CJY SPONSORS KEVIN & CHRIS HOLLAND’S # 66 ON THE DIRT OVEL OF BIG DIAMOND RACE WAY

Kevin started racing Road Runners at Big Diamond 6 seasons ago in 2002. At the time, I thought Kevin was nuts for wanting to race dirt. We were always street racers. Kevin was well known at the time for his 9 sec. Street legal, no NOS 71 Vega. Influence from a mutual friend and winning Road Runner Driver Dave Miller + Kevin’s own Father’s racing history at the Reading Fair Grounds was fueling his desire.

I remember our first race. As the date got closer to opening day, Kevin asked me if I would be his crew chief. I didn’t have much interest in dirt track racing at the time but thought “Sure, What the hell, it’s something different to do on a Friday night”. I remember our very first race. I told Kevin to just ride around the back of the field for a few races till he gets the hang of circle track racing. He agreed. But, if you know Kevin, you know he’s not happy unless he’s competing. He drove around the back of the pack for 2 laps, then started passing cars, heading for the front. On the last lap, I had my eyes closed when he went from 7^th to 4^th by splitting the 5^th & 6^th place cars as they battled for position in turn 3. Kevin’s 4^th place finish in his very 1^st race was a sign of things to come. Kevin ran well that year but was deployed to Germany half way through the season, which cost him the Rookie of the Year award.

As for 2006, Kevin’s effort was fruitful. We used to get Booooed. Now we got cheers. We were even guests on a radio show. http://www.pitratlive.com/index.php?page=radioshow We had 3 wins and with the exception of 2 DNF’s (did not finish), we finished inside of the top five every race. Just like the 2005 season, Kevin had to recover from a point deficit that year. 2 DNFs (one when our jack broke during a pit stop & one for a snapped axle) had Kevin as low as 13^th in the points. With a few races to go in the season, the points leaders got in a wreck and got hauled off the track on the hook. Kevin had damage also and had to come in. A large zip tie was the fix. Kevin entered the field in 16^th position, a half a lap behind the rest of the field. Kevin’s maturity as a driver shined that night. With 11 laps to go, he reeled in the field and like a surgeon, meticulously passed 10 cars up on the “high groove” to finish 5^th and take over the point lead. The following week, with a bent upper A arm, Kevin drove a crippled car to a 3^rd place finish to extend his point lead. On the final points race of the year, Kevin only needed to finish 13^th or better to clinch the Championship. On lap 4, his competition pulled into the infield with Trans problems. Kevin didn’t know it and continued to run hard for a 5^th place finish and the 06 Road Runner Championship. For 2007, Kevin’s 17 year old son, Chris took the wheel of the old reliable #66. He had tough shoes to fill in a car that had over 2500 laps on it. Chris’s season started out a little rocky but he quickly started pulling off top 10 finishes, then top 5’s and eventually, his best finishes were 4 consecutive 3^rd place finishes. He also lead many laps and won 3 heat races. I was very impressed with the fact that Chris only had 1 DNF, which was not his fault. He’d show great car handling ability while staying out of the many wrecks that occurred each week. Chris finished out his rookie year 6^th in the points and placed higher in the points standings that many of his veteran competitors.