NASCAR Camping World Series West opener

The NASCAR Camping World Series West opens at Thunderhill Raceway in Texas on Saturday night.
Eric Holmes of Escalon, Calif., comes in as the reigning West Series champion and the only repeat winner at the .375-miles track in Kyle, Texas.
Holmes won the races at Thunderhill in 2006 and 2008. Coincidentally, the years he won the race at Thunderhill were also the years he won the West Series championship.
Steve Portegna won the race in 2005 and Scott Lynch won it in 2007. This will be the fifth year Thunderhill Raceway has hosted a West Series race.
Other notes of interest for the West Series opener:

• The race at Thunderhill opens a 13-race West Series schedule. This will be the only visit to Texas for the West Series drivers.
• The qualifying record at Thunderhill was set by Mike Duncan in 2007. He turned a qualifying lap in 14.836 seconds (90.995 mph). The race record was set by Holmes on April 19, 2008 (1 hour, 1 minute, 57 seconds and an average speed of 54.479 mph).
• In four races at Thunderhill, there have been four different pole winners. In addition to Duncan, Holmes, Mike David and Scott Gaylord have set fast times for a race at the track.
• The race will be broadcast on Speed on March 25 at noon Pacific Daylight Time.