Pollard Masters New Format at Five Flags

On a night with a new qualifying format for the Blizzard Series at Five Flags Speedway (FL), it was a familiar sight at evening’s end – Bubba Pollard triumphant in victory lane.

The Senoia, Georgia driver scored his 20th career Blizzard Series win and 100th Late Model win of the past decade, out-dueling the likes of Donnie Wilson and Casey Roderick in the 75-lap event at the famed Pensacola half-mile.

The shorter feature-race length stemmed from the unique format of Friday’s event, with a trio of 10-lap heat races replacing the standard single-car time trials to set the field.  It created an exciting, dynamic event, but in the end the cream rose to the top.

“It was a good race,” said Pollard in victory lane.  “It was tough.  We were real free, we had been fighting free all weekend.  I enjoyed the heat races, I think it mixed some things up.  I think it was good for racing.  I hope the fans enjoyed it.  It feels good to win a race and turn around here and see the fans happy to see you win.”

The win is yet another in a busy year for Pollard, giving him two on the season in the Southern Super Series.  That, along with triumphs in events such as the Joe Shear Classic, the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and the Masters of the Pros 125 gives Pollard a head of steam entering a busy late-summer slate.

“We’ve been traveling on the road,” said Pollard.  “It’s been tough, it’s been hot.  We’ve got another six, seven weeks straight year, running some big races.  I’m looking forward to it, we’ve got a shot to win all of them.”

Race fans who missed Friday’s Blizzard Series event can watch an on-demand replay of Speed51’s Summer Thunder broadcast of the race by clicking here, or view live updates from the night on Trackside Now by clicking here.

With three races complete, just the Blizzard Series finale remains for Super Late Model competitors at Five Flags Speedway ahead of the 52nd Annual Snowball Derby.  The Blizzard Series championship night is scheduled for Saturday, September 21.

The Southern Super Series returns to action August 10 at Crisp Motorsports Park (GA) for the Lyle Farms 125.

Pollard Brings Baby Watch to Victory Lane

While Bubba Pollard was on baby watch for Friday night’s Blizzard Series race at Five Flags Speedway, fans at the track and watching on Summer Thunder TV saw an all-too-familiar sight: Pollard in Five Flags Speedway victory lane.

The Senoia, Georgia driver picked up his seventh Blizzard Series win in the last 10 races, and 19th overall in his career.  With wife Erin expecting their second child at any moment, Pollard was unsure if he was even going to be able to make it to Pensacola for the race.  After adding another win to an already impressive win total for 2019, it makes him all the more excited to add to his family.

“It feels a lot better to get a win knowing we’re going into next week having a baby,” Pollard told Speed51.com.  “It’s a lot of fun and I’m excited about it.  I hope it all goes well and we can get back out there to a racetrack soon.”

Pollard started seventh after the redraw and methodically worked his way through the field as the race went on.  After nearly being involved in a wreck while battling with Jesse Dutilly for the second position around lapped traffic, he took the lead for the only time on the ensuing restart with 20 laps to go and would go on to win.  Despite having a good car, he admitted getting through the field was a struggle at times.

“I don’t really know what to think.  We had a really good race car,” he said.  “Track position is everything here, having that clean air, I don’t know what it does but it’s what our race car likes.  It’s just so hard with these group of guys that are good race car drivers with good race cars and the top eight can win and you get stuck in seventh on the start of the race.  It’s hard to be patient and get back to the front at the same time.  We saved just enough there to where we had plenty at the end to make it happen.  It was a good race, nerve racking, but fun.”

The race-winning pass was made on defending Blizzard Series and Southern Super Series champion Casey Roderick.  For the second week in a row, Pollard made the pass on the outside, where most drivers struggle to move forward.  He raced side-by-side with Roderick for two laps after the restart before he was able to clear him

“I tested the outside there the last couple restarts and I was free,” he said.  “I didn’t work my tires as much and I dialed a lot of front brake into it.  I was real free on entry and the center.  I dialed some front brake into it and it was what I needed to hold him down and get him loose off the corner and we had enough drive to make it happen.”

While Pollard was celebrating in victory lane, fellow Georgia driver Casey Roderick was forced to settle for second after leading more than 50 laps.  It seemed like he was on his way to victory with a big lead late, but the late-race caution would ultimately cost him his first Super Late Model victory of 2019.

After yet another second place finish in a Blizzard Series race, he was left wondering what it would take to go to Five Flags victory lane.

“That restart killed me. I didn’t need that caution at all and it seems like every chance I get to have a possible win here, a caution comes out,” Roderick said.  “With the gap we had on the track, I feel like we would’ve won the race.  But that’s the way it goes.  That’s racing, that’s why we’re out here racing and we’ll make it better for next time.”

Jesse Dutilly would set fast time in qualifying earlier in the day and race inside the top five throughout most of the race, but a late-race incident while racing Pollard in lapped traffic ended what was a Blizzard Series-career run with less than twenty laps to go.  When asked about his view of the incident, he did not have much to say.

“We were passing a lapped car and he got crossed up then we went through three and four and Bubba moved him up in front of me, and that was it.”

Anthony Sergi would finish a Southern Super Series career-best third, while Donnie Wilson charged from the fifteenth starting spot to finish fourth and Speedfest winner Connor Okrzesik rounded out the top five.

