The current ASA STARS National Tour points leader had a good weekend on the Southern Super Series front. The winner of the most recent race at Five Flags Speedway (FL) before the weekend looked to pick up right where he left off in the Sunshine State 200. Butcher rocketed to the lead at Five Flags on Friday night. However, just 25 laps in a cut tire ended his night as he pounded the turn-four wall.
Just 24 hours later Cole Butcher ended the weekend with a victory in the Bayou 100 at Mobile International Speedway (AL). That doesn’t begin to tell the story as Butcher had never seen the track before the weekend and he was in a backup car. He was able to rise to the top to beat Jake Finch in the closest finish in Southern Super Series history.
Butcher will now set his sights on Hickory where he has lots of success in other forms of Super Late Model racing.
Casey Roderick posted a strong second-place run on Friday night and backed it up with an eighth-place run at Mobile International Speedway (AL) on Saturday. Roderick maintained his points lead in the Southern Super Series.
Rookies were a hot theme on the weekend as STARS National Tour Rookie of the Year contender Dawson Sutton set fast time on Friday night at Five Flags. Sutton then led a bunch of laps before fading to a career-best third-place run in the series.
The next night fellow Southern Super Series rookie contender Dustin Smith set fast time at his home track of Mobile International Speedway (AL). Smith was ninth on Friday and sixth on Saturday at Mobile to string together three straight top-10 runs. Already stating on social media, Smith has said he’s ready for Hickory in May.
The two big point-getters on the weekend ended up being Jake Finch who was fourth at Five Flags on Friday and then lost an epic photo finish with Cole Butcher on Saturday at Mobile. Finch got the extra $1500 bonus for having the best average finish over the two nights. Finch will look to improve on those runs at Hickory as he hopes to climb the ladder in the points.
Michael Hinde needed a good weekend and he got just that. After leading almost the whole race at Montgomery a few weeks back he rebounded with back-to-back top-five runs. This has to have him excited for Hickory, the next ASA STARS National Tour, and Southern Super Series race.
Stephen Nasse was the big winner on Friday night at Five Flags Speedway claiming the $10,000 first-place prize. The victory, along with his second-place run in the Sunshine State 200 in March has him on top of the track’s Blizzard Series points after two races. Nasse has never won the points title at Five Flags.
Matt Craig rebounded from issues on Friday night to post a fifth at Mobile. Craig was one of the first drivers to enter the Hickory event because he lives just over an hour away in Kannapolis. Craig has won at Hickory in just about every form of Late Model he’s raced in.
Looking to get back on track at Hickory will be Bubba Pollard and Jett Noland who finished one-two in the Clyde Hart Memorial 200 at New Smyrna Speedway (FL). Pollard was in connection both nights but ended in the wall at Five Flags and was contending for the win in the Tony Elrod car at Mobile.
Noland, like Pollard, was able to walk away with a top 10 at Mobile, but both drivers will be seeking more success in the Tar Heel 250 at Hickory next month.
