On a night with a new qualifying format for the Blizzard
Series at Five Flags Speedway (FL), it was a familiar sight at evening’s end –
Bubba Pollard triumphant in victory lane.
The Senoia, Georgia driver scored his 20th career Blizzard
Series win and 100th Late Model win of the past decade, out-dueling the likes
of Donnie Wilson and Casey Roderick in the 75-lap event at the famed Pensacola
half-mile.
The shorter feature-race length stemmed from the unique
format of Friday’s event, with a trio of 10-lap heat races replacing the
standard single-car time trials to set the field. It created an exciting, dynamic event, but in
the end the cream rose to the top.
“It was a good race,” said Pollard in victory lane. “It was tough. We were real free, we had been fighting free all weekend. I enjoyed the heat races, I think it mixed some things up. I think it was good for racing. I hope the fans enjoyed it. It feels good to win a race and turn around here and see the fans happy to see you win.”
OPINION: New format off to good start for 5 Flags, Southern Supers
The win is yet another in a busy year for Pollard, giving
him two on the season in the Southern Super Series. That, along with triumphs in events such as
the Joe Shear Classic, the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and the
Masters of the Pros 125 gives Pollard a head of steam entering a busy
late-summer slate.
“We’ve been traveling on the road,” said Pollard. “It’s been tough, it’s been hot. We’ve got another six, seven weeks straight
year, running some big races. I’m
looking forward to it, we’ve got a shot to win all of them.”
Roderick settled for the runner-up spot behind Pollard. Roderick drove his way from the 12th starting
spot over the course of 75 laps, but ultimately needed a better-handling car to
challenge Pollard for the win.
“It was a good race,” said Roderick. “I hope you guys enjoyed that, it was a lot
of fun. I hope you liked the new format,
I thought it was really interesting. Hopefully, we’ll keep doing that. We got
some good guys starting in the back, coming through the field.
“We started 12th and came up second,” added Roderick. “The car just got a little tight in the
center to roll as good as Bubba. I was
having to use the throttle to turn the car, and eventually I wore the
right-rear off towards the end of the race.
We’ve just got to work on it and get it a little better.”
Donnie Wilson led during the middle stages of the race after
taking the top spot from Stephen Nasse, but fell to third in the closing
laps. This denied the Oklahoma native
his first-career win at Five Flags Speedway, but he hopes the knowledge gained
will bring him one step closer to that elusive win.
“I got in a spot there where I was the rabbit,” said Wilson. “You’ve got a couple hares back there saving their stuff. We’ll learn from it, come back in September and hopefully be where Bubba’s at. We’ve got work to do, but we’re getting better.”
- Bubba Pollard
- Casey Roderick
- Donnie Wilson
- Lucas Jones
- Connor Okrzesik
- Boris Jurkovic
- Giovanni Bromante
- Steven Davis
- Anthony Sergi
- Jeremy Pate
- George Gorham III
- Trey Bayne
- Colten Nelson
- Kyle Bryant
- Stephen Nasse
- Jett Noland
- Sheldon Clay
- Logan Boyett DNS
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