Name: Joey Holt
Year / Make / Model Car: GARC Monte Carlo #51
Number: 51
Class: Late Model Sportsman
Years: Been racing Karts or Cars since 1980
Job: After being in maintenance for about 26 years, I’ve recently became a production supervisor at Boysen Exhaust Systems in Vance, Alabama.
1. How did you get into racing?
JH: My dad J.D. Holt started drag racing when he was a teenager. There has always been a race car at our house, so it was just a matter of time before I was the one in the drivers seat.
2. What would you be doing if you were not driving a race car?
JH: I really don’t know. I don’t hunt, fish or do anything else.
3. People who have inspired you the most while you have raced?
JH: My family.
4. What is the biggest obstacle you are facing in your quest to succeed in racing?
JH: Money and time. Never enough of either.
5. What driver are you a fan of?
JH: Chase Elliott.
6. Out of all the race cars you have driven, which one was your favorite and why?
JH: Blue Steel, the car that I won my first late model feature with at B.I.R. in 1994. We built it
at our house in Hueytown and my dad built the motor also.
7. Pick one : CD player, I pod, 8-Track or Record player, and who do you listen to?
JH: CD player. I listen to just about any type of music. With two step daughters and a 20 year old daughter. I think I’ve heard it all when it comes music.
8. What have you been doing during the off season?
JH: Working to many hours at my job and trying to take care of as much as possible around the house before racing season starts.
9. Is there any other type of race car that you’d like to drive that you haven’t yet?
JH: USAC Midget, Silver Crown car or a Super Modified. A Cup car at Dover or Darlington.
10. Your best and worst moment in racing?
JH: Best: My dad being inducted into the AARP Hall of Fame at Talladega in 2013. My first Feature win at B.I.R. Receiving the Sportsmanship awards at B.I.R in 1994 and at MMS in 2000. Worst: We were running in 2nd place in the feature at B.I.R. when my left rear tire started going flat. After almost loosing control of the car a few times I decide to move up the track heading into turn 3 and let the other cars pass me on the bottom. By the time that I got to end of the front straightaway I thought everyone was past me. WRONG. Heading into turn 1, I naturally let go of the steering wheel to allow the car to go to the bottom of the track so I could head to the pits. I didn’t realize that the #92 of Jay St-Clair was under me. My left front clipped his right rear and turned him head on into the wall. I think he only flipped twice. His car was pretty much wiped out. I felt terrible but we all know the risk when we climb into our cars. I ended up hitting one of the light poles in the infield. Thank God Jay was OK.
11. Any local legends that you admired while coming up in Short Track Racing?
JH: Richard Orton, Darrell Brown, Bobby Ray Jones, Buster Carden and Charlie Kernan.
12. What motivates you to be the best in your racing division?
JH: Just the natural instinct of wanting to win.
13. Favorite smell at the track : race gas or burning rubber?
JH: Burning rubber and Track dogs.
14. What’s the funniest thing you have ever seen on the race track?
JH: This is a tough question for me because I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen at race tracks. One night at Sayre Racer Bob brought his open wheel car for his brother to race. I don’t think that Jimmy had ever driven a race car before but he gave all he had. Jimmy spun out probably 10 times during the race. The race was I’m guessing a 20 lap feature and every 2nd or 3rd lap Jimmy would spin out. All of these spins kept him on the lead lap. Well the final restart was with about 3 laps to go. By now Jimmy had a pretty good hang of it and was able to keep the car headed in the right direction. On the last lap headed into turn 3 the leaders crashed. Jimmy took the checkered flag and the trophy. The place went crazy. Everybody loved it. There’s not many times any of us can say that we were at a race track and everybody there cheered for the same driver. It happened on this night. Also At the dirt track in Clanton a guy in the street stock class owned a logging company and he used one of his trucks to haul his race car with. This truck had the hydraulic crane on it that was intended to load logs onto the log trucks. He used the crane to load and unload his street stock. He would just grab the car at the roof / roll cage and lift it off of the truck and set it on the ground. The cars roof looked like heck but his roll cage was as tough as nails. That’s a real racer. Why waste money on a truck and trailer when what you already have will do the job. And Figure 8 racing at Sayre.
15. What local driver do you have the most respect for and why?
JH: Gary Nix.
16. Do you have another sport you enjoy to watch or participate in?
JH: College football. RTR.
17. What’s more important … racing for points or racing for the win?
JH: You never know when you’ll run your last race. Race to win.
18. Your favorite track and why?
JH: B.I.R. Over the years we’ve had a lot of success there. 3 track championships and many feature wins. Our last win at MMS was in 1978 or 79. We won a 100 lap late model race with Richard Orton driving the car. Hopefully this year we can get back into victory lane at MMS.
19. Which describes you best : calculating driver or kamikaze driver?
JH: Calculating. I think my driving style is more suited for longer races.
20. Last Lap, you’re in a side by side dash for the win… who would you want to beat and why?
JH: Richard Orton. He’s one of the best racers ever and hes not afraid of racing you clean. In other words he will race you for the win, not wreck you for it.
The following people help make it possible for me to race: J.D. Holt, Dana Holt, Jimmy Holt, Jeff and Gina Jones, Dwight and Casey Crews, Kenny Wesson and Richard Orton and my Sponsors Gus’s Hot Dogs in Hueytown and American Sign Company.
https://www.facebook.com/joey.holt.520
Thanks Joey, for providing us with this information, and if anyone else would like to be featured here please contact me at ShortTrackTalk@gmail.com
