MOORESVILLE, NC :: X-1R Pro Cup Series veteran Caleb Holman continued the trend of wins coming in bunches for drivers in 2013 as he picked up his second win in a row Saturday night at the Montgomery (AL) Motor Speedway. Holman got around Tyler Young and then did all he could to hold off defending champion J.P. Morgan in the final laps to capture his ninth career victory.
“This win was a lot tougher here tonight than when we won at Southern National. I knew I had a good car when I was battling Clay (Rogers) early on, and then something happened to him on that restart and we got trapped behind him and went all the way to the back of the pack. I thought we might be in a hole we couldn’t get out of, and then my spotter kept telling me we have a good car and let’s focus on getting through the field,” explained Holman in Edlebrock Victory Lane. “Sure enough we made it up to second and ran down Tyler for the lead. Next thing I knew J.P had came from nowhere and was right on my bumper. Lucky for us we ran out of laps and here we are. I can’t thank this Food Country USA Henderson Motorsports team enough for letting me driver their car. We’ve been running truck races here and there, but getting wins like these are about as good as it gets.”
Runner up Morgan not only made it two races in a row that he brought his #23 www.soldbyjackiemorgan.com Chevy Impala home with a podium finish, but it also marked the second race in a row that the defending champion took a huge bite out of Clay Rogers championship points lead. While the points are one thing Morgan really wanted to leave Montgomery with a win and almost had the car to do it in the closing laps.
“I thought we really had a chance to get one tonight. Our car was pretty good on the longer runs which we never really got in the first 100 laps. Then in the last 100 we got the long run we needed and just came up short and ran out of laps,” said Morgan. “It’s nice to gain some points on Clay with our consistent finishes lately, but when the points reset it kind of just takes care of itself. Finishes like tonight will matter a whole lot more over those championship races. Right now we want to win races.”
Perhaps the story of the evening was Tyler Young’s triumphant to a very impressive podium finish. Young cracked an oil pan in the final practice of the evening and had to go to a backup engine missing qualifying in the process. After running dead last in the field from lap thirty-eight through lap seventy-seven; Young took advantage of a lucky dog award and a stellar redraw at the events halfway point putting the Texas native in the lead on lap 101. From that point Young lead the most laps out of anyone on the night, eventually slipping back to the third position on lap 172 when both Holman and Morgan went by en route to their respective finishes.
“This was a race I have to dedicate to my guys for even getting me out here in time to race tonight. I was really worried about even getting the engine ready in time to race,” explained Young. “My guys are some of the best here and they made it happen. This one is pretty frustrating because obviously we had a good car and my guys worked their butts off to get it that way. We aren’t running for points this year so, the best way to reward them would have been to give them a win.”
Next up for the X-1R Pro Cup Series will be at Anderson Motor Speedway in Anderson, SC on Saturday, August 10th. For more information on the X-1R Pro Cup Series including news, results, and photos visit the series website at www.x1rprocup.com. For series operations and marketing information contact Chris Ragle at [email protected] or call 940-393-3167. For general information about the X-1R Pro Cup Series contact the series office at 704-662-9212.
