Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
ORILLIA, Ont. (July 5, 2016) – ‘Hollywood’ Taylor Holdaway claimed his sixth win of the season during NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action at Sunset Speedway on July 2. The win also helped vault Holdaway in to the points lead at the Innsifil area oval.
Holdaway’s night did not start according plan after a small error led to a seventh-place qualifying effort.
“I put the steering wheel on wrong. With the line on the steering wheel, I’m so used to turning it back to straight. When I put it back to straight, I just about put it in to the wall,” Holdaway said.
Nonetheless, Holdaway still had a starting spot near the front of the field. It was a challenging push forward, but the driver of the Bay Auto & Truck Parts/KartSTART by Toyota/Imaga Factor No.41 was able to drive to fourth starting spot.
The ‘big one’ happened on lap 22 while Holdaway held his position as the top two drivers collided in a multi-car pileup that the No.41 narrowly avoided.
“We were really lucky to miss that wreck. That put us second on the restart and we were able to take the lead on the restart and hold off (Dwayne) Baker on the last couple of restarts to get the win,” Holdaway said of the victory.
Several big wrecks have taken place at Sunset so far this year and Holdaway has avoided most of the carnage. A seemingly weekly occurrence, Holdaway doesn’t change his preparation in anticipation of the problems, he said.
“I don’t think you can approach the race any different. It’s just a matter of hoping you’re not around it when it happens,” Holdaway said. “If you are near it, hopefully you can get through it with as minor damage as possible. Hopefully everyone can calm down a little bit.”
He then lined up 12th for the second 35-lap main event and quickly advanced to the front of the field. Holdaway was sixth by lap 15 and began to work past Lane Zardo in the top lane. Zardo likely didn’t see the No.41 to his outside, forcing Holdaway to hit the brakes. Unable to react quick enough, Travis Hallyburton turned the No.41, resulting in both cars going to the rear.
“I checked up so I didn’t wreck us both, and when I did that, Travis (Hallyburton) got in to my back end and spun me down the backstretch,” Holdaway explained. “We went back to 17th or 18th and worked our way back up to third.”
That went awry as well, however, as Al Inglis got sideways ahead of Holdaway in turn two with two laps remaining. Holdaway again held up to avoid contact, and Hallyburton made contact to the rear after Holdaway slowed. This time, Holdaway avoided a spin, but track officials deemed him an involved car. With little time remaining, Holdaway raced back to a 13th-place finish, his first finish outside the top -10 since April 30.
“We ended up finishing 13th, but we took the points lead. Six wins this year is nothing to cry home about,” Holdaway said happily.
Holdaway is happy to have worked back from an opening night fireball under the hood of the No.41 to claim the track point lead.
“We started off behind the eight ball and had to dig out of a points gap. We knew this year wasn’t going to be easy and we were going to have to fight for every point we got,” offered Holdaway modestly. “We just have to stick to our game plan. We’ve been lucky enough to win a bunch of races to start the year.”
Holdaway now gets set for three races over the next four weeks. Their only off week in July will be on Saturday, July 16 with twin 35-lap features for NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition taking place on July 9, 23 and 30. Find Taylor Holdaway’s complete schedule at www.taylorholdaway.com.
HOLLYWOOD HIGHLIGHTS
Taylor Holdaway 2016 Stats – 11 Starts: 6 Wins, 8 Top-5s, 8d Top-10s
UP NEXT
July 9 – NASCAR Whelen All-American Series at Sunset Speedway
HOLDAWAY MEDIA
Website: www.taylorholdaway.com
Facebook: facebook.com/HoldawayMotorsports
Twitter: @41Holdaway
Taylor Holdway’s 2016 season is supported by Bay Auto and Truck Parts, Holdaway Automotive, Image Factor Motorsports Design and Photography, KartSTART presented by Toyota, Joes Racing Products, Yamaha Motor Canada, Wix Filters, Castrol Canada, Sunshine Super Wash, Hall Tree Farms, Mechanix Wear and Stefko Racing Engines.
Prepared By Clayton Johns Media
