Bubba Pollard Takes Jett Motorsports to Baby Rattler Win

Inevitably, and eventually, all rivals in motorsports will come together with the common goal of winning races.

Dale Earnhardt put Darrell Waltrip in the DEI No. 1
The Venturinis and the Kimmels briefly race together in ARCA
You get the idea

And on Saturday night, Bubba Pollard drove Pat Jett’s No. 9 Pro Late Model to Victory Lane in the Baby Rattler 125 at South Alabama Speedway. It was a last-minute arrangement, first discussed over dinner at Ruby Tuesdays last weekend during the ASA STARS event at Five Flags Speedway.

It was made official when the No. 9 rolled off the trailer with ‘BUBBA POLLARD’ over the door. Then the driver delivered one of his iconic drives. He started from the pole but quickly conceded the position to Michael Hinde and Christopher Tullis, who traded the spot amongst themselves, with Pollard ultimately retaking the spot on a restart on Lap 70.

It was an inevitability of sorts when you pair Jett Motorsports and Bubba Pollard together.

“Very thankful for the opportunity from Mr. Pat and everyone on their team,” Pollard said. “Fast car and they made it easy for me. I can’t thank everyone enough. It was kind of a shocker how it unfolded and worked out, but it’s fun to come out here and win when you drive for someone who wants to win as bad as you do, and you want to drive for em.

“He loves racing, we do too, and I can’t thank them enough.”

Having now won six Baby Rattlers in addition to his two Rattler 250s, becoming the winningest Late Model driver in this event weekend, Pollard was totally content to let Hinde and Tullis race amongst themselves for the lead.

“At the start, they wanted to run a little faster pace than I did,” Pollard said. “I like riding, judging and being able to tell where I can beat them and they can beat me. I race my race depending on what everyone else does. They beat and bang a little bit, and I just took it all in. I felt like if we didn’t make our move on that restart, I figured lapped traffic would be issue. It was hard to get around and get by them. I knew I had to get it on the restart and make something happen.”

Hinde and Tullis completed the podium ahead of Gavin Graham and Evan Shotko.

Sunday’s main event at South Alabama is the 47th Rattler 250 for the Super Late Models with Ty Majeski on pole for a field that also includes Pollard, Casey Smith, Gio Ruggiero, Jesse Love, Hunter Robbins, Jake Finch and Johnny Sauter. The race will take the green flag at 2 p.m. CT and will air live on Racing America.

18th Baby Rattler 125
South Alabama Speedway
March 18 2023

1. Bubba Pollard
2. Michael Hinde
3. Christopher Tullis
4. Gavin Graham
5. Evan Shotko
6. Bryson Shaffer
7. Jim Wall
8. Zack Dixon
9. Steve Dorer
10. Cale Gale
11. Colin Allman
12. Dustin Smith
13. Jeff Dawkins
14. Steven Chunn
15. Johnny Aramendia
16. Jolynn Wilkinson
17. Elliott Massey
18. Dylan Fetcho
19. Glenn Styres
20. Brian Reeves
21. Jeremy Miller

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