All eyes will be shifting to Bubba Pollard who comes off his biggest win of the season winning the ASA STARS National ECMD 150 at North Wilkesboro Speedway (NC). It was his first in the series and first Southern Super Series points win of the year.
Now Pollard, and many of the same cast and characters from the ASA STARS National Series, will take their game to the historic Hickory Motor Speedway for the iconically named Tar Heel 250 on Thursday, May 25th.
“We have to put the win behind us and get ready for Hickory,” said Pollard. “It’s a really cool deal that we get to race in NASCAR Country against the Cup Series drivers. We know all the fans who are in town for the Coke 600 might come early to watch us Super Late Models guys at Hickory. We need to put last week behind and make sure we make the most of that opportunity.”
The Southern Super Series has had a fine season with 28 lead changes in only four events. The stiff level of competition has the series on pace to break the record for most lead changes in a season.
“The competition has been very tough this year,” added Pollard. When you have guys coming in for one or two races in good equipment on top of being a good driver it’s going to shake things up. You have to think about 7-10 guys who can make a strategy move and be in the mix for these long races.”
The 250 laps will be the longest race so far this season for the ASA STARS National Tour and the Southern Super Series. This will also bring a lot of pacing strategy into the fold come Thursday night.
“250 laps is a long time at a place like Hickory,” added Pollard. “They used to run 400 laps there in the past and I think we are all good with the 250 distance for right now. You will have to plan out your race and be ready to change it if needed.”
Pollard has two wins at Hickory back with the CARS Tour Super Late Models in 2019 and 2020.
The Tar Heel 250 at Hickory Motor Speedway goes green at 7:30pm EST with a local 50-lap Limited Late Model event to follow. There will be an autograph session for the fans at 6pm ahead of the Tar Heel 250.
The northern swing continues for the ASA Southern Super Series in the Tar Heel State with a doubleheader at Southern National Motorsport Park on Thursday, June 22nd and then at Carteret County Speedway on Saturday, June 24th. Both races will be a 100-lap contest paying $10,000 to win. There is also a $5,000 bonus if a driver can win both races.
For more information on the ASA Southern Super Series visit the series website www.southernsuperseries.com and visit the ASA Stars Tour site https://starsnationaltour.com
