Ny Andrew Kunas
Tulare, CA … Four months out of someone’s car? No problem for Tanner Holmes and the Tarlton Motorsports sprint car team, who found themselves in NARC victory lane together for the second time this season when they took Saturday’s Chris & Brian Faria Memorial at Thunderbowl Raceway.
The young Oregon driver had not been in the American Rock & Rent-sponsored No. 21 Kistler-powered Maxim since June 7th but quickly got comfortable once he was back in the car on Saturday evening. Starting from the pole after a dash win, Holmes took the lead and from there was rarely challenged as he led all 30 laps and earned his third career NARC win.
That initial start was called back after another car came to a stop but on the second start Holmes took off on an open track, but did find occasional difficulty in slower traffic. Washington visitor Jesse Schlotfeldt was in position once to take a shot at Holmes in the early laps, but couldn’t make a move as he also struggled occasionally. After that, Schlotfeldt couldn’t get back up to Holmes, whether in the open or in traffic, and eventually pulled off the track when his car had a driveline problem occur with just a few laps remaining.
After struggling with the slower cars in the first half of the race, Holmes admitted he had to get himself straight during a caution with 14 laps completed. He found his groove in the latter half of the race, and with Schlotfeldt pulling off and the race staying green, Holmes cruised in the last few laps to pick up another win at the same track where he won the first of the Twin 20’s at the Morrie Williams Memorial in May. For the Tarlton Motorsports team, it was their series leading eighth NARC win on the season, with two coming from Holmes and six from Australian star James McFadden during the summer when Holmes was in his family’s car.
“I took advantage of that yellow and almost had a chat with myself – and gather myself – and get a little more up on the wheel,” Holmes said about the caution flag coming after he managed to stay in the lead despite struggling some. “I felt like I regrouped well and knew exactly what to do. Really cool to win first night back out (in the Tarlton car).”
There may have been struggles early in the feature, but the win capped off what was nearly a perfect night for the No. 21. Holmes set fast time in qualifying and won the Beacon Wealth Strategies Dash to earn the pole for the main event. The only blemish was a fourth place finish in his heat race on a freshly reworked race track.
Sean Becker, who started outside the front row, fell back to sixth at one point, but after strong restart and finding his groove, Becker drove back up to third place and then inherited second when Schlotfeldt dropped out. Becker had been passed by D.J. Netto, who he was chasing for the points lead, but passed him back and Netto eventually fell back to finish ninth while Becker finished runner-up in the D&J Construction Rental-sponsored Bjork Construction No. 7b Shaver-powered Maxim, and shaved Netto’s lead to just seven points unofficially in the process.
Justin Sanders ran in and battled for positions in the top five throughout the race and picked up the podium finish aboard the Yuba Sutter Aviation-sponsored Mittry Construction No. 2x Rider-powered KPC. Shane Golobic earned the Williams Roofing Hard Charger nod, coming from 14th to finish fourth aboard the NOS Energy-sponsored Matt Wood Racing No. 17w Kistler-powered KPC. In addition to the $150 bonus from Williams Roofing, Golobic gained another $150 from the Western Renegades Non-Wing Sprint Car Series.
The 12th starting Tim Kaeding moved up to finish fifth in the Emadco Disposal-sponsored Williams Motorsports No. 0 Maxwill-powered Maxim. Cannon McIntosh, Bud Kaeding, Dominic Scelzi, Netto and Dominic Gorden rounded out the Top 10.
Heat races earlier in the evening were won by Schlotfeldt, Gauge Garcia and Sanders before Holmes won the dash. Holmes paced the 19-car field in Automotive Racing Products Qualifying, touring the 1/3-mile, high-banked clay oval in 13.587 seconds to start the evening off.
Hoosier Racing Tires Feature (30 laps): 1. 21-Tanner Holmes[1]; 2. 7B-Sean Becker[2]; 3. 2X-Justin Sanders[6]; 4. 17W-Shane Golobic[14]; 5. 0-Tim Kaeding[12]; 6. 83-Cannon McIntosh[8]; 7. 29-Bud Kaeding[13]; 8. 41-Dominic Scelzi[11]; 9. 88N-DJ Netto[7]; 10. 10-Dominic Gorden[9]; 11. 2XM-Max Mittry[10]; 12. X1-Chance Grasty[16]; 13. 14-Mariah Ede[15]; 14. 5-Cole Danell[18]; 15. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt[4]; 16. 17V-Danny Faria Jr[17]; 17. 11-Tyler Cato[19]; 18. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[3]; 19. 2K-Gauge Garcia[5]
METTEC Titanium Lap Leaders: Tanner Holmes 1-30
Williams Roofing Hard Charger: 17w Shane Golobic, 14th to 4th (+10)
Automotive Racing Products Fast Qualifier (19 cars): 21 Tanner Holmes, 13.587 seconds
Brown & Miller Racing Solutions Heat 1 (8 laps): 1. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt[2]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 3. 2XM-Max Mittry[3]; 4. 21-Tanner Holmes[4]; 5. 14-Mariah Ede[6]; 6. X1-Chance Grasty[5]; 7. 11-Tyler Cato[7].
Kimo’s Tropical Carwash Heat 2 (8 laps): 1. 2K-Gauge Garcia[1]; 2. 10-Dominic Gorden[2]; 3. 7B-Sean Becker[4]; 4. 0-Tim Kaeding[5]; 5. 29-Bud Kaeding[3]; 6. 17V-Danny Faria Jr[6].
WEDG High Performance Karts Heat 3 (8 laps): 1. 2X-Justin Sanders[2]; 2. 83-Cannon McIntosh[1]; 3. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[4]; 4. 41-Dominic Scelzi[3]; 5. 17W-Shane Golobic[5]; 6. 5-Cole Danell[6].
Beacon Wealth Strategies – Raymond James Trophy Dash (6 laps): 1. 21-Tanner Holmes[1]; 2. 7B-Sean Becker[2]; 3. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[3]; 4. 21S-Jesse Schlotfeldt[5]; 5. 2K-Gauge Garcia[4]; 6. 2X-Justin Sanders[6].