Sat, 4 Nov 2006, 05:03 AM This Fireman Finally Kicked Down the Door

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2006 Auto Imagery, Inc.

Clark Holroyd

For thirty-one years Clark Holroyd went to work as a fireman in the city of Chino, California. During that time he kicked a lot of doors down as he attempted to fight fires, but after almost twenty years of racing, Clark finally kicked down a huge door when he won his first national event at the recent AC Delco Las Vegas Nationals. "I've been close before but I finally kicked the door down," he said as he waited his turn in the winner's circle. "I had been to five final rounds before, between national and divisional races, and was never able to win one. Now I have and it feels great."

Holroyd launches hard.

One of the keys to Clark's success may be the fact that he finally retired from his job. "I retired last December and I've been running a lot better ever since. I guess it's the fact that I don't have any pressure on me and I don't have to go back to work on Monday." Whatever it is, the driver of the 1968 Chevrolet Nova that carries the words "Fire Escape" on the side, certainly has run better this year than ever before. After racing since the mid-eighties, Clark, who had been to one final round at a national event prior to his retirement, has now gone to two this year as well as making a final round appearance at the Division 7 race in Fontana earlier this year. I guess retirement agrees with him. "I just approach it differently now," he said. "I go out to have fun and relax and I'm not intimidated by anyone. I don't care if it's Dan Fletcher in the other lane, I'm just going to run my race and let the chips fall where they may." The chips all fell his way this past weekend when he went seven rounds to get the win. Along the way he beat the veteran Gene Mosbek in a heads-up race in round two, a race that Clark said was one of the keys to his victory. "Those races are a lot of fun. When they changed the rules a year ago and let us go up or down a class, I looked at this iron-headed thing and thought it could work to my advantage. I got the car to about 3,200 pounds and that's about three hundred pounds lighter than the 427 Camaros and that equates to about three tenths on the track. It's worked out well." Another thing that works out well is getting a good start, and

Holroyd vs. Mark Faul

that played a big part in his win over the veteran Mosbek and his potent Mopar. Both drivers ran 10.43 on that run but Clark got the advantage off the line and made it hold up. "It's nice to win any way, but that run was special." Clark may be new to the winner's circle but he's not new to the sport. He did some sand drag racing before hitting the asphalt and he raced at the same time as one of the real famous sand drag racers. "I raced when Larry Minor was involved in the sport," he said. "He used to say that I had the hardest running, single-carb Jeep that he ever saw. And it was funny, I was riding through the pits the other day in Vegas and a car came up, the window went down and a hand came out to shake mine and it was Larry. I hadn't seen him in years." After his sand racing career, Clark moved to the asphalt track. "I've been drag racing since the mid '80's in Stock Eliminator. I ran Super Street before that and then I was partners with a guy for six years in an E/SA Camaro, and then we got divorced and I decided to build my own car and I built this 375. I always loved the Novas and the first national event that I went to was the Winternationals in 1993 and I made it to the semi-finals and then I did it again at the next race." The Nova that he has now been running exclusively in Stock Eliminator is a 396 cubic inch, 375 horsepower car with a 350 Turbo transmission and 4.88 gears. "I've had it for fourteen years and basically built it all myself. I started it in 1989 and finished it around '92. The first time that the car ever ran Charlie Ford drove it for me. It's a nice car." It's so nice because Clark has a simple philosophy about racing. "I grew up wanting to do things right, a hundred percent correct," he said. "The way I look at it it's easier to do things right the first time than to have to do them twice." In addition to the work he does on the car, Clark also does some machine work on his transmission and he gets some help on that from Leo Glasbrenner and Dave Flores.

Holroyd and team celebrate win.

Now that he has all of this spare time on his hands, Clark is busy improving his car and helping others with theirs. "I build carburetors, in fact, Mark Faul (the runner-up to Clark in Vegas) had my carburetors on his car and so did several others." In addition to that, Clark also is building some rocker arm studs, fuel sample valves and jet plates for some of the hemi cars and six-pack cars. "I keep busy and I really enjoy it. Right now a lot of guys know me as the 'fuel valve guy,' because I build the fuel sample valves that a lot of them use, but I'm working on a lot of other things, too." One of those things is a top ten finish in the Lucas Oil championship points. "I'll race at the division race this weekend in Vegas and then go to Pomona and, if everything goes well, I could end up in the top ten." Not bad for a guy who is one year removed from one of the toughest jobs in the world.

As Clark was heading for the winner's circle he was joined by his wife of thirty-one years, Vickie. "Every time she comes to the races with me I seem to do well," Clark said. "I guess she just brings out the best in me." The couple, in addition to enjoying their time at the race track, also loves traveling with each other. "After I retired we spent fourteen days in Israel and it was a wonderful experience. You get to see all of the places that you've heard and read about all your life. I would recommend that trip to everyone." Clark and Vickie said that they would like to go back there, and then they added that another place they would like to visit again is the winner's circle at a national event. With his new, relaxed attitude, you can expect Clark to kick another door down in the very near future.