ORILLIA, Ont. (July 11, 2016) – Taylor Holdaway earned a seventh-place finish, his 10th top-10 result in his last 11 races, during NASCAR Whelen All-American Weekly Series racing at Sunset Speedway on Saturday night.
Hollywood Holdaway started 11th for the 35-lap main event after changing track condition throughout time trials pushed his car down the speed charts.
“We were the first car out for time trials. The sun was out and it was nice and hot. About four cars later, it clouded over and every single car that went out seemed to pass me,” Holdaway explained.
The challenge of starting in the middle of the field is not one Holdaway is unfamiliar with. He had started worse than 10th five times already in 2016 befor Saturday’s showdown.
“We battled up to seventh. We were a little bit faster than a couple of the guys ahead of us. I had to work on them to get by them, but I ran out of laps,” Holdaway said.
The seventh place result would have put Holdaway fifth on the starting grid for the second race after the usual 12-car invert. Those plans were interrupted, however, when heavy rain fell on the track and forced the remainder of the night to be cancelled.
“We would have liked to get the second race in for our strategy to play out. When everyone puts on new tires and you’re the lone guy that doesn’t, it’s tough sledding,” Holdaway explained. “I think we would have been in better shape for the second race.”
The postponed race will be made up on July 30, marking a race night for triple 35-lap features for Holdaway and the NASCAR Whelen All-American Weekly Series Late Models.
While Holdaway is not necessarily satisfied with his seventh-place result, he is happy with a top-10 finish given the circumstances.
“It’s not accurate to say we had a bad weekend. Obviously you’d like to finish a little bit better than seventh, but almost everybody who qualified ahead of us had some new tires on. We can’t be upset at that,” Holdaway commented.
Holdaway’s teammate Scott Wylie led the majority of Saturday’s event after qualifying on the pole and was leading by five car lengths before the motor blew up.
The team returns to action on Saturday, July 23 for twin 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series features at Sunset Speedway.
HOLLYWOOD HIGHLIGHTS
Taylor Holdaway 2016 Stats – 12 Starts: 6 Wins, 8 Top-5s, 9 Top-10s
UP NEXT
July 16 – 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
Photo Attachment: Taylor Holdaway drives his Bay Auto & Truck Parts No.41 at Sunset Speedway. (Eric Uprichard/Image Factor Media photo).
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