Meet Bret Holmes, the wunderkind of racing!

Bret Holmes, a Munford, Alabama native, might be one of the most exciting and talented young drivers to come out of the state of Alabama in recent memory. The 18-year-old racing wonder has quickly become a main stay in Pro Late Model and Super Late Model racing all over the nation. As he travels to and from Auburn University, where he is a sophomore in building science, Holmes focuses on school and racing to secure his future in the ever-changing world that surrounds him.

His interest in building science comes from being around construction all his life. “My dad owns a business, dealing with excavating, grading and installation of utilities like water, sewer and electrical lines. It has been family-operated for a long time,” Holmes added.

As a youngster, Holmes had a penchant for racing. Living only a few miles from the Talladega Short Track and the iconic Talladega Superspeedway, he knew at a young age that racing was in his blood. His father Stacy, also a racer for many years held the record at Talladega Short Track until Bret took the title in 2013.

“My dad raced for fun,” says Holmes. “I grew up watching him race almost every weekend. He is the sole reason I got involved in racing. I was six years old when I started in go-karts.” Holmes raced go-carts for four years and racked up consecutive seasons of 17, 18 and 25 wins. From there he moved into his first year of asphalt racing, and continued to rise in the ranks as he started to expand his horizons in multiple series.

After making the switch to asphalt racing, Holmes went back and forth between dirt and pavement. He won the championships at Crate Late Model Division at Talladega Short Track and Green Valley Speedway. He competed at the Super Late Model in the Southern All Stars Series, and finished second in points winning the coveted Rookie of the year award. He entered the next phase of his journey on Asphalt by competing in NASCAR’s Whelen All American Series. Holmes recently won the Pro Late Model championship at the legendary Five Flags Speedway during the Allen Turner Tuneup 100 at Pensacola.

“The ambition of racing is to win. Racing is like any other sport in terms of having to take one step to be able to reach another. Right now I am competing in the American Racing Club of America (ARCA) racing series where we have multiple televised events and compete at several tracks that the NASCAR series competes on. My goal is to make it to the NASCAR series', whether it be Xfinity or Sprint cup.”

“Stock car racing is different from any other sport. You are competing against forty other teams. So, when you do win, it's one of the best feelings in the world. Knowing all of the hard work and time you spent at the shop, the countless hours of practice, your team making the right adjustments, and being flawless in the race, finally paid off.”

A glimpse of his website shows a racing sensation that has adapted to an ever-changing sport.