Why is Bubba Pollard in a VanMeter owned VanDoorn chassis?

It was a really quick interview.

Bubba Pollard was asked what he was doing working on and driving the Eddie VanMeter owned No. 23 Van Doorn Racing Development chassis this week and the answer was really short.

“I can’t answer any question you’ve got for me.”

It’s the first time in 14 years that Pollard didn’t have, at least, something to say but he simply reiterated that he couldn’t say and didn’t entirely know what to say. It’s not uncommon for the 37-year-old to occasionally deviate away from his usual Senneker Race Cars chassis for a one-off here or there but it is the first time that he didn’t talk about it.

This turned into a casual conversation but then Pollard realized, in that moment, that they were parked at pit stall No. 26 at South Alabama Speedway — fitting because that is the usual number of the modern winningest driver in the discipline.

“Post that picture with a question mark,” Pollard said with his signature laugh.

But what is going on though, seriously? Pollard said if he wins the Rattler 250 in the VanMeter car on Saturday, he will talk about it.

Pollard has won this race three times, and each of the past two seasons, so it’s not out of the question that he could three-peat and make it four dates with the live rattlesnake in Victory Lane on Saturday night.

… or whenever weather dictates the race run this weekend …

As it turns out, Butch and Johnny Van Doorn seem to be banking on Pollard being able to win the Rattler 250 for them too.

In the aftermath of this exploratory conversation with Pollard, several text messages came in from around the industry stating that the VanDoorns are trying to leverage a partnership with Pollard to augment their program and move merchandise.

As one racer put it, ‘they are paying Bubba because he’s pretty damn good but they are also trying to recreate some of the success they had together with Senneker’ in that ‘he is one of the few who moves the needles with motors, shocks, transmissions and chassis.’

The racer added, ‘when he wins on Sunday, they’ll be calling VanDoorn on Monday wanting what he’s got.’

That racer called the pairing the ‘worst kept secret’ of the weekend.’

Another industry notable essentially said the same thing.

What about Pollard and his silence? He did say the car was good and liked it in practice, which is why he said he would talk about it if he won. But this isn’t the first time that Pollard has teamed up with VanDoorn Racing Development, having done so during an ill-fated 2020 Snowball Derby effort together.

It wasn’t one of Pollard’s best efforts.

At the time, the VanDoorns were winning a ton of races in the Midwest but they haven’t quite been able to capture that same success in the Deep South. As VanDoorn driver and chassis owner Carson Hocevar points out, there are efforts being made to master the region.

And no doubt, partnering with Pollard is a logical avenue to facilitate that goal.

And if it doesn’t work out this weekend at South Alabama Speedway, Pollard could choose to do what he usually does when he tries something different — logs the experience in his memory bank and moves on to the next one.

Let’s see what happens if he wins.