|
 Kevin Bolland's
racing experience dates back to his childhood. Like many drivers,
his first influence of racing came from his father Don, who
introduced him to the sport at an early age. The New Brighton High
School graduate spent much of his youth driving and winning soap box
derbies, which won him a trip to Akron, Ohio, Derby Downs for the
world finals in 1971.
In 1979 at the age of 20, Kevin competed and toured the country with
the pro motocross series. In the spring of 1979 Kevin suffered a
serious motorcycle accident requiring 3 surgeries and 17 months in a
cast. While recovering, Kevin decided to get into stock car racing,
so his father, Don, contacted friends from his drag racing days. The
relationship produced an innovative car design and those events
would enable Kevin to make the demanding adjustment from motocross
to big block modified dirt racing.
The Bolland family purchased the new “Cole” built chassis and Kevin
started racing his own car in the 1982 season as a rookie big block
dirt modified driver. This season proved to be a banner year, and as
a rookie Kevin won 7 features between Mercer Raceway Park,
Lernerville Speedway, and Sharon Speedway. He won the track
championship at Mercer, won Lernerville’s Invitational Event, and
also captured rookie of the year for cavalcade points for western
PA.
From that rookie year on, Kevin and the Bolland racing team
continued to achieve a venerable reputation for racing and building
cars -- capturing the 1985 and 2000 Tri-City Speedway track
championships. In 1991 the Bolland family business was growing and
Kevin’s responsibilities outside of racing were demanding more and
more of his time. Bob McIltrot approached Kevin early in the year to
ask if he would consider driving for his team. The opportunity
afforded Kevin the time to practice his craft and perfect his
driving skills. He raced for McIItrot through the 1998 season.
In 1999 the Bolland's created Bol-Tech Motorsports, Inc. and
purchased a new 1999
Bicknell chassis and put a team together of their own, one that
has continued Bolland’s tradition of excellence, including Track
Championships at Tri-City Speedway and Lernerville Speedway.
Bolland has always credited his accomplishments to team work, doing
all necessary homework, and successfully utilizing a limited budget
to get the most out of a little. Bolland’s team innovates, focuses
on the team, the car, finishing races, keeping quality parts and
good prevention maintenance. They also have a "don’t follow -- lead"
philosophy that won them the 2002 Lernerville Speedway Track
Championship and got them into the winning circle ten times in 2002
(winning 26% of their races) and finishing within the top three 56
percent of the time.
Bolland joins the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame as the first
inductee in Motorsports Auto Racing. He also joins his sister,
Janice, who was
inducted for her prowess in cycling in 2003. |
|
|
