Howdy Holmes (born December 14, 1947 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a former racing driver in the CART

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, also known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2022, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar. Competitive event ...

series. He began racing in the early 1970s and was based in Stockbridge, Michigan, about southeast from downtown Lansing and northeast of Chelsea, Michigan where his family owned a milling company. He raced in the CART series for 7 seasons (1979-1980, 1982-1985, and 1988), with 72 career starts, including the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

each of those years except 1980. He finished in the top ten 26 times, with his best finish in 2nd position in 1984 at Phoenix. He was the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the year in 1979, with a 7th-place finish. In 1978, he was the Formula Atlantic champion. Holmes is currently the President of Chelsea Milling Company, his family's firm that was founded in 1901. His grandmother Mabel White Holmes became famous for inventing the Jiffy line of baking mixes in 1930, and the family brand served as a sponsor for his cars.

Indy car career (USAC and CART)

Holmes would make his indy car debut in the USAC National Championship during

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...

for AMI Racing in the No. 46 Jiffy Mixes/ Armstrong Mould Wildcat Mk. 2- Drake Goosen Sparks at the

. In the race Holmes qualified in 13th place and was the only rookie to qualify, meaning Holmes won the

rookie of the year award A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

. Holmes finished the race in seventh place. Holmes drove a second race, the Music 500 Presented by Musicland & Sam Goody at

Pocono International Raceway Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA ...

, starting and finishing seventh. Holmes finished 12th in the USAC points, while going unranked towards the rival SCCA/CART PPG World Series due to Indianapolis counting towards the points for drivers competing in their championship. In 1980 USAC and CART merged to form the

Championship Racing League The 1980 USAC Championship Car season consisted of five races, beginning in Ontario, California on April 13 and concluding in Lexington, Ohio on July 13. The USAC National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was Johnny Rutherford. CART and U ...

while also counting for points in the CART championship. Holmes returned with AMI Racing to drive the No. 43 Jiffy Mixes/ Armstrong Mould Orbitor-

Cosworth DFX The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...

. While Holmes was attempting to qualify the car he spun out and missed the race in that car. Holmes also tried to qualify AMI's No. 45 Armstrong Mould Lola T6000-

, failing to qualify in that car also. During the season the Orbitor showed some promise, such as qualifying sixth at the Kent Oil 150 at Watkins Glen Grand Prix Circuit and an eighth-place finish at the True Value 500 at

. Holmes finished 12th in the CRL/USAC standings and 22nd in the CART standings. Holmes did not compete in any races in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

. In 1982 Holmes drove for

Doug Shierson Racing Doug Shierson Racing is a former racing team that competed in the CART Championship Car Series from 1982 to 1990. The team was sponsored by Domino's Pizza for its entire run in CART. Shierson Racing's biggest victory came at the 1990 Indianapolis ...

in the No. 30

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., trading as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware domiciled and headquartered at the Domino's Farms Office Park in Ann Arbor ...

March 82C-Cosworth DFX. During the season Holmes got best finishes of fourth at the Provimi Veal Tony Bettenhausen 200 at Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway and fifth at the Detroit News Grand Prix at

Michigan International Speedway Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track ...

to finish 13th in points. During the year Holmes qualified for the

(counted towards the

USAC Gold Crown Championship From 1956 to 1978, USAC Championship Car seasons featured the top teams and drivers in American open-wheel car racing, U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, the Championship contained road racing, road courses, oval track racing, ovals, dirt track ...

) to finish 10th in the race and 26th in the USAC standings. For

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

Holmes returned with

to drive the No. 30 Domino's Pizza March 83C-Cosworth. During the year Holmes got a best finish of fifth at the Cribari Wines 300K at

Laguna Seca Raceway Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...

