Two down, one to go for Bubba Pollard.
The winningest Super Late Model driver of his era is two-thirds through a legacy-defining weekend having won the Masters of the Pro 200 on Friday night at Birch Run Speedway in Michigan and winning the Southern Super Series – CARS Tour Border War 150 on Saturday night at Anderson Motor Speedway in South Carolina.
If Pollard can win the Money in the Bank 150 on Monday night at Berlin Raceway in Michigan, Pollard will have collected $41,000 over four days and cemented his place in short track history.
But first, Pollard had to survive in the Palmetto State.
The 31-year-old Georgia native posted the fastest time in qualifying and lucked out with his invert draw by randomly selecting ‘no invert.’ The race started straight-up from time trials and allowed him to miss the big 12-car accident that erupted in the first corner on the very first lap.
Kyle Plott led the first six laps from the outside pole, but Pollard paced the field for the remaining 124. Not even a competition caution or a late challenge from Casey Roderick could deny the 2014 Southern Super Series champion his second victory in as many days.
“I knew we had a good race car and I was saving as much as I could at the beginning of the race,” Pollard said in Victory Lane. “I was running the pace I wanted to run so I was confident. They were running their pace too. Things just went our way.
“I had a good race car, it was fast. You don’t always get things to go your way the way we are right now, so we’re going to enjoy it.”
Despite finishing second, Casey Roderick was pleased, mostly because he did so with his crate engine Pro Late Model. Roderick thought the lack of extra power would help him find grip through the corners, but Pollard still had the perfect combination of speed and handling.
“They’re just on the top of their game right now,” Roderick said. “We need to get back in the shop and keep working. I think we’re as close as anyone to them right now and we showed it tonight. I feel good about the decision to bring the crate because there just wasn’t much more anyone could do against Bubba right now.”
Plott had the most eventful day of anyone on the track.
Failing to get up to speed through the first corner started the pile-up that led to the first-lap big crash. Plott ran inside the top-5 for the first 100 laps but cut a left front tire with 46 laps to go. He recovered to finish third.
“We started at the front, went to the back and went back to the front,” Plott recapped.
He called it an epic race.
“I had a great car, man,” Plott said. “I wish we could have stayed there with Bubba. I feel like we could have pressured him a little bit. I don’t know if I was better with him but I would have liked to have had the chance.
“We got doored a few times, cut the tire and like to have got right reared on the backstretch and somehow got back to third.”
Meanwhile, Pollard will take a well-deserved day off on Sunday before making his way back to Michigan to face the likes of Kyle Busch, Erik Jones and Johnny VanDoorn in the Money in the Bank 150.
“We’re gonna try to win one more on Monday and it’s $20,000-to-win so we’ve had a good two days but I know it’s rough on everyone in the shop. I know it was probably a boring race but hopefully we put on a good show.”
The complete results from the Border War 150 can be found below.
- Bubba Pollard
- Casey Roderick
- Kyle Plott
- Raphael Lessard
- Matt Craig
- Preston Peltier
- Matt Wallace
- Molly Helmuth
- Scotty Ellis
- Anthony Cataldi
- Tim Hollis
- Corey Heim
- Steven Wallace
- Jared Fryer
- Jeff Batten
- Chad McCumbee
- Greg Burgess
- Shane Chastain
- Lance Moss
- Lee Tissot
- Connor Okrezik
- Antony Sergi
- Colin Allman
- Hudson Halder
- Jeff Noland
- Harold Croom
- Darrell Gilcrest
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