Randleman, NC- In the Petty Enterprises shops, Newly-signed driver Zach Holcombe stares into the bright yellow #'s on the side of his #45 Spree Charger. Deep in thought, he is well-aware that this is a season that will make and break, not only his, but teammate Carl Robinson's careers. "We both have something to prove, I have to prove I can do something in a car last driven by a rising star, Carl has to prove that this Petty equipment is competitive after last season." Holcombe, who is in his third full season in CRL competition, had an up and down season in S3. While he hasn't won since Texas last in S2, he ran strong enough to keep him in the title hunt until a wreck at Phoenix took him out of the running. He now knows what it's going to take to get that elusive win and title. "Consistency. It's what we struggled with last season especially near the end. If we can start Speedweeks off right and keep our focus on making the car better and just work on little things that cost us over the course of the season last time around, then we can put the Petty name back in victory lane." Holcombe told CSN.
Meanwhile, for Carl Robinson, the main focus in the shop is "WIN." The 5 season veteran of the CRL leagues hasn't won since S1 of the Canadian Tire Series, where he rattled off two victories in the #91 Avenger. After a season full of struggles and false hope, Robinson looks to bounce back and take the racing world by storm in the newly sponsored #40 Cheerios Dodge. "We sucked last year. We were never up front, we lost sponsorship, and fuck this thing was on the back of a wrecker more times than not. We need a good year." Robinson told reporters at PE's Media Day. "We owe it to the guys that actually stuck by us, Dodge, Cheerios, Menards, STP, Valvoline can go eat a dick for leaving and not believing in us."
Both Robinson and Holcombe will both be private testing at Myrtle Beach on the 27th to test Dodge's new motor, which was made in response to the reliability issues that plagued many teams.
Both Robinson and Holcombe will both be private testing at Myrtle Beach on the 27th to test Dodge's new motor, which was made in response to the reliability issues that plagued many teams.