TRAVELING MAN
ROGER HOLDER’S CROSS-COUNTRY
TRIP TO COVID-8 PAYS OFF
WITH PRO 275 WIN
BY JOSH HACHAT • PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHRIS SEARS
ROGER HOLDER simply wanted to race, even if it
meant flying across the country on back-to-back weeks
during some unprecedented times.
Pandemic or not, Holder was determined to find his way
to Wooostock and late May’s COVID-8 to campaign his
turbocharged Nova.
Of course, it all paid off with a victory in the hotly-contested Pro 275
class in Orlando, which proved to be a very nice cherry on top after a wild
couple weeks for the Bakersfield, California, native.
“To race with that caliber of racers and come out on top is pretty incredible,”
Holder says. “On the West Coast, we don’t have that competition out
here. To travel there and just compete at that level, it’s pretty substantial. I
feel like we’ve done a good job as a team, so to get that win, it was just great.”
Guys on Holder’s team drove his race hauler to Darlington, flew
home and then everyone flew to Wooostock, where Holder competed
in Lance Stanford’s Carolina N/T Small Tire Racing. It was a familiar
spot for Holder, who raced in the N/T scene for a number of years.
He used Wooostock as a test and Holder figured, “once
the boards lit up, we’ll see if we can do any good.”
He flew back to California, then back east a few days
later, landing in Orlando with a sense that he could do
some damage. In between races, he worked with Mark
Menscer on a new shock set-up, hoping it would help
against a Pro 275 class that continues to improve at a rapid
rate – both in performance and participation.
The initial results weren’t ideal, but things quickly
came around.
“He thought this would be a better combo, so we made
the change,” Holder says. “The first two passes, we shook
the tires. The problem we have is we can’t test out here,
but we knew we would get seven qualifiers so we thought
we could figure it out.
“By the third round, we had rattled one of the wires during
one of the previous runs, so the car didn’t fire. But the fourth
qualifier, we made a good hit and from that point we kept
it consistent and just tried to go faster each time.”
By Friday night, Holder was rolling. He qualified second
with a run of 3.856-seconds at 206.89 mph, with only Mark Micke’s
record-breaking run of 3.822 topping him.
Holder and Ziff Hudson did make history, though, as their qualifying
run – where Holder went his 3.856 and Hudson went 3.860 – marked
the quickest side-by-side pass in the history of Pro 275.
It was another landmark moment in a class that has continued its
ascent at a meteoric rate.
Holder wasn’t done, though. He rolled through the three rounds of
eliminations with three runs in the 3.80s, including a 3.864 in the semifinals
and a blistering 3.860 at 206.42 to top Hudson in the final round.
It made for a memorable moment for Holder – and all the cross-country
trips worth it.
“That was really cool. This class has just taken off,” Holder says. “All 16
cars there were good enough to win the race. Any one of them was fast
enough. The top eight weren’t separated by much, so if you were asleep
on the starting line or slipped up any you were going to get outrun.”
The victory has Holder excited for what’s next, even if next likely won’t
be racing Pro 275 until the fall. That means another cross-country trip
for the Sweet 16 and No Mercy 11, which take place during back-to-back
weeks in October, but Holder is anxious for it to happen.
While it wasn’t perfect conditions, Holder was quick and consistent in
Orlando, leaving him confident he could enjoy more success in October,
even as Pro 275 continues to raise the bar.
“Anytime you win, it gives you that excitement to get ready for the next
race,” Holder closes. DI
92 | Drag Illustrated | DragIllustrated.com Issue 157