Update: Casey Roderick and Anthony Campi Racing will not be flying back and forth with Bubba Pollard’s team on a plane owned by James Finch. There was a degree of expectation that this would be the plan but those plans fell apart. Campi and Roderick are exploring backup options to compete in both races.
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The anticipated rematch between Bubba Pollard and Casey Roderick will take place not once but twice on Saturday night across two states within a span of roughly three hours.
Both drivers, three weeks removed from the dramatic finish of the inaugural ASA STARS race at Five Flags Speedway, have entered both the ASA Southern Super Series race at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA) and the SRL National event at Mobile International Speedway (AL) with both events scheduled for Saturday night.
How?
Well, with a little bit of scheduling help from both tracks and the benefit of private flights, both drivers plan on having cars at both tracks to compete in both events. Where the two sanctioning bodies are not particularly seeing eye-to-eye right now, the tracks are doing their part to accommodate teams that are trying to compete in both races.
Watermelon Capital Speedway have frontloaded their Late Model races, Pros and the Supers, at the start of the show with local divisions racing afterwards. At the same time, Mobile International Speedway frontloaded its card with local divisions and an autograph session to allow those flying from Cordele to make it in time.
The Southern Super Series race will open the card on Saturday night at Watermelon Capital. Those doing the double will be subject to crossing the scales before going to the airport. It’s a 54 minute flight but it also helps that those flying back to Alabama will gain an hour going from Eastern to Central Time Zones. Racing at Mobile is scheduled to start at 8:30 ET (7:30 local) with the SRL National race set to take the green around 9:30 local time or 10:30 ET.
That’s the window.
But there is also the matter of why these two southern Super Late Model races are head-to-head in the first place, something that rarely happens in an – era with unified rules and over=communication between the various promoters, neither of which is happening right now between ASA and SRL.
It’s a topic that has been covered here.
But in this case, the Rattler 250 was moved back one week off its traditional date to accommodate Ricky Brooks Trans-Am technical director duties at Sebring International Raceway. ASA scheduled its inaugural STARS National Series race on what used to be the Rattler weekend, forcing ASA STARS to move back a week too, creating what looked like oneupsmanship between the two sanctioning bodies.
But at this point, the dates were just congested, and there just hasn’t been a lot of communication between the two groups.
The Georgia Spring Nationals at Watermelon Capital has been held two weeks after the Rattler since its formation as both events were run under Southern Super Series sanctioning until this year when South Alabama became an SRL National event.
The inaugural SRL National event at Mobile was held last year in September but it was moved to April 1 this year before ASA put out its schedules. It’s part of a larger disagreement between the two groups who also disagree about whether or not an effort was even made to collaborate on rules or scheduling.
There was some industry chatter that SRL National and Mobile could possibly move off April 1 but no such decision was ultimately made forcing Super Late Model teams to have to choose one over the other, or for those capable, flying back and forth.
There is a threat of rain on Saturday morning and afternoon, at both track, further complicating the matter.
Nevertheless, Super Late Model fans will be treated to a unique storyline as two of the best drivers with two of the best teams will try to enter two races within a span of three hours across two neighboring states. Bubba Pollard Motorsports and Anthony Campi Racing might not be the only two to make an attempt at doing the double too.
Pollard will be flying back and forth with sponsor James Finch of Phoenix Construction. Short Track Scene is still waiting on a response from the Roderick, Campi and Team Platinum camps, but that their team is actually three teams combined is how they’re able to do this. Roderick owns a Super, Campi owns a Super and the Burba family who owns Platinum Express are effectively the sponsors for the program. James Finch has been a longtime supporter of Roderick too so its conceivable that everyone could be flying together.
But that’s not confirmed. (UPDATE: Not happening)
It’s objectively surely not a sustainable model for the two national Super Late Model sanctioning bodies to schedule races at the same time but the efforts of a handful of racers and racing benefactors have made Friday and Saturday one of the most interesting stories in quite some time.
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Read more Super Late Model coverage:
Press Releases
Stephen Nasse joins ASA STARS Platinum Program
Southern Super Series
Bubba Pollard claims fifth Speedfest, four in a row
Late Model Stock Cars
Hoosier releases new F45* tires for Late Model Stocks
