Eric Holmes finished seventh in the Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway this past Saturday. Eric was eighth fast in the first of two practices on Friday. During his last minutes of the second practice he had cut a right front tire and the car went directly into the wall. He had heavy front suspension damage. The crew immediately went to work on the damaged car. It took them hours to try to get it back together. They needed to get the car back through tech and back on the track to qualify by 5:00 pm.

The crew did a fantastic job getting the car ready for qualifying. Although Eric qualified twenty-fifth (out of forty cars) he said the car felt good. Sean Caisse, from the Busch East Series won the pole position with a lap of 18.271 (98.517 mph).

When the green flag waved Eric wasted no time gaining positions. By lap twelve he was in 17th and by lap 42 he was in twelfth place, where he stayed until the first 10-minute break at lap 100.

Eric was up to sixth place by lap 154, and then he started losing power. He got up to fifth on lap 192.

During the second ten-minute break at lap 200 the crew was not allowed to open the hood to check out the engine. They did the best they could under the circumstances but could not fix the problem.

Eric had to work very hard the last 50 laps to try to stay as close to the front as he possibly could. He went back as far as twelfth but recovered some ground. When the checkered flag came out the worn out Holmes crossed the finish line in seventh place. A great run and finish despite the obstacles Eric and the crew had to overcome.

Joey Logano, the 17-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, picked up the victory, followed by another Busch East driver Peyton Sellers. Two time West Series champion Mike Duncan finished third in a frantic finish, edging defending race winner Matt Kobyluck at the start finish line. Eddie McDonald followed in fifth.