Bubba Pollard Goes Back-to-Back at Mobile

The Davidson Electric 125 was just starting to settle in towards the finish on Lap 73 when a dense fog rolled into Irvington, Alabama.

It was so sudden and thick at 11:02 p.m. local time that it left SRL National series director Ricky Brooks no choice but to call for the checkered flag and a Bubba Pollard victory.

Back to green
Visibility is nil pic.twitter.com/3w9RUBtNaO

— Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) April 2, 2023

Naturally, a few minutes later the fog had cleared, but the decision had already been made. This resulted in back-to-back wins for Pollard in the second annual SRL National race at a venue that hadn’t previously hosted Super Late Models since 2018.

Pollard took the lead for the first time on Lap 47, having conceded the spot from the pole on the initial start. He said he knew the fog was rolling in and he wanted both track position for restarts and the lead in case it was called early.

Prescient and fortuitous.

“I wanted to lead at the Lap 75 break too because I was saving enough,” Pollard said. “The tire lasted a long time tonight. I thought the tire held up well and could hold up. Hell, they were paying the extra $2000 on lap 78 too because every little bit helps.

“We had to put ourselves in position. We had a good race car.”

Even though the fog ultimately faded, there was pretty much universal agreement that it was the right call throughout the top-five. After all, it is better to call the race too soon than too late, and with a bunch of torn up race cars.

Stephen Nasse finished second, and said he could see personally, but conceded that the spotters and race control could not.

“There wasn’t anything sketchy for us the drivers, it wasn’t bad, it was just for the spotters and fans,” Nasse said. “It got a little bit hairy at the end. Bubba wasn’t too far ahead of me, so that bright white car made it easy to follow into the corner too.

“It’s unfortunate, but it’s a part of it, and mother nature won this one tonight.”

Nasse also said he didn’t have any problems with the call to end the race early because there was no guarantee anything would improve, and it was already pretty late.

Jett Noland finished third and said it was the right call too.

“I don’t think we could have waited it out,” Noland said. “It is pretty foggy out there. We had a great race car, and feel like we would have kept a pretty great race car, but was just getting too free at the end.”

Much of the attention entering this race centered upon the Pollard versus Casey Roderick storyline. Roderick was eighth in time trials but quickly found himself in third behind Pollard and Nasse. But he quickly lost the feel on his right front, thought it was a shock issue, and never got the halfway break Anthony Campi Racing needed to address it.

“Right front tire got away from us,” Roderick said. “We have like a two-inch-wide strip all the way around it that’s gone. It’s a good little half inch lip. Not sure if it was a bad tire, no one else seemed to have that issue so it’s something we’re going to have to scope out at the track.

“I thought the car was good. We were just biding our time. We needed the break to take our right sides and get it a little tighter. We just needed to make a little tweak here or there.”

With that in mind, Roderick was the one guy vocal about wishing the race could have resumed.

“At least try to stop us for a little bit and see what it did,” Roderick said. “We’re 10 minutes after they called it and we can race now. It’s just unfortunate. I understand it from a promoter standpoint, and not wanting to be here too late, and it is what it is.”

What it also was, was a great crowd for Mobile International Speedway, a track that has been under hard times for much of the past decade. This is only the second Super Late Model race at the track since 2018 and it’s a place has held a special place in the heart and mind for Pollard. It’s also back-to-back wins at Alabama tracks that have meant a lot to Pollard following his victory in the Rattler 250 on March 18.

“It says a lot when the track is packed like this,” Pollard said. “SRL and everyone at Mobile, they’ve done a great job. There were a lot of fans in the stands. Great turnout and I’ve been coming here for a long time

“Here, Opp and Five Flags is where I got my start and it means a lot to me.”

SRL National Davidson Electric 125
Mobile International Speedway
April 1 2023

1. Bubba Pollard
2. Stephen Nasse
3. Jett Noland
4. Casey Roderick
5. Hunter Robbins
6. Cody Krucker
7. Dustin Smith
8. Michael Goddard
9. Chris Davidson
10. Dylan Bigley
11. Colin Allman
12. Howard Langham
13. George Gorham Jr.
14. Hudson Halder
15. Ethan Barker
16. Chris Hogan
17. Tony Elrod
18. Dylan Courtney
19. AJ Waller
20. Elliot Massey
21. Holt Halder
22. Ethan Barker
23. Michael Atwell
24. Harrison Halder
25. Jake Finch
26. Trent Williams

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