NEWTON, NC :: Late race entry Coleman Pressley took advantage of a fading Caleb Holman in the final six laps of Saturday night’s X-1R Pro Cup Series Catawba Valley 250 at Hickory Motor Speedway to score his first career series win in just his fourth series start. Holman was able to hold on to the runner up position and the championship points after winning the season opener at Southern National two weeks prior. Reid Wilson, for the second straight race, rounded out the podium with his third place finish in his #66 Bojangles/Cheerwine sponsored Chevy.
Pressley, whose day job is calling the shots for NASCAR K&N East Series competitor Mackena Bell each week, decided late in the week after getting caught up on work to bring his #59 family owned machine to Hickory. The end result was exactly what the satisfied Pressley had hoped for as he talked about his win in Edlebrock Victory Lane.
“I wasn’t 100% I was going to be able to race this weekend until pretty late in the week. I really enjoy racing in the Pro Cup Series a lot but work has to come first. My dad (Robert Pressley) was able to help me get the car together and it all came together,” explained Pressley. “During practice I knew we had a good race car both on fresh tires and the long runs. Once we got racing and I got out in front the first half before the break, I really pushed the car to see what it could do so I knew what to expect at the end of the race. We came out alright on the halfway redraw and ran down Caleb (Holman), who I could see was getting pretty loose, and just hoped we stayed green.”
“We won’t get to run as many of these as I’d like so winning here tonight at Hickory, a track that’s been good to me over the years, with a lot of family and friends feels pretty good right now”, added the young veteran Pressley.
Outside the podium a pair of series newcomers rounded out the top five with MAHLE Pole Award winner Tyler Lester, driving for Young’s Motorsports, recovering nicely from flat tire early on to finish fourth. David Garbo Jr. finished fifth in his first career start despite a deal not getting finalized to pilot the #41 Top Gun Motorsports entry, normally driven by Rusty Skewes, midway through the day’s first practice session.
The CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series will now go from the shortest track on the series schedule this season to the largest track. In just two weeks the series will head to the three quarter mile Memphis International Raceway in Millington, Tennessee just outside Memphis on Saturday afternoon April 26th for the KOMA Unwind Liquid Relaxation 150.
