Nashville, TN - In 2023, Kimberly, Texas native, Barrett Polhemus was racing anything he could anywhere he could to continue developing his skills as a race car driver. A product of the Madera Speedway (CA) Jr. Late Model Series, Polhemus found an opportunity racing with Casey Johnson on the ASA Midwest Tour and then used the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance as a filler in his 2023 schedule. Those four starts last season were enough to bring Polhemus to the JEGS Tour full-time in 2024.
Polhemus has competed in multiple platforms in Super Late Model racing in the past several seasons, including his aforementioned run in the ASA Midwest Tour where he collected six top 10 finishes in 11 races and a top five - his best finish of the season during the Gundrad Auto Group 250 at Wisconsin International Raceway (co-sanctioned with the ASA STARS National Tour). Polhemus ended the season fifth in the Midwest Tour Championship Standings.
When Polhemus raced with the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour in 2023, he found nearly instant success. In his first start during the Big O Classic 100 at Owosso Speedway, the No.79 rolled off the grid 7th before coming home fourth for his first career top five in the JEGS Tour. The then-18-year-old backed that performance up with an 8th-place finish at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway before finishing 9th at Birch Run Speedway. Polhemus closed out his “testing the waters” season with the JEGS Tour by finishing 4th at Winchester Speedway in October. Polhemus says despite already putting in a full season of Super Late Model racing, the JEGS Tour is important to his driver development.
“I hardly have any races in a Pro Late Model, anywhere; a few at Madera [Speedway] and then the JEGS Tour last year,” explained Polhemus. “Otherwise it was a Jr. [Late Model] straight into a Super. [Running the JEGS Tour is] making me more well-rounded as a race car driver. Some people would view going from a Super to a Pro as a step back, but it’s really not with how many drivers are committed to the Tour this year,” Polhemus continued. “And from what I've seen, any one of those guys is gonna have a chance to go out there and win.”
Polhemus will run his No.79 Turtle Cove Apparel Chevrolet for VanDoorn Racing Development in 2024, joining a network of drivers all across the country with one goal in mind - make each other better. The notebook sharing and intensity on making JVD cars better each week is something that has Polhemus even more excited for the upcoming season.
“I haven’t really seen anything like that with as big as they are,” commented Polhemus. “I like just how connected it is. Obviously, we all want to beat each other - but at the end of the day, we want to represent the brand and the team. So it’s going to be nice to have all that experience around for the whole year because it’s a really big pool - it’s not just two or three guys, it’s like 10. You can have someone out in California that might strike something and then relay that back to Butch or Johnny [VanDoorn] and all of a sudden that’s in our program too.”
VanDoorn tapped Polhemus to field a car for the full 2024 season after his select starts in the JEGS Tour last year. Polhemus says after the Owosso race, his dad Matt and Butch VanDoorn discussed what it would take to get Barrett in a car more often to help fill in the gaps in his development missed by skipping Pro Late Models. Polhemus says the exposure that comes on the JEGS Tour this season is another reason to get excited.
“The buildup, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Barrett exclaimed. “The hype and the anticipation around it is through the roof, and for good reason. The whole Tour is completely revamped; the purse is increased and the schedule is revamped to where the only repeat track is Owosso, which is great. It’s just fresh and new and with the committed field, which is relatively large, especially for a Late Model Series. I’ve never raced against this many full-time people. The spotlight is there and for good reason because it’s completely refreshed and I'm really looking forward to how it plays out.”
After some discussion, Polhemus referenced the 1989 major motion picture, Major League saying that his team had many discussions on what they were setting for a goal in 2024. Polhemus says that moving target has finally landed on a goal.
“We want to go out there and ‘win the whole freakin’ thing’,” Polhemus said with a laugh, giving a nod to the famous line from Tom Berenger. “I’ve got faith and confidence in myself and in my team - I know we can do it. We want to go out there and win and compete. If we’re in contention [for the Championship] when Winchester [Speedway] comes around, I like our chances.”
Polhemus just celebrated his 19th birthday on Sunday, and he’ll try to celebrate again with a season-opening win on the JEGS Tour during the West Michigan 100 at Berlin Raceway on Saturday, April 27th. Advanced tickets are available now at BerlinRaceway.com. Fans who can’t make the trip can catch the action live on RacingAmerica.Tv and TrackTv.com.
For more information on the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Presented by Chevrolet Performance log onto CRA-Racing.com. Find CRA: Champion Racing Association on Facebook and follow @CRARacing on X.
Koty Geyer Photo