Bubba Pollard Charges to Milestone Southern Super Series Win at Mobile

A milestone win came in memorable fashion on Saturday night for Bubba Pollard.

The Senoia, Georgia driver charged through the second half of the Mobile Sports Authority 100 at Mobile International Speedway, taking the lead with 12 laps to go for his 40th career ASA Southern Super Series victory.

Like many drivers, Pollard paced himself during the first half of the 100-lap affair, preserving his tires for the late-race push. When Pollard took the lead from Carson Brown on lap 89, he was hardly out of the woods with Cole Butcher closing in.

Try as he might, Butcher could not chase down Pollard before the checkered flag, and Pollard took the win in the second race of the Southern Super Series' Gulf Coast doubleheader weekend.

"This is a place I love coming to," said Pollard. "We've had a lot of success over here over the years, but I hadn't got nervous leading a race in a while. I was nervous there.

"Thanks to all my guys for not giving up. We had a rough night last night and just worked hard. Brought our heads together, brought a new package, and it worked out."

It was also important for Pollard to get back to victory lane in his partnership with VanDoorn Racing Development.

"I'm proud to be associated with them," said Pollard. "I'm proud they gave me an opportunity. They're good race cars, good, hard workers at VanDoorn Racing Development."

Butcher was particularly aggressive with his tire-saving, running 12th when the race reached the halfway point and even pitting to rotate tires on his No. 28 Wilson Motorsports entry. That gave him plenty of speed at race's end, but his charge through the field came up one spot short after winning at Five Flags Speedway on Friday night.

"The car would do everything I wanted to do," said Butcher. "I just didn't want to do it. We saw how this race played out last year. These ST3 tires just didn't have the fall-off we're used to. Congrats to Bubba, congrats to the VanDoorn family. I can't thank Wilson Motorsports enough for giving me a hot rod."

Matthew Craig rounded out the podium, who surged to second in the closing laps before Butcher slipped by with six laps to go.

"We're getting better and making gains at it," said Craig. "This tire has just been a struggle for us. We either hit it really good or hit it really bad. We'll keep working at it."

With his second-place finish, Butcher secured a $1,000 bonus from Gulf Coast Graphix for best average finish over the course of the Gulf Coast doubleheader. He narrowly missed out on the $5,000 prize offered by Diamond Seamless Solutions for a driver to sweep the weekend.

The next stop for the ASA Southern Super Series is the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway for the North/South Super Late Model Challenge on May 3.

-Photo credit: Ultimate Lap Photo

Mobile Sports Authority 100 Unofficial Results