WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — SWN Photo — John Holleman fought through issues with both the power steering and brakes on his No. 69 modified to finish third and eighth in the twin 25-lap features at Bowman-Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Holleman, a five-time most popular driver at the place they call “The Madhouse”, lost his power steering before the night started. Undaunted, he put his fitness regimen to good use in his quest to chase a championship at his home track.
RACE ONE
“We started seventh with no power steering because we discovered in practice that our steering rack was bad and we would not be able to fix it at the track,” Holleman explained. “We qualified seventh fastest and we were running sixth in the first race when my brakes started to fail and my pedal started going to the floor.”
Now he had no power steering and very limited braking on the tight 1/4-mile track. He still managed an eighth place finish.
The track uses an inverted start for the second race, and the invert put Holleman in seventh starting spot for the second race as the team went to work trying to fix the brake issues and give him a faster car.
RACE TWO
“We quickly worked our way from seventh up to fourth,” the driver said. “We ran there for much of the race and we ended up finishing third with no power steering, our brake pedal going soft to the floor, and my steering wheel bolts were almost all the way out and the steering wheel almost fell off. I believe this happened because the sheer force I was using to pull the steering wheel all day long to get the car turned, eventually worked those bolts loose that attach the steering wheel to the coupling.”
Through all of that adversity, John and the team brought home third overall highest point total on the night scoring 92 out of a possible 100 points. The team’s determination to keep going gained them two spots in the championship standings, moving them from eighth to sixth.
For Holleman, this season has not yielded the results that he and his team had hoped for, as the goal was to come out of the box strong and win early to help him in his quest for the track championship. But a rash of mechanical issues coupled with being wrecked out of a race and two rainouts has tempered the results column.
It has not tempered the team’s determination to make sure that no matter what happens, they are determined to “Never Lose”.
“We have really made the most of some bad situations early in the year,” the personable racer stated. “That’s what gives me the confidence to know we can contend for this championship when things actually start going smooth for us. “I’m so proud of this team and all of my sponsors, I couldn’t do it without them. Sometimes things just don’t go as you planned, and it’s in those times that you find out what you’re made of. Our team is a winning team, and it’s only a matter of time before we show that again.”
The team is looking forward to the Kevin Powell Motorsports 100 lap race on Saturday, June 4th and working hard to get the mechanical bugs worked out and go show what they are truly capable of.
If you cannot get to the track to see John race in person, you can watch all of the Bowman-Gray Stadium racing live each Saturday night via pay-per-view on FloRacing.com.
John’s marketing partners include Black Sand Company, A Lawn Crue, Thunder Road Grill, L&R Transmissions and Midway Mobile Services.
Keep up with John all year long at his new website – www.j4racing.com. You can also like/follow him on Facebook (John Holleman Motorsports), Twitter (@JohnHollemanIV) and Instagram (@johnspeedemon).