. Holmes also competed in the

(sanctioned by USAC, but counted for points by CART), starting 12th and finishing 6th. Holmes finished 13th in the CART standings and 9th in the USAC standings. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Holmes joined Mayer Racing to drive the No. 41 Jiffy Mixes March 84C-Cosworth DFX. The season started off well as Holmes finished second to teammate

Tom Sneva Thomas E. Sneva (born June 1, 1948) is a retired American race car driver who won the Indianapolis 500 in 1983. He primarily raced in Indy cars, and was named to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2005. A former math teacher from Spokane, ...

at the Dana Jimmy Bryan 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Holmes then qualified second to Sneva at the

. Holmes' car suffered mechanical problems throughout the race and Holmes finished 13th, 15 laps down. The rest of the season brought some more points finishes, although none were as good as Holme's early season form. Holmes finished the season 12th in the CART points and unranked in the USAC points due to scoring no points at Indianapolis. For

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Holmes joined

Forsythe Racing Forsythe/Pettit Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe and Dan Pettit. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. Histor ...

to drive the No. 33 Jiffy Mixes Lola T85/00-Cosworth DFX. Holmes got a best finish of ninth at the

Michigan 500 The Firestone Indy 400 was an IndyCar Series race held at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. The event was most recently held in 2007. From 1981 to 2001, the event was better-known as the Michigan 500, and was held in high pre ...

. Holmes also finished 10th at the

. The result came under some controversy as Holmes was criticized for making contact with then-second place driver and former teammate Sneva, which caused Sneva and

Rich Vogler Richard Frank Vogler (July 26, 1950 – July 21, 1990) was an American champion sprint car and midget car driver. He was nicknamed "Rapid Rich".

to crash. Following the Detroit News 200 at Michigan International Speedway Holmes was replaced by

Jan Lammers Jan Lammers (Johannes Antonius Lammers, Zandvoort, 2 June 1956) is a racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing h ...

. Holmes finished the season 25th in the CART standings and 10th in the USAC standings. Holmes did not compete in any races in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

. In

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Holmes drove for Morales Motorsports in the No. 21 Jiffy Mixes March 88C-Cosworth DFX. During the season Holmes got a best finish of seventh at the Quaker State 500 at Pocono International Raceway. Holmes also had a good run at the

, starting 33rd (last) and finishing 12th. Holmes finished the season with an eighth-place finish at the Nissan Indy Challenge at

Tamiami Park Tamiami Park is a public urban park in metropolitan Miami, just south of the Modesto Maidique campus of Florida International University. Background The park was built in the late 1960s on the site of the former ''Tamiami Airport'', which was re ...

in what was Holmes' final Indy car race. Holmes finished 18th in the CART standings and 12th in the USAC standings.

Post racing career

After retiring from racing, Holmes became the president of Chelsea Milling Company, the manufacturer of Jiffy Mixes, which was invented by Holmes' grandmother Mabel White Holmes. Holmes has also made appearances at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Legends Day (a day that honors past drivers of the

) and other times simply as a spectator. Holmes was also likely among the drivers who previously competed in Indianapolis 500s and appeared in a special event prior to the

2011 Indianapolis 500 The 95th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday May 29, 2011. The race was part of the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series season. The track opened for practice on May 14 and time trials were held from Ma ...

(100th anniversary of the first race).

American open–wheel racing results

SCCA National Championship Runoffs

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

CART/Champ Car World Series

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) : ''¹ Replaced by Jerry Sneva : ''² Race was delayed six days due to rain in the area. The qualified cars of Holmes,

Johnny Rutherford John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in ...

Dick Ferguson Dick Ferguson (March 16, 1950 in Los Angeles, California – September 26, 2010) was a driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in the 1979-1985 and 1987-1988 seasons, with 26 career starts, including the 1980 Indianapolis 500 ...

, and

Chip Ganassi Floyd Ganassi Jr. (born May 24, 1958) better known as Chip Ganassi, is a US businessman, former racing driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scen ...

did not return to the rescheduled race.

Indianapolis 500 results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Howdy Living people Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Atlantic Championship drivers Racing drivers from Michigan SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants Forsythe Racing drivers 1947 births