5pm. Visitwww.sunsetspeedway.ca for more information.

Holdaway Motorsports would like to thank ImageFactor.ca Motorsports Designs, Castrol Motor Oil, Wix Filters, OntarioOval.com, Holdaway Automotive, Sunshine Super Wash Orillia and Thor Motors Orillia for their support in 2014.

For more information visit www.TaylorHoldaway.com and stay tuned for a brand new website coming soon. Fans are also encouraged to follow Taylor on Twitter at @41Holdaway and “Like” his Facebook Fan Page.