With Winter Nationals next week, Pro driver Cameron Bolin is looking to find his strides and make his mark in Florida. Following in his family's footsteps, Bolin began racing at five years old and is now heading into his 14th season on the track. With his love for the world of motorsports, Bolin is looking to stay involved in racing for the rest of his life and maybe even start in a few NASCAR Truck or Xfinity series Races down the line.

 

Hometown: Sharon, South Carolina

Age: 19

Division: Pro

Car Number: 67

Race Team: 860 Motorsports

Favorite Sports Team: South Carolina Gamecocks

Favorite Track: Riverhead Raceway

1. What got you started in racing?

I started racing when I was five years old. My grandpa took me to victory lane for the first time when I was four months old so racing is the only thing I’ve ever loved to do. I’ve never really shown interest in any other sport so it’s been in my blood for a very long time.

2. What has your racing journey been like through the years?

I started in dirt go-karts when I was five years old, raced those till the time I was nine, and then made the decision to get a Bandolero and started racing in Winter Heats in 2014. So, this is year 10 now being involved with INEX, and I’m going on year 14 as a driver, starting in 2010. It’s been a fun ride, I’ve been blessed to drive multiple different cars in multiple different respects. Being the rookie of the year on the Cars Tour this year and winning the national title in the [Bandolero] Outlaw Division back in 2017 and being the Semi-Pro National Champion in 2021 are probably the more cooler things that I’ve done. I'm thankful for every opportunity I get. Driving with CJ (crew chief), me and him are just like brothers driving for 860 (Motorsports) just feels like one big family at home. I just took a Legends Car out in 2019 on a chance and that’s why I’ve made it where I am today

3. What is your favorite memory of Winter Nationals?

My favorite Winter Nationals memory would probably come in 2021 when we were in Auburndale (Florida), we got in a wreck in the first race that we had and bent a couple of things on the car and then came back out and won the final three races of the week in the championship. That’s really when me and CJ started to click as a driver, crew chief combination because he never gave up on me and I never gave up on him during that week. We ran third the next night and then won the final three so that’s when we really started figuring out that we work really well together. At that point, I felt like I established myself as a Legends Car Driver.

4. What makes Citrus County Speedway so fun yet challenging?

Citrus is great because for most of us, we only get to go there once a year. We only go down there once a year and it’s challenging every time we’re down there. Just getting to a race in Florida in February, you feel like you’re part of something huge because Speed Weeks is going on right around you. I’m a motorsports fan so I am always in awe of all the motorsports that takes place during that week whether it be Speed Weeks at New Smyrna or the Dirt Late Models Race. So, that’s what it means to me to just go down there and feel like you’re part of something outside of your bubble and just a whole lot bigger than what you realized.

5. What else do you get to do while in Florida?

It’s strictly business, we go down there with one goal in mind. It hasn’t treated me too well in 2022 and 2023. We’re hoping this year we can turn the luck around once again and just find our stride back. We went and had a couple of good days down there in December and I feel like we’re really excited with the products we’re bringing the Winter Nats this year.

6. Is winning a Winter Nationals feature one of the more difficult ones?

Atlanta has their regular competitors, Charlotte has their regular competitors, a weekly show anywhere in the United States has their regular competitors so at Winter Nationals, everyone’s there. Your Atlanta’s, Charlotte’s, weekly’s are all combined in one feature right there. There’s an array of talent especially in the Pro Division. So, to establish yourself as a frontrunner in Florida, it kind of sets the tone for your entire year but the feature does truly mean a lot because it is probably the toughest competition you’re going to have all season long.

7. What is your long-term goal with racing? What are you looking to achieve?

I currently run in the Cars Tour in the Late Model Stock Division right now, and with the Cars Tour being the biggest thing going on in the Southeast right now, I really don’t see myself going too much further than that unless we go on a chance or on someone else’s dime. I would love to make a couple of [NASCAR] Truck Series or Xfinity Series start but I have no desire to race Cup at all but you know even if my time as a driver comes to a close, which I hope it never does because I just love the competition side of it so much, if that ever comes to a close I want to do something in motorsports. I still want to be around it because since I was 10 years old, my goal and dream in life is to work in racing, whether it be driving, spotting, critiquing whatever, just to say that I still work in motorsports would mean the world to me.

8. What is the meaning behind 67 on all your cars?

It was my grandpa's number but the original origin of that number was my grandpa's car owner when he first started racing. His name was William Hastings. William’s father passed at the age of 67 so the number is a tribute to William’s dad. It worked one time when they ran it and they loved it and it stuck so that’s been us ever since.

9. Do you have a pre-race routine?

It changes each time, you can ask anybody around me. I just get kind of quiet and get in my zone and get ready to go. I’ve always said if there’s ever a time that I don’t get nervous before I strap in the car, I don’t need to do it anymore because all the nerves are great and then the adrenaline once you take the green flag clams down and settles.

10. What is the best part of racing for you?

Probably the friendships I’ve made and that family that I have because of racing. What we’ve built since I’ve been here with 860. CJ is like a brother to me and just being able to help coach this next generation coming up to work hard and dig deep and tell these kids it’s not gonna come overnight. You got to work every single day and make racing your life if that’s what you love and want to do. I’ll be honest with you, I can't go a day without talking about racing, I just love it that much and I hope I can do it forever but if that’s not what the man upstairs has in the cards for me, then I’ll settle. It’s been a heck of a ride and I’ve loved it to death for so long.

11. Anything else you’d like to tell the racing community?

I just want to thank all my family and friends for always driving everywhere to support me. My family has put so much on the back burner for my racing and I can’t repay them for that but I can go out there on the track and try that way,