Well, we’ve made it to the 3-2-1 countdown
for the 2015 racing season. Can you believe how fast this season has gone? With only three races remaining you can look for crazy things to happen as all the division championships will be decided in the remaining three races. Some will be looking to just finish well, while others will be looking for a win before the season runs out.
By Chuck Corder
Allen Turner PLMs: Big Asphalt Dreams Drive Holmes Perhaps it’s his proximity to one of auto racing’s most hallowed theaters. Perhaps it’s his drive and determination to one day drive on NASCAR’s biggest stages. Perhaps, it’s his sheer knack to balance a full college course load with an equally busy racing schedule. Whatever lures you in about Brett Holmes, it certainly seems the 18-year-old late model driver from Munford, Ala., is destined for big things. Holmes, born and raised 15 minutes from Talladega Superspeedway, hopes racing is part of the picture. For now, Holmes lives the dream by competing against the nation’s top late model drivers and trying to conquer iconic short tracks, such as Five Flags Speedway. (continued on page 2).
Tonight will be the last, regular racing event for this year with the very popular 20/30 lap shootouts for the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Models. First a 20 lap feature for the PLM and then a 30 lap feature with a total invert of the first feature will finish off the night. In between these two will be some great action from the Super Stocks, Sportsman and Bombers. When I say only three nights of racing remain, that does not include the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Models or the Faith Chapel Super Stocks. Only two nights of racing are left for these two classes and every single point is valuable. The Pros and Super Stocks return on September 19th for their 2015 finale where a champions will be crowned. Also on the 19th we’ll see action from the Sportsman and Bombers. On September 26th we will close the door on this season with our final Blizzard Series race for the Deep South Crane Rentals Super Late Models with 150 laps of all out racing. This will also decide a champion in the Blizzard Series and the Southern Super Series so that means a lot of bonus money is on the line for the Supers. Also on September 26th we will crown a champion in the Pro Trucks, Sportsman and Bombers. I can promise you that you won’t want to miss any of the remaining three events. Then, we will begin preparations for the biggest asphalt short track event in America as we get ready for the 48th running of the Snowball Derby. Before closing let me remind you that September 19th and 26th are SATURDAY NIGHT SHOWS. Until next time, be safe and we’ll see you at the races.
In five features this season — a 100 lapper in May coupled with the two doubleheaders — Holmes boasts four top-seven finishes. He’s landed on the podium twice at Five Flags. He finished third during the 20-lap feature on June 26 and endured a heartbreaking second to Derek Thorn’s 20-lap victory July 10. Saturday, Sept 19 Pro Late Model 100 Allen Turner Tune-Up , Super Stock, Sportsmen and Bomber Saturday, Sept 26 Blizzard 150 Pro Trucks, Sportsmen and Bomber Deep South Night of Champions Friday-Sun Oct. 23 NOPI Nationals Saturday, Nov. 21 IP Casino Snowball Derby Preview 9am 7pm Thursday, December 3 - Sunday Dec 6th 48th Annual Snowball Derby
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Video Ted Baber Tom Wilsey 251-597-4747 850-458-2501 Holmes Continued-
After a few near misses already this season, the Auburn freshman returns to Pensacola’s high banks Friday for another test in the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Model doubleheader feature (20-/30-lappers). “This next 20 lapper, I’ll be pretty disappointed, honestly, if we don’t win it,” said Holmes, who is majoring in building science on The Plains. “We want to get a win before the Snowflake (100 in December). We weren’t planning on running for points when we started the season, but we talked about it and it feels like now it’s the best option.” Holmes, who just wrapped up the Show Me the Money Series PLM track championship at Montgomery Motor Speedway, sits third in the Allen Turner PLM season standings. He trails fellow college freshman Ryan Luza by 58 points.
“I felt like we should’ve won that race,” Holmes still laments. “We were right on (Thorn’s) tail. But, he beat me on restarts. Shoulda woulda coulda, but I definitely felt there was a lot more room for potential in that race.”All in all, the dirt-tracker by birth has acquitted himself quite nicely in just his second season of asphalt racing. Despite being raised in the shadow of one of NASCAR’s most popular tracks — Talladega is, literally, just a series of backroads from home — Holmes was reared on dirt. Like most kids, Bret Holmes grew up idolizing his father, Stacey Holmes. Quality time for son and father meant Bret watching Stacey wheel a late model around the dirt at Talladega Short Track. “Being this close to Talladega, it’s easy to be around a racetrack your whole life,” said Bret Holmes, who raced go-karts and Legends cars until moving to dirt late models a few years ago. “When the NASCAR guys would roll in, we’d of course go to the race every year. But, I had only raced dirt.” After capturing crate late model titles, track championships and breaking all sorts of track records on dirt, the younger Holmes got his first taste of asphalt last year. As part of a driver development program with Lee Faulk Racing out of Hickory, N.C., Holmes raced in about 25 pavement features throughout the Carolinas. “It was a completely different learning curve,” he said. “In dirt, you’re not listening to somebody yell in ear unlike now where I’m relying on a spotter. “ Read the rest of Chuck’s story on our web site: www.5flagsspeedway,com
So to spare southern strangers any potential embarrassment, Wojtaszczyk leaned on his gracious personality. He chose to lop off those eight confounding consonants and two valueless vowels in favor of the lone “W.”
By Chuck Corder Insanity Pleas: Lawyer Who knew you could learn so much about someone in a 10-second voicemail? “Hey, this is Andy W. … Gimme a call back when you get time.” The “W” is short for Wojtaszczyk, the tongue-twisting last name of Pro Trucks driver Andy Wojtaszczyk. The same one you could easily mistake for an eyechart that sits on that far wall staring back at you in your optometrist’s office. Wojtaszczyk knows you’re going to butcher his last name. The 42-year-old Texan by way of upstate New York is resigned to his fate, at this point. He has heard many variations of his surname — too many to count, to be honest — which is correctly and phonetically pronounced “Va-ta-strick.” “I’ve had 40 years’ worth of people saying it wrong,” Wojtaszczyk said. “Unless they’re Polish, no one gets it right.”
For the Five Flags Speedway fans and its, ahem, announcers, removing any confusion will make it easier to identify Wojtaszczyk and his No. 47 this Friday night when the Pro Trucks resume their season at the famed half-mile oval alongside the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Models, Sportsman and Bombers. Going to the “W” moniker brings much pleasure to Five Flags public address announcers, Robbie Harvey and Bill Roth. “In the pit, I asked (Wojtaszczyk) himself how to pronounce it, and I spelled it out phonetically in my notes, so I generally say his name once a night,” Roth said. “Robbie won’t even attempt it. He just says ‘W’.” Perhaps, the only track official that comes close to accurately enunciating Wojtaszczyk’s name is trackside reporter Dave Pavlock, himself of Polish descent. “To many, the spelling of a last name from eastern Europe may look like an explosion in an alphabet soup factory,” Pavlock said, only half-joking. “But it’s not any more difficult than say Boudreaux from Louisiana. Sure enough, Wojtaszczyk agreed that Pavlock comes closer than most. “(Pavlock) says it like my grandfather used to say it,” Wojtaszczyk said. Whether you go with the correct pronunciation or just the “W,” everyone agrees Wojtaszczyk has made a big splash this season in the Pro Trucks series.
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