Special from Speed51.com – Bubba Pollard has made it a habit of winning big money races during maiden trips to race tracks around the country. He continued that theme Saturday night against a field of Super Late Model all-stars in the inaugural Speed51 Super Select at Lucas Oil Raceway.
The Senoia, Georgia driver made an early statement by passing multi-time LOR winner Brian Campbell on his way to winning Segment #1 presented by PFC Brakes. A wild Segment #2 presented by JEGS saw him move through the field from the 12th starting spot to a fourth-place finish, with three-wide racing in and around him throughout. His two segment finishes earned him the pole for the final 25 laps, leading all but one lap during the final run to the checkered flag.
“That was the best car I’ve had all year,” Pollard told Speed51.com. “I’ve never been here before and this is probably one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. I was telling the guys this was the most fun I’ve had racing in a long time. To come here and be able to move and dice it up, it’s always fun when you have a good race car.”
It was Pollard’s second major payday in a five-day span, coming off a $75,000 (CAD) Canadian Short Track Nationals win at Jukasa Motor Speedway on Monday. He earned another $11,500 by winning the Super Select, bringing his total winnings to $87,500 over five days of racing.
“I can’t thank everyone enough, we’ve been on the road for a while and I know it’s tough on my guys and my family and everybody,” he said. “It’s been an unbelievable last two weeks and hopefully we can keep it going into the future.
“They’re going to have to drive home on their own,” he joked in victory lane. “They’ve worked hard, if it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be here. I’ve been busy at work and these guys have made it possible for me to go to work and them to get the race car ready. I got a guy back home, he’s not here but he’s a part of everything and I couldn’t do it without all these guys. We’ve got people from TM Ranch and David Rogers’ crew that volunteer to come help us and that’s awesome. We didn’t have much help to come up here and those guys are awesome. We made a relationship there and I can’t thank them enough.”
Fellow Georgia driver Casey Roderick drove to a runner-up finish in the Wilson Motorsports No.22. Roderick earned two third-place finishes in the first two segments and made daring moves to pick up spots throughout the race, but he was forced to settle for second to his Peach State counterpart for the third time in 2019.
“Second’s not bad but first paid the money tonight and we’re just a little bit short there,” Roderick said. “I just couldn’t put the throttle down at the corner, I was really good rolling in through the center but I just didn’t have that drive like he did off just to really be able to hustle it and race him. I have to thank Donnie Wilson for giving me this opportunity to drive his car this weekend. I had a lot of fun out there.
“If I just could’ve been on the outside of one of those restarts, he took the preferred line and if I was the leader I would’ve done the same thing, we might have held him off,” he continued. “He might’ve pulled it off on the inside but I would’ve given him a good, hard fight and it wouldn’t have been easy for him. Congrats to him, he’s been all over the country winning races and this week has been a good week for him with all the money. We’ll get there.”
NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series rookie Harrison Burton won Segment #2 presented by JEGS, earning himself a $2,000 JEGS.com product certificate. Ultimately, he came home third after 75 laps of hard-nosed racing. He was another driver who made daring moves during the event, even making it three-wide for the lead off a restart in the final segment. He said drivers had to take full advantage of passing situations during restarts, which made for a thrilling show for the fans.
“A lot of guys were trying to do a little dirt track passing and slidejobs,” Burton stated. “What a fun race, it was a cool format. We had three little sprint races for a big prize and big bragging rights, so it was cool. I appreciate the invite to come out and race and it’s always good to get into a Super Late Model again.
“We had to get the lead there and at this place if you get the opportunity to pass, you better take advantage of it,” he continued. “I went all the way to the bottom and slid up to the top and hope you don’t get them with your quarter panel. It’s kind of fun and something that we’re kind of seeing in NASCAR more and more.”
Michigan’s Brian Campbell finished fourth after leading the early laps of the Super Select, while hometown driver Jack Dossey III rounded out the top five.
Stay tuned to the Speed51 Network for highlights, recaps, and more from the Inaugural Speed51 Super Select.
Race fans can watch a full on-demand replay from Saturday night’s race anytime on the Network as a premium subscriber.
-Story by: Koty Geyer, Speed51.com State Editor (IN & MI)
-Photo credit: Speed51.com / Evan Canfield
Speed51 Super Select Unofficial Results
Lucas Oil Raceway (IN) – September 7, 2019
| Pos. | # | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Bubba Pollard |
| 2 | 22 | Casey Roderick |
| 3 | 12 | Harrison Burton |
| 4 | 47 | Brian Campbell |
| 5 | 20 | Jack Dossey III |
| 6 | 5 | Casey Johnson |
| 7 | 5 | Casey Johnson |
| 8 | 51 | Stephen Nasse |
| 9 | 56 | Gus Dean |
| 10 | 32 | Brett Yackey |
| 11 | 17 | Josh Brock |
| 12 | 14 | Austin Nason |
| 13 | 54 | Matt Craig |
