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Bubba Pollard wins attrition filled Money in the Bank 150

Matthew Bishop | STS

The Money in the Bank 150 was headlined by NASCAR notables Kyle Busch and Erik Jones but Bubba Pollard won on Monday night at Berlin Raceway to cement himself as the current standard of asphalt Super Late Model racing.

The victory was not without controversy however as the 30-year-old triggered a multi-car incident with 18 laps remaining that sent leaders Carson Hocevar and Kyle Jones into each other, and into the wall. It also sucked Busch, Tate Fogleman and Chris Koslek into the melee.

But Hocevar was the only driver to gamble on 142 lap old tires and Jones also was on older tires as the Money in the Bank was just a six-tire race. Hocevar spun his old tires on the restart and Pollard was under both of them entering Turn 1.

From there, Pollard held off Steven Wallace and Harrison Burton on a similar tire strategy and will collect a $20,000 check to take back home to Senoia, Georgia.

“I’ve come here for a years trying to win the Battle at Berlin 251 for a couple of years now and it’s been a struggle,” Pollard said in Victory Lane as broadcast by Speed51.com. “I’ve always enjoyed coming here and the fans are great.

“We don’t come to many short tracks that have this many fans. That’s pretty awesome.”

Berlin has earned a reputation for welcoming only the elite of short track racing into Victory Lane and Pollard wouldn’t dismiss it.

“It’s tough and not an easy place to get around for sure,” Pollard said. “It’s one of the toughest places we go to and this is a driver’s race track.”

The six-tire format encouraged multiple pit strategies, with some (like the winners) choosing to take their two tires on Lap 79, others waiting until the caution with 18 laps to go, and Hocevar, whom never pitted at all.

Erik Jones has won the two most recent Battle at Berlins and had to be considered the favorite but fell out of the race prematurely when a loose radiator overflow hose began leaking fluid on the track.

“We got black flagged for fluid, found a loose (radiator) overflow hose,” Jones said. “There was no point in going back out there. It was unfortunate. The car was okay, but not great. I thought we could have salvaged something at the halfway break and made a run of it.

“It just wasn’t our day.”

As for Busch, the damage he sustained in the crash with 18 laps to go required some cosmetic adjustments to the nose of his Super Late Model. He salvaged a seventh-place finish but was surely left wondering how his fresh tires could have played in a straight up race over the final minutes.

The complete results can be viewed below.

  1. Bubba Pollard
  2. Steven Wallace
  3. Harrison Burton
  4. Chris Koslek
  5. Dalton Armstrong
  6. Joe Bush
  7. Kyle Busch
  8. Terry VanHaitsma
  9. Mason Keller
  10. Ross Meeuwsen
  11. Brian Campbell
  12. Jon Reynolds Jr.
  13. Thomas Hufford
  14. Tate Fogleman
  15. Carson Hocevar
  16. Kyle Jones
  17. Chad Finley
  18. Chris Anthony
  19. Boris Jurkovic
  20. Nate Walton
  21. Johnny Van Doorn
  22. Wes Griffith
  23. Joey Polewarczyk
  24. Erik Jones
  25. Aaron Hulings
  26. Tyler Dippel
  27. Kyle Crump
  28. Kyle Herp
  29. Steve Dorer
  30. Michael Bilderback

Note: Short Track Scene was not at this event but watched online via the Pay-Per-View broadcast

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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