TULARE, Calif. — After losing Friday’s Trophy Cup prelim on a late restart, it would’ve been easy for Tanner Holmes to sulk in his trailer, but that’s not how the 18-year-old handled the heartbreak.
Instead, Holmes stepped from his sprint car and greeted the dozens of fans surrounding his pit area at Thunderbowl Raceway with a smile. Just minutes before, a race that the Jacksonville, Oregon native was poised to claim was ripped from his grasp when a red flag flew as he was merely a few hundred feet from taking the checkered flag.
On the ensuing two-lap shootout, Tyler Courtney cleared Holmes with a turn one slider. On the white flag lap, Holmes attempted a slide job of his own and left Courtney a lane, one that “Sunshine” used to drive by and seal the win.
The maturity that he’d just demonstrated on the track by competing with some of the sport’s top talent and racing respectfully carried over into the pits as Holmes signed every autograph and took every picture with anyone who approached.
“It kind of, honestly, probably hasn’t set in exactly,” Holmes told SPEED SPORT after the race. “You get put in these situations, and you kind just have to like get up on the wheel and go. I kind of said before the feature that if we were going to have any shot at winning, we’re going to have to run like 30 of the hardest laps I’ve ever ran. That’s kind of what the Thunderbowl is all about.”
Get up on the wheel and go is exactly what Holmes did in Friday’s 30-lap finale.
Justin Sanders initially got the best of everyone, powering from fourth to first on the opening lap. Holmes, who started second, established himself in the runner-up spot early on and kept Sanders within his sights. On lap 17, he pounced.
“Finally, I kind of put a little game plan together on a restart,” Holmes explained. “He was running really high, and I was able to get in a little bit through the middle and cut down, and all of a sudden we were side by side down the back straightaway, and I was in the grip going forward in the corner so I got by him.”
From there, Holmes pulled away.
Even when challenged by Courtney throughout multiple restarts after cautions, Holmes maintained the top spot as Courtney struggled to get a run. The laps dwindled until finally the white flag flew, and as Holmes entered turn three, Kalib Henry flipped in turn two and brought out the untimely red flag that ultimately cost Holmes the race.
Holmes admits that the pressure built during the caution periods leading up to the final red flag.
“It’s just tough,” Holmes commented. “You’re just constantly trying to change it up. You’re thinking ‘What’s the 57 (Courtney) doing? What’s the 83 (Tim Kaeding) doing? The 14 (Corey Day) is creeping up on the board.’ But, you’re kind of just keeping your eyes forward at the same time, so when that red came out with two to go, I knew that was going to be tough.”
While Holmes wanted more than anything to win, the bright side shows that he and the No. 18t team have made even more strides in 2022. They’ve won multiple 360ci races this year, but the Trophy Cup performance stands as likely their best showing on a major stage as Holmes continues to develop his still young sprint car program.
The larger picture reveals that Holmes has positioned himself favorably heading into Trophy Cup championship night. He sits sixth in points, just nine markers behind the two tied for the lead, Kyle Hirst and Tyler Courtney. That gap can very realistically be erased with a strong heat race heading into Saturday’s decisive 50-lap finale.
Holmes must shift his focus back toward the ultimate goal of a Trophy Cup championship and attempt to put the sting of how Friday night unfolded behind him. If there’s any way to forget all about the pain, it’s to add his name to that exclusive winners list and become the first from Oregon to do so.
“I guess it was better points than what we had yesterday,” Holmes said to sum up Friday evening. “It’s part of the game, so we’ll move onto tomorrow, and tonight is definitely a proud moment for all of us even though it sucks to run second, but we’re running with some of the best.”