Rain at the Jacksonville North Carolina racetrack postponed the Coastal Carolina 200 race for a day, but when Sunday afternoon came, Caleb Holman picked up the MAHLE Pole Award in qualifying and then led throughout the entire race to what was an easy victory, his fourth of the 2014 X-1R Pro Cup season.
A delighted Holman explained later in Edelbrock Victory Lane: “It was frustrating to have to stay another day, but the Pro Cup officials made the right call and it worked out pretty good for us as you can see. We’re trying to win this championship and so far we are two for two. I’d say if we can keep this up we’ll be ok. Next up we go to Coeburn which is my home track and usually your home track is the place you have your worst luck at; or at least I do it seems.”
Another team did not need victory to celebrate. AFR Rookie of the Year leader, Codie Rohrbaugh, achieved a career best in the runner up position. Rohrbaugh, having shown great progress this season, had on several occasions challenged but failed to defeat the more experienced Holman. Nonetheless, he and his team are pleased with the achievements thus far.
“I was doing all I could to keep up with Caleb, he just had a little better car than I did; maybe his veteran experience was a factor too. Overall we actually had one of the better cars we’ve had all year,” said Rohrbaugh. “Hopefully this gives us a little momentum to close out the year and seal up this rookie title. That was our goal this year and we seem to be getting better as the season winds down.” Rounding out the podium was veteran Jeff Oakley.
Absent from the race was Reid Wilson who had sustained injuries during the last Gold Leaf 200 race. Collision between Wilson and another driver had sent Wilson crashing into the outside wall and a subsequent trip to the hospital. His personal physician had advised that he sit out the Coastal Carolina 200 to make a full recovery. A spokesperson for the team said, “It’s unfortunate that we won’t be able to contend for the championship, but we need to think safety first…in the best interest of Reid’s healthy recovery, we will skip Coastal Plains and hope to be back for the second to last race.”
So, we should see Wilson back in the next race of the series, the Morgan-McClure 200, which will take place on 4th October at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Virginia.
