Roseville, Calif. — Eric Holmes felt a little pressure.
From expectations running with traditional powerhouse team Bill McAnally Racing. From the more than 150 fans that made the trek from his hometown in Escalon, Calif., to see his return to full-time racing in the NASCAR Camping World Series West. And from the persistant challenge of David Mayhew for more than 150 laps Saturday night
In the end, though, Holmes kept his cool throughout the Toyota NAPA AutoCare Center 150 and drove the No. 20 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota to an historic victory before a sold-out crowd at All American Speedway.
“It was a brand new car and a brand new opportunity for me,” said Holmes, who led all 153 laps to give manufacturer Toyota its first NASCAR Camping World Series victory.
The win earned Holmes a protected spot in the starting lineup for the postseason NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown, scheduled to be run Jan. 23-24, 2009.
Mayhew (No. 21 BayBioDiesel/RCR Chevrolet) settled for second, followed by defending series champion Mike David (No. 2 Bennett Lane Winery Ford). Johnny Borneman and Moses Smith rounded out the top five.
A lap 145 caution set up the green-white-checkered finish and provided Mayhew with one more shot at the lead. But as Holmes had done in each of the previous 10 restarts, he was able to pull away.
“The car for about four laps was hard to drive,” Holmes said. “I just took my chances and rolled it in there. I just made sure I gave him enough room to race me but not enough to beat me. That’s how you short track race.”
It was the second straight win for Holmes, who concluded the 2007 season with a victory.
Eric Richardson, Eric Hardin, Jim Warn, Jamie Dick and Jason Patison completed the top 10.
Jason Bowles won the Coors Light Pole for the race. Holmes got the jump on the initial green flag. Bowles was involved in three spins that negated two drives from the back and left him with a 13th-place finish.
Eric Schmidt, All American’s 2007 Late Model champion, also overcame an early race incident and climbed back into third on the race’s final restart. Contact on the final restart relegated him to 16th.
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