Editor’s Note: Holley Hollan, 17, is a rookie in the NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series. From June 5 through June 10, Hollan will be sharing her experiences with SPEED SPORT subscribers while competing during Indiana Midget Week.
Hollan drives the No. 67k Toyota-powered midget for Keith Kunz Motorsports. Below is her third diary entry, recapping Thursday night’s events at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind.
PUTNAMVILLE, Ind. – Our Indiana Midget Week kept going on Thursday at Lincoln Park Speedway, and from Montpelier on Tuesday to now, it feels like we’ve gone from one extreme to the next.
The thing that stood out to me right away is that a huge curb built up on the top and bit some of the best drivers in USAC, unlike Gas City and Montpelier. When you look at the tracks we’ve been to so far, they don’t look that different, but they all race so uniquely that it’s a challenge to master each one.
We had some contact in the heat race that really set our night back, which sucked because I felt like we qualified pretty decently. That just got the night off on the wrong foot, and when that happens in a field that’s as tough as this one is during Indiana Midget Week, it can be hard to overcome.
After that, the B-main didn’t go how we needed it to and we finished 13th, forcing us to take a provisional and lining us up 23rd for the feature. Once we got going in the main, though, it wasn’t bad. We got up as high as 12th and ended up 13th, making some good laps around the bottom of the track.
I feel like we showed speed in the feature, which is good for us, really. After a rough B-feature like the one that we had, it’s nice to be able to take a provisional and move forward like we did and rebound.
We ended on a better note and we’ll keep building from here. I think we have a lot of speed; I just need to get better at running the top like some of the veterans do. We’ve shown that we have throttle control to be able to run the bottom, so that’s comforting at least for now.
It’s tough, running at the back as a rookie and still running with Tyler Courtney, Thomas Meseraull and guys who have won USAC races before. It’s unreal the amount of talent that’s in this field right now and it really puts you to the test as far as trying to come out with good finishes.
Challenges like this will only make us better, though. We’ll see everyone at Bloomington!
Hollan’s prior entries can be accessed via the link below: