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Visionfor Future: Ambitious Young Holmes Enjoying Spoils of Success on Late Model, ARCA Tours

By Chuck Corder

Bret Holmes’ life has felt like a Disney movie script recently.

Every time the Munford, Ala., late model driver believes, at any moment, he’ll wake up from this dream, fantasy continues to morph into reality.

Highlighted by a pair of top-10s as a driver and a win as an owner, the 19-year-old Holmes generated an immediate buzz in the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) Series.

Holmes’ storybook season only got sweeter after an April trip to Five Flags Speedway. In the first set of 50-lap doubleheaders that the revamped Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Model Series is featuring this season, Holmes came away with a runner-up and, most notably, his first career victory at Pensacola’s high banks.

“Two years ago … I was leading and got spun out. Since then, I’ve been trying to get a win at Pensacola,� Holmes recalled. “I had every intention of winning that second race. I was really happy we got that one. That first win is always the hardest. Next time, there will be a little less pressure.�

That next time comes Friday at the famed half-mile asphalt oval when the PLMs wage another set of twin 50 lappers. The Beef “O� Brady’s Pro Trucks, the Dock on Pensacola Beach Sportsmen and Butler U-Pull-It Bombers will also share the stage on a night where all active-duty military members get in free.

Admission is $15 for adults; $12 for seniors and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; and free for kids 5 and under. The gates open at 4 p.m. Friday.

Holmes, a sophomore majoring in building sciences this fall at Auburn, has enjoyed his whirlwind of success. After months of weekly two-hour drives from Auburn to the shop, which sits next to his family’s home in Munford, Holmes is ecstatic to finally see the fruits of his labor.

“I don’t have any intentions of rushing things,� he said. “I’ve got time. I know series are always looking for younger drivers, but I don’t think it’ll take us that much longer to be more successful in late models.�

In just his third year on asphalt, Holmes and Co. have been tickled with his results. Holmes PLM track championship in the Show Me the Money Series last year at Montgomery (Ala.) Motor Speedway opened some eyes.

And his podium finish, after starting 18th, at last December’s Snowflake 100 was another startling and impressive achievement. He finished third behind two past Snowball Derby champions, who just happen to be two of NASCAR’s brightest young stars — Chase Elliott and Flake winner John Hunter Nemechek.

Still, a deep fire burns inside him for a defining victory — a major-type triumph.

“I just need to win some big races,� Holmes said. “You want to win every race you go to. But, really, winning something like the Snowflake would take us to the next level.�

And, if Holmes is lucky enough to get that elusive banner victory sometime this year, it will be the proverbial cherry on top of a year full of keepsakes.

It started earlier this year when Holmes tested an ARCA car at Daytona International Speedway, a feat he called the most “nerve-wracking� experience of his life.

Holmes’ fairytale year carried into April for his first two ARCA races. He drove to a fifth-place finish at Fairgrounds Speedway, Nashville and a top-10 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

While a top-five in Nashville in your ARCA debut is quite the memento, Holmes chose to bask in the afterglow of Talladega, NASCAR’s iconic track that sits just 15 minutes from the Holmes’ home.

“The exposure for us — being a hometown kid getting to run that race — was special,� he said. “I’ve been waiting to race there a long time. I grew up racing at the dirt track right across from the big track. I’ve always gotten to drive by there. And to finally race on it was just awesome.�

The pressure, though, was intense, Holmes admitted.

“I wanted to do well there,� he said. “I had a lotta friends and family watching. People from school were there. People that helped me coming up through racing. It was really cool to finally do something like this — to finally race at this level.�

Earlier this month, Holmes reached another level. This time, though, it came as a car owner. With fellow Alabama driver and defending ARCA Series champion Grant Enfinger at the wheel, the Holmes II Excavating-Southern States Bank Chevrolet found its way to Victory Lane at Pocono.

The ARCA team is a joint effort between Holmes’ late model team, including crew chief Jim Barfield, and three members of Enfinger’s GMS Racing team.

“That was just our third ARCA start as a team,� a thrilled Holmes said. “To already have a win under our belt is saying something. Grant did a helluva job. It was cool to see our car in Victory Lane on that stage. At Pocono!

“Winning is fun. Everybody’s happy when you win whether you’re at a go-kart track or the Daytona 500. I can really say the Pocono win will be hard to ever forget.�

Holmes will compete in five more ARCA races throughout the season with Enfinger talking him through it as crew chief.

Holmes couldn’t ask for a better guide in Enfinger, who boasts 15 wins, 46 top-fives and 65 top-10s in 93 career ARCA starts.

“He’s done a heckuva job on top of the box, coaching me,� Holmes said of Enfinger. “He’s easy to communicate with. He has worked on these things forever. He knows every nut and bolt. He and Jim (Barfield) are really the keys to our success in ARCA.�

While ARCA remains firmly in the picture, Holmes has his eyes firmly affixed on getting better as a late model driver before attempting to move to the next level.

“I want us to have a little bit more success in late models,� he said. “I’m a full believer in the more work you put into something, the more you get outta it. I’d love to win a big race, and really build a lotta momentum and show I could go to the next level.�

With so many dreams already fulfilled in a span of a few months this season, Holmes is poised to pen another magical script.

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