Expanding his horizons
- Updated: January 14, 2021
Munford’s Holmes to split time this season between ARCA, Truck Series with young star Mayer sharing the seat
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Bret Holmes has always been part of a racing team, but after Thursday’s major career announcement he really does have a team.
The Munford driver, the 2020 ARCA Menards Series champion, announced Thursday he will split his time this coming season between the ARCA Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with Sam Mayer as a second driver.
Holmes and Mayer will run BHR’s familiar No. 23 Chevrolet SS in the ARCA Series and the No. 32 Chevrolet Silverado in the Truck Series. Shane Huffman will return as crew chief for both Holmes and Mayer in 2021.
“In the offseason we put it out there that we were just going to run a part-time schedule on the ARCA and expand into the Truck Series and run part-time in it just to get our feet wet and get ready hopefully for something bigger down the road,” Holmes said Thursday. “After this year we can possibly go full-time in trucks.
“We knew this year in ARCA we were going to be successful the way our momentum was going and the way we were kind of trending and what I could feel in the seat. So, we put that out there to some other guys and Sam was interested in running some races with us. I couldn’t ask for a better driver. Him having that experience in trucks will definitely help us.”
The 2020 season was a big year for the Donoho and so-to-be Auburn grad. He posted his first career win (at Kansas, where he clinched the title later in the season), 14 top-fives and 19 top-10 finishes. He also won the CGS Imaging Four Crown title for his driving versatility for the second consecutive year.
Mayer, 17, won his second straight ARCA East series championship last season. He won eight races and had 17 top-fives across ARCA and its East and West Series. He also drove in six Truck Series races, winning at Bristol to become the second youngest winner in the history of the series.
“Him coming to drive for us is really the second time anybody has ever drove for us,” Holmes said. “Grant Emfinger ran a few races for us back in 2016, but since then nobody has. A lot of people had the view that my team was just … it was created because of me, for sure, but that’s not all it is.”
The plan is for Holmes to run “six or seven” ARCA races – most of the speedways except for Pocono – and “five or six” truck races, with Mayer getting six ARCA races and five truck starts, with the possibility of both adding one or two more.
Holmes will open his ARCA schedule at Daytona in February and make his Truck debut at Atlanta in March. Mayer will make his ARCA debut in BHR colors in June. His Truck schedule includes Richmond and Bristol.
“I’m super excited for another great year of racing in the ARCA Menards Series,” Mayer said. “I know we have the chance to win every time we show up because these guys at BHR are so good at what they do.
“I’m also excited to continue my Truck Series career with BHR. They have some things to learn with getting into a new series, but I know that we will be in contention to win by the end of it.”
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