Holman Overcomes Anxious Ending for Pro Cup win at Ace

Strolling his car down the backstretch, Caleb Holman was cruising toward a comfortable victory Friday night and envisioning all of the trimmings.

The waist-high trophy.

The supersized prize money.

But all of a sudden, a half-lap from reaching the finish line of the 250-lap USAR Pro Cup Series main event, a non-contending car’s improbable spin brought a caution flag that ripped all of Holman’s serenity away.

And the ominous prospect of overtime loomed directly ahead at Ace Speedway.

“Heck, by the time I knew what was happening, we were looking at checkers,” Holman said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, great. Here we go.’ ”

Those worries soon were put to ease.

The driver from Abingdon, Va., safely navigated six extra laps and held off Brad Rogers during an anxious green-white-checkered ending to win the White’s International Trucks 250 for the touring Late Models circuit.

The 27-year-old Holman was the picture of relief as he posed for photos and accepted congratulations in Victory Lane, where a massive first-place check for $10,000 rested against his No. 75 Dodge Charger.

After securing his sixth career Pro Cup Series victory, Holman said he expected some degree of bumper tag from Rogers’ No. 16 Ford Fusion during the tension-filled conclusion — especially when he restarted in less-than-textbook fashion.

“It just worked out because I did not handle it well,” Holman said. “I was awful. On the restart, I spun the tires. I turned the thing sideways twice.

“I looked in the mirror and I thought, ‘Well, he’s going to hit us now.’ But it never came.”

The classy decision to avoid rough tactics left Mooresville’s Rogers, the younger brother of NASCAR Truck Series driver Clay Rogers, lamenting what became a decisive strategy.

“I’m kicking myself for not doing it,” Brad Rogers said. “But then again, I’m going to have to race him again. So I’m happy with it right now, I guess.

“To be honest with you, I just don’t feel like it’s the time in the season to do something like that.”

A.J. Frank of Bluffton, S.C., placed third in the featured race, which stretched on for nearly two hours under increasingly chilly conditions.

Blake Jones, a 14-year-old rookie from Sevierville, Tenn., and Allen Purkhiser of Moore, S.C., rounded out the top five finishers among the 21-car field.

As Pro Cup’s first visit to Ace since 2005 began to unfold, J.P. Morgan, who won the series opener two weeks ago and supplied Friday night’s top qualifying performance (15.852 seconds), emerged in dominant form.

The Charlotte driver seized command from the outset and relinquished the lead for only brief moments until disaster struck his No. 23 Chevrolet Impala on the 160th lap.

Morgan had pitted for tires 18 laps prior and thus had been shuffled deeper in the top 10 when the lead pack bottled up on a restart and his car suffered front-end damage amid the traffic.

That contact immediately removed Morgan from the front-running position and shifted the focus to Holman and Rogers, who then dueled throughout the final 90 laps.

“It was definitely his race,” Holman said, referring to Morgan’s unfortunate situation. “When he went out, we were like ‘OK, well it’s ours to lose.’

“We knew (Rogers) was good and (Frank) was good. But we felt like we could stay in front of them, being as how we were already there.”

-- Friday night’s other winners at Ace were Tommy Raino (25-lap Street Stocks) and Junior Chriscoe (20-lap Mini Trucks).

Here are Friday night’s results from Ace Speedway:

USAR Pro Cup Series (250 laps): Caleb Holman, Brad Rogers, A.J. Frank, Blake Jones, Allen Purkhiser, Michael Mohelski, Bryan Silas, Ronnie Souders, Larry Barrett, Chad Beahr, Mark Whitaker, Tyler Young, Tom Powers, J.P. Morgan, Sean Rayhall, Ryan Heavner, Jeff Agnew, Mike Kurkowski, Tom Powers Jr., Brad Lloyd, Rick Watson.

Street Stocks (25 laps): Tommy Raino, Jaime Ruddock, Clyde Johnson, Michael Worthington, Troy Davis, Larry Isenhower, Rudy Ruddock, Randy Clark, Arnold Baldwin, Bobby Grimes.

Mini Trucks (20 laps): Junior Chriscoe, Tony Black, Ray Chriscoe, Jeremy Kidd, Bradley Gibby, Bobby Smith, Ashley Duncan, Anthony Bennett.

USAR Pro Cup Series qualifying: J.P. Morgan 15.852, Brad Rogers 15.904, Jeff Agnew 15.997, Blake Jones 16.047, Caleb Holman 16.101, A.J. Frank 16.134, Tyler Young 16.157, Allen Purkhiser 16.217, Ryan Heavner 16.287, Michael Mohelski 16.353, Mike Kurkowski 16.777, Bryan Silas 16.890, Ronnie Souders 16.905, Mark Whitaker 16.911, Sean Rayhall 17.049, Larry Barrett 17.104, Brad Lloyd 17.426, Chad Beahr 17.803, Tom Powers 17.925, Tom Powers Jr. 18.477, Rick Watson no time.