It takes a lot to wear out a Gold Card, but when you're as active as Hollis and Bobbie have been this year, that card really gets a work out. "Since the Winternationals we have raced every week except two." And that racing has taken place at tracks from Pomona to Lebanon Valley, New York, and the couple, who admits to being married for over forty years now, has enjoyed every minute of it. "For a racer it really is like a dream come true," Hollis said. "We've gone to tracks that we had only read about and raced against guys we've never seen before. And everywhere we go the people are so nice." It's because people are so nice that Hollis missed one of those weekends racing. "We put our car on display at a car show the week after Indy. 'Redman,' (whose real name is Bill Floyd Sr.) the guy who works the starting line at some of the national races and who is the starter in Division 3, helped put on a car show and we put our car in it." At the event Hollis, who is a Vietnam veteran, also got to speak to a lot of other veterans about Agent Orange and other issues that affect soldiers of that era. The other weekend off was strictly for vacation. "After the Lebanon Valley race we took a week off to just do some touring and sight seeing in upstate New York. It was a nice, relaxing few days." Relaxing if you don't include the time the couple was on a canoe trip and they tipped over in the New York rapids. "I told Bobbie that if we get swamped to hold on to the paddle. After all, you've heard that old saying about the creek and the paddle, haven't you?" We sure have, Hollis.

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Hollis and Bobbie race their car in Super Gas, and while there are thousands of cars in that eliminator bracket, there is no chance of theirs getting lost in the shuffle, and that's because it's the only 9.90 car that has surf boards on it. "They are real surf boards, long boards," he said. "One is a Jacobs and the other a Hobie." Which brought up the obvious question, does the Southern California couple actually surf. "We have. When we were younger Bobbie had a board that weighed about 200 pounds," he said with a chuckle. "I don't know how she even got it into the water." And just where did the whole surfer theme on the car come from? "When we came back east years ago and raced at an IHRA race, the announcer saw that we were from Southern California and he started to make jokes about us being surfers. After that Bobbie got a surfer-looking shirt and it just kind of grew from there." And while the surf boards are eye-catching they also serve a purpose on the car. "These cars are very light in the back so the boards actually do create some down force on the car."

The fact that he has surf boards on his car is one reason why people remember it and even look forward to seeing it when they come to the track. "People know the car but they don't always know me, but I guess that' s better than them not knowing you at all, isn't it?" The fact that he has been racing the same car for almost thirty years is another reason why people remember it. "I used to work for Warren Brogie doing tin work at his shop. I had one of the very first cars he made when the Pro Gas class started back in the late 1970's." That car, which was part of the original Pro Gas group in Southern California, followed a series of very nice muscle cars, cars that Hollis wishes he still had. "When I came back from Vietnam it was the muscle car era and I wanted one." So he got one, or a couple. "I had a 440-six pack car that was really nice." When I asked him if he still had the car, Hollis just rolled his eyes and said, "I wish." He also had an original, aluminum 1963 Plymouth max-wedge car. I didn't have the heart to ask if he still had that one.

Hollis began racing on Wednesday nights at Irwindale, the original Irwindale Raceway. That soon became Wednesday and Saturday at Irwindale which was soon joined by Sundays at Orange County. "We kept pretty active back then." Not much more active than he is now. "We thought when I retired that we would stay near home and not travel, but the Gold Card changed all of that. We figured that if we were ever going to go on tour, this was the time. Now we get to see the country, go to a new track almost very week and meet a lot of great people. It's been a blast." And the schedule doesn't get any easier. Following his win at the Jeg's Sportsnationals in Fontana earlier this year (a race he won by beating his son-in-law, Brad Pierce in the final), Hollis will take his surf boards and his venerable car to Columbus, Ohio this week in search of a second Sportsnationals' title. "They have a program that gives a really special trophy to any sportsman racer who wins two of the three Sportsnationals in a year and that's what we're after this week." Plus, if he could win, the winner's purse sure would come in handy while he's on the road. Hey, with a Gold Card and more money there's no telling how many races Hollis and Bobbie might go to. What ever the number is you can be sure of one thing, the "surfers" from Southern California will be having a good time, getting in for free and making friends all over the country.

In addition to the support from his wife, Hollis wanted to thank Inland Empire Driveline Service, FRAM, Autolite and Prestone, Mickey Thompson Tires and Isky Cams for all of their help.