Caleb Holman celebrates his victory and his CARS X-1R Pro Cup championship with some fried chicken in victory lane after winning the Bojangles 250 at Hickory Motor Speedway Saturday night. Photo courtesy CARS Pro Cup Media
NEWTON, NC – Caleb Holman was hands down the fastest chicken in the South Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway in Newton, NC.
The veteran driver won the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series Bojangles 250 after pulling away from 14-year-old Todd Gilliland, son of NASCAR Cup driver David Gilliland, in the final 75 laps of the event to take home the victory. The visit to Victory Lane was his sixth trip this season in twelve series events.
“I always said no one is ever 100% happy at Hickory with their car,” Holman said after the victory. “Tonight I’ll take that statement back. Tonight I was completely happy with my car in the second half of this race. It would just roll through the turns just like I wanted it too. My guys made good adjustments throughout the day and got the car handling the way I wanted it. At the break there we just put on tires and filled it with fuel and went back racing. We didn’t make a single change and in the end it was the right call.”
Not only did Holman win the battle Saturday night, the Abingdon, VA driver won the war, and was awarded the 2014 X-1R Pro Cup Series champion’s trophy for the first time in his career. Holman racked up six wins, eight pole awards, and earned $68,925 throughout the season for his efforts. The newly crowned champion did so in historic fashion, becoming the first driver in Pro Cup history to completely sweep the Championship Series since its inception in 2001.
“What a year this was for us,” Holman said. “I would have never dreamed we would have had the year we did even with the lower car counts at times. I still had to beat guys like J.P. Morgan, Gus Dean and Brian Keselowski on a regular basis. Not to mention nights when guys like Clay Rogers and tonight Todd Gilliland come race, so it wasn’t easy by any means.
“My guys have worked their tails off all season and we just got on a roll towards the end of the year. This is what I do for a living and winning a championship for everyone at Henderson Motorsports and Food Country USA was my ultimate goal. Tonight looking back I can say we as team delivered that championship to all involved with this organization and that means a lot to me as a person and a driver.”
While Holman stole the show in the end, youngster Todd Gilliland, piloting a Late Model Stock Car, gave the veteran a run for his money in the first half of the event. Gilliland tracked down Holman through lapped traffic while fellow veteran Clay Rogers did the same despite starting from the sixth position. A hectic yellow flag for debris setup the opportunity for Gilliland to take the lead into the second half of the race. Clay Rogers, Coleman Pressley, and Holman completed the top four as the yellow flag was displayed for the competition caution.
The normally calm competition caution period stole the attention of the fans when Reid Wilson’s Chevrolet went up in smoke while in the fifth position. Wilson, who looked impressive in his return, was forced to stop on the front stretch at the attention of fire and safety workers. Despite the heavy smoke no fire was evident, however the expired engine ended Wilson’s night.
The action back on track as the field returned to green flag racing quickly favored Holman when he returned to a familiar position on lap 129 leading the field around the .363 facility. 125 caution free laps to close out the season let Holman open up a 2.47 second gap over Gilliland as the final checkered flag waived on the 2014 season.
Rogers, piloting a Pro Cup machine for the JCR3 Racing team, finished third, followed by a pair of Late Models driven by Steve Wallace and Alex Yontz to round out the top five.
For more info on the X-1R Pro Cup Series, visit CarsProCup.com.
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Hickory Motor Speedway – Newton, NC
Bojangles’ 250 (Unofficial) – Oct. 18, 2014
1. #75 Caleb Holman
2. #98 Todd Gilliland
3. #54s Clay Rogers
4. #66s Steven Wallace
5. #77 Alex Yontz
6. #56 Gus Dean
7. #23 J.P. Morgan
8. #54 Matt Craig
9. #00 Lucas Ransone
10. #59 Coleman Pressley
11. #29 Brian Keselowski
12. #25 Matt Piercy
13. #05 Codie Rohrbaugh
14. #55 Zach Bruenger
15. #21 Eric Gerchak
16. #66 Reid Wilson
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