
Bubba Pollard reigns supreme once again in Speedfest, now the Southern Super Series season opener at Cordele Motor Speedway.
Pollard got past Cole Butcher for the lead with just 12 laps to go, scoring his fourth consecutive SpeedFest Super Late Model victory. Pollard becomes the first driver to ever win four SpeedFest features in a row, as well as the event’s first five-time winner.
It’s pretty special,” Pollard said in victory lane. “I just wish my kids and my wife were here to enjoy it with us. I can’t thank all the fans for coming out, especially when it’s cold like this, and the race track.”
Pollard’s victory would came a day earlier than they expected, however. The event was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but with heavy rains all day long in the forecast, Cordele Motor Speedway and series officials moved the event forward to Friday.
“Thanks to the Southern Super Series, Tim Bryant and all those guys for moving it to Friday and giving us a shot to race,” said Pollard. “I know they took a hit, but it shows you good promoters and good race tracks. The Nolands and everything they’ve done to this place, it’s spectacular, Ricky [Brooks], everyone involved.”
Pollard spent several laps right on the heels of Butcher, working both lines on the track. Finally, Pollard powered to Butcher’s outside off of turn four to take the lead and the win.
This marks for another special win at one of Pollard’s favorite tracks in his home state of Georgia
“I grew up racing here some 25 years ago, you know? It’s cool. I love this place for the simple fact that you can move around on this race track. You can make passes. Hell, I was out in the watermelon field out there trying to pass Cole.
“I knew I had to go to the top. If I could set him up and get him looking towards the bottom and just get him down half a car length, I could get around him on the outside. I could beat him up off the corner, I could beat everyone up off the corner all day. Just a good race car. Just ready to get going. You just carry the momentum, and hopefully we can keep it going.”
Butcher would wnd up in a side-by-side battle with Colby Howard in the final laps for the second position. When the checkers waved, Howard crossed the line just one-thousandth of a second ahead of Butcher according to timing and scoring.
Howard was frustrated by a string of cautions that occured early on, but battled to the second-place finish.
“We needed long runs, and we kept getting caution after caution after caution,” said Howard. “That one long run after lap 30 or something, we were pretty fast, but we knew there was going to be a comp caution.
“We worked on it, and with the adjustments it got way too tight. Just couldn’t really do anything. Ran with Cole [Butcher] a little bit. Some other guys felt like taking it three wide and it hurt us a little bit. Once we got out of that realm, we were alright.”
Butcher would fade to finish third, saying his car was too tight to hold off Pollard in the closing laps. However, he is pleased with a podium finish to start the 2025 season before turning his attention to the ASA STARS National Tour season opener at New Smyrna Speedway.
“I needed to be a little bit freer. Bubba could move around a lot more than me. Colby was really good on the bottom. Just a little bit freer, but it’s a good start to our season. SpeedFest always puts on a great show. I’m glad we got it in, and I’m glad we got a great turnout.
“He’s hard to beat here. Hats off to them, they worked their butts off all weekend, just like the rest of us. We’ll move on to New Smyrna.”
Gavan Boschele finished fourth, while three-time SpeedFest winner and NASCAR Cup Series superstar Chase Elliott rounded out the top five. Elliott rebounded from an 18th-place result in qualifying to earn the fifth-place finish.
Fellow NASCAR Cup Series star Ross Chastain made his SpeedFest Super Late Model debut after competing in the Pro Late Model feature last year. Chastain started on the pole after the post-qualifying redraw and finished 12th.
Matt Craig took the lead from Chastain in the opening laps, but Butcher would assume the top spot on lap 27. Craig’s night ended shortly thereafter, as a three-wide battle ended with the North Carolina native hitting the outside wall on the frontstretch after contact from Dawson Sutton.
Protect Your Melon – Buckle Up SpeedFest 150 Unofficial Results
Fin No Driver Laps Diff
1 26P Bubba Pollard 150 —
2 18 Colby Howard 150 3.163
3 28B Cole Butcher 150 3.164
4 24 Gavan Boschele 150 3.679
5 9E Chase Elliott 150 3.777
6 81 Carson Brown 150 3.945
7 96 Spencer Davis 150 5.582
8 51N Stephen Nasse 150 5.582
9 26S Dawson Sutton 150 6.633
10 89 Dawson Sutton 150 7.058
11 51F Jake Finch 150 8.959
12 25 Ross Chastain 150 9.643
13 10 George Gorham 150 10.759
14 9H Hudson Halder 150 11.295
15 23 Billy VanMeter 150 11.885
16 50 Jett Noland 150 12.396
17 17 Hudson Bulger 149 1 Lap
18 14 Chase Pinsonneault 148 2 Laps
19 44J Conner Jones 137 13 Laps
20 28W Timothy Watson 132 18 Laps
21 54 Matt Craig 36 114 Laps
22 69 Michael Hinde 36 114 Laps
23 44 John Holtger 26 124 Laps
24 53 Boris Jurkovic 26 124 Laps
Scotte is from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, living just a few minutes from the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway. Scotte has raced at local dirt tracks for over five years, as well as covering NASCAR and short track races for nearly a year now, and has a firey passion for all motorsports, working to achieve a career as a driver.


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