Bubba Pollard scored the win in the inagural UARA Super Fest 125 event at Cordele Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Pollard took the lead around the halfway mark of the UARA National season-opener after a lengthy side-by-side battle with fast qualifier Jake Finch. The Senoia, Georgia native would lead the rest of the way, adding yet another trophy from the track closest to his home in Senoia, Georgia.
“We had a good race car,” said Pollard in Victory Lane. “It’s good when you can race around good people and run side-by-side like that. You don’t have to worry about getting pinched in the wall or tearing up race cars. I enjoy racing with Jake.”
With the cooler temperatures under the lights, Pollard had to make significant adjustments from practice earlier in the day and Friday.
“We had a lot more grip tonight. We were turning good during the day today. I felt like, when it cooled down, it was going to get tighter. These American Racer tires, they tend to grease up a race track and rubber up.”
“I was just really trying to move around there and just see. I wasn’t really comfortable around the top where I normally am. I got snug there, and tight. If you can race around the rubber and hit it just right, you could gain a tenth or two. It was just hard to hit those marks.”
Stephen Nasse finished second in the 125-lapper, improving upon his fourth-place finish at SpeedFest in January at Cordele, which Pollard also won. While Nasse was happy with the improvement, he knows there is still more work to be done to reach Pollard’s level at Cordele.
“[Pollard] was good,” said Nasse. “We needed a little bit more turn, a little bit more drive. I felt better about the car than I did in practice and I did in the last race here. We’re definitely making gains, but he’s good around this place. We were just trying to beat him tonight, and we didn’t quite get there.”
Finch would settle in for a third-place finish, holding off West Coast champion Buddy Shepherd in the final laps. While it was another good finish for the Floridian, he is hungry for a big Super Late Model win.
“He knows his way around this place pretty well. I’m happy to be able to lead some laps and sit on the pole. Getting a little frustrated with second and third, you know. We’ll just try to be a little bit better next time.”
Shepherd finished fourth, with Colin Allman rounding out the top five.
Super Fest is a new four-race concept leading up to the World Crown 300.
The next UARA National Super Late Model race will be at South Alabama Speedway for the 49th Rattler 250 on March 13-15.
UARA National
Superfest No. 1
Cordele Motor Speedway
- Bubba Pollard
- Stephen Nasse
- Jake Finch
- Buddy Shepherd
- Colin Allman
- Jett Noland
- Johnny Sauter
- Michael Hinde
- Hudson Bulger
- Michael Atwell
- Daniel Webster
- Jimmy Frazier
- Tony Elrod
- Dustin Dunn
- Nick Neri
- Timothy Watson
- George Gorham, Jr.
- Cody Durham
- Kendrick Kreyer
