Dennis Holdren recently celebrated his 50th birthday. There’s only one thing he didn’t get and it’s something he hopes he will get on Sunday, a Ridgeway Grandfather Clock.
The Roanoke, Virginia driver enters this year’s Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway with two wins on the season at Ace Speedway. He hopes to channel his success at that track into another top-10 finish in Late Model Stock Car racing’s most prestigious race.
“Last year, it helped us pretty good,” Holdren said. “We tested fair. We don’t have the speed we had last year. I’ve been telling everybody, there are about five guys in an elite group of their own then eight to 10 and I’m int hat group between 20 and 50.”
In Holdren’s case, as with any other driver in the field, luck will be a factor on Sunday. Last year, Holdren had a fast car but was swept up in an accident in the first lap of the first heat race, ending his day. Luck alone won’t get him in the race and Holdren feels he has to work on the car to make it faster if he hopes to be one of the 42 starters in the 200 lap feature race.
“We’re going back with a different setup than we ran on practice day and hopefully we can pick the speed back up,” Holdren commented. “We’re going with the same setup last year. We tried some stuff in the test and it didn’t produce the speed we had last year so we’ll see if we can pick that back up.”
There are some wild cards in Sunday’s race. The race being pushed back a week means the weather could be cooler than it has been in past years – something Holdren feels will make the race better for the drivers as the track could produce higher speeds.
“We feel like the speeds are going to be up a little bit,” Holdren stated. “Might even have somebody run in the teens just because of cool weather. That’s going to free the cars up a lot and make for some great racing because it’s going to have a lot of grip.”
Another wild card will be the race format change. Instead of being split up into three segments (a 100 lap segment, a 90 lap segment and a 10 lap sprint), the race will now be split up into two segments (a 150 lap segment and a 50 lap segment). Holdren expects the intensity to pick up in the final 50 laps and the racing to be more competitive.
“I’ve watched a lot of those races for a long time,” Holdren explained “Back before they started these different formats, we got to see a lot of good racing and I think this will produce a tighter field for a longer period of time. I think there could possibly be more cautions. I think this way, they’ll be getting after it those last 50. I think you’ll see guys not be as reserved as they have been in the past. They’ll be trying to improve their position those last 50 laps.”
Holdren’s expectations are to make the field and to improve on his ninth place finish he scored back in the 2013 running of the Valley Star Credit Union 300.
“Of course, you know, I would love to say that, turning 50 this year, I’d love a grandfather clock,” Holdren remarked. “If you make the race, you have as good a chance as anybody. Hopefully make it in on a heat race and do a little better than I did when I finished ninth a few years ago so see if we can finish better than ninth.”
