TULSA, Okla. – This week’s Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals may be Holley Hollan’s second appearance at the Super Bowl of Midget Racing, but she’s treating the event as a fresh start.
Hollan will make her debut with Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports on Wednesday night during Hard Rock Casino Qualifying Night, driving the No. 67K SiriusXM Satellite Radio Bullet/Toyota as she traverses the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
It will be a moment that Hollan has been eagerly anticipating since she joined KKM back in December.
“It’s definitely been a long two days of waiting for this. It feels like they’ve both lasted longer than 24 hours,” Hollan told SPEED SPORT Wednesday morning. “Practice went well on Monday, though, and I’m really looking forward to tonight. I think we have a really fast car and we’ll see what we can do with it.
“This has always been an amazing atmosphere, even when I wasn’t in racing, so now being a part of it and able to compete is a whole ‘nother aspect of it,” she noted. “I’m really looking forward to it.
Though she made her official rookie start at the Chili Bowl last January, she said that she’s treating this year’s event just as if she were a rookie all over again.
“Last year was my rookie year, but this year it feels like it still is because everything is completely different again,” she continued. “I feel like until I become competitive here, I’ll continue to feel like a rookie. I’ve run a few races with USAC, but I’m still considered a rookie, so I think all around we still have a lot left to prove. This is a new adventure, but I couldn’t ask for a better team to be a part of.”
Though Hollan is stepping into a race car that has set numerous records for female drivers in USAC competition, as well as coming and running the biggest midget race in the country, she said she’s not focusing on that pressure aside from the drive for success she carries within herself.
“No matter what level you run at, there’s always pressure from the outside, but I put more pressure on myself than anyone else ever could,” Hollan said. “I think that just balancing that pressure and keeping realistic and attainable goals is going to be the most important thing. Those outside of your circle always have their opinions, regardless of who you’re driving for or what car you’re in, but I want to turn that into positive energy and use it to my advantage.
“There will always be people who don’t want to see you succeed fighting against those who do. You’ll never be able to make everyone happy, so I’m just going to do my best and see where we end up.”
Despite knowing that her teammates have won the first two preliminary nights, Hollan is focusing on her own expectations and not raising the bar just because Logan Seavey and Kyle Larson have been victorious.
“My goal is to make my preliminary feature. I drew towards the back of my heat race, so I can only go forward from there, and that’s a help given this format,” noted Hollan. “I know these cars are capable of great things – we’ve seen that already – and that gives me a lot of confidence.
“I was talking to Christopher, and he told me that he even still gets nervous. It’s just a sign that you want it and I definitely want to get after it here.”