The Southern Super Series will be in action next on July 6th at Montgomery Motor Speedway for the Rumble by the River 125.  The road to the 52nd Annual Snowball Derby continues on July 19th with the third Blizzard Series race of the year, which will feature a new format.  Speed51 will have more information on the format shortly.

Fans who missed Friday’s race can watch an on-demand replay of Speed51’s Summer Thunder TV presented by PFC Brakes broadcast of the event by clicking here.

Patient Pollard Pounces for Pro Victory at Five Flags

Bubba Pollard employed a different strategy than normal in Friday’s Allen Turner Pro Late Model feature at Five Flags Speedway, choosing patience over aggression to earn the win.

Pollard fell back early in the feature, letting several drivers pass him before turning it on near the halfway mark of the 100-lap feature. He eventually worked his way back up to leader Connor Okrzesik with 30 laps to go, showing attempts to pass to the inside. Pollard eventually used a move to the outside to pass Okrzesik for the lead.

Okrzesik got one final chance at Pollard when Colby Howard slowed to a stop in turn four with 16 laps to go, but Pollard powered away to win the Allen Turner Pro Late Model feature.

Pollard explained his strategy in victory lane, complimenting the quality of the field at Five Flags Speedway.

“With the caliber of the cars there are nowadays, I just felt like there weren’t going to be many cautions. Those guys jumped out there and they wanted to run faster than I did at that point,” Pollard said.  “Just had to ride. I was worried Connor (Okrzesik) was going to get out too far ahead, and I wasn’t going to catch him, so I had to pick up the pace there and run him back down, using lapped cars to my advantage when he slowed down to pick them off.”

For Pollard, the win is a personal bounce-back for his team, which finished a disappointing fourth in the Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway.

“We had a rough week last week at Berlin.  We felt like we needed to come back, work on a few things, and I think we did. I think we made it better, get ready for next week for the Blizzard race.”

Okrzesik was left wondering if one adjustment would have helped him score the victory and hold off one of today’s best Late Model racers.

“It’s tough to beat Bubba, he’s a great driver,” Okrzesik said.  “We were just lacking some drive off, if we had that little bit we would have had a good fight at the end. As it was, he just had a little bit better car at the end and drove away from us.”

Pro Late Model racers won’t have long to regroup as many of the drivers competing Friday night will make their way to Montgomery Motor Speedway Saturday night for the third round of the Show Me the Money Series season.  In addition to the $4,000 check on the line, an additional $1,000 bonus will be given to the driver with the best average finish between Five Flags and Montgomery.

The Allen Turner Pro Late Model Series continues on August 16 at Five Flags Speedway. The Blizzard Series will bring Super Late Models back to the Pensacola, Florida oval for their second race of the year on June 21. Both races will be streamed live for 51 Network subscribers. Not a member? Sign up today and watch over 80 live races in 2019, plus unlock the archive of all previous 51 Network streams, plus highlights, recaps, on-board cameras, and more. Sign up today here: https://speed51.com/join-today/

A replay of Friday night’s Allen Turner Pro Late Model feature is available for Speed51 Network subscribers here: https://speed51.com/watch-tonight-pro-late-models-at-five-flags-speedway-2/

Pollard Adds to Blizzard Series Tally at Five Flags

Bubba Pollard continued his dominant 2018 season at Five Flags Speedway (FL) Saturday night, holding off a hard-charging Chandler Smith to score the victory in the Deep South Cranes 150 presented by Earnest Performance.

Pollard took the lead from Smith with 41 laps remaining in the 150-lap event, which served as the penultimate race of the Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco season as well as the Blizzard Series finale for 2018. A late caution opened the door for Smith to make a late-race charge, but Pollard held off the young fellow Georgia native for his 18th career Blizzard Series victory.

Pollard had complete confidence in his car’s long-run ability, which is where Pollard’s signature No. 26 machine was at it’s best.  An extended green flag run gave him the perfect opportunity to storm to the front during the middle stage of the event.

“We started the race off pretty free, like we’ve been all weekend,” Pollard said in victory lane. “We didn’t know if we were going to make it. We had a really good car on the long run. I feel like if we went green there, we’d be good.”

An incident involving Bobby Knox brought out the yellow flag with 30 laps to go, bringing everyone but Kyle Plott to pit road under a controlled caution. Plott, the winner of the Southern Super Series’ most recent race at Watermelon Capital Speedway (GA), was unable to hold off Pollard on fresher tires. However, Smith quickly chased down Pollard to challenge for the win before running out of time.

“Those guys were better than us on the short run,” Pollard admitted. “It showed at the end when Chandler was better than us, but then we leveled out. It’s all about that tire game. I’m glad it worked out, that’s all I can say.”

Race fans who missed Saturday’s action can visit Speed51.com’s Trackside Now archive of the event for lap-by-lap updates or watch an on-demand presentation of Speed51.com’s pay-per-view broadcast. A tape-delayed broadcast of the race will also be aired as part of Speed51’s Short Track America on MAVTV on Wednesday, October 31.

Pollard Scores Second Career Snowflake 100 Victory
All year long, Bubba Pollard read the articles, saw the videos and scrolled through pages of social media posts of how dominant a year Casey Roderick was having against Pro Late Model competition.

 

Roderick’s 18 wins lit a fire under Pollard, and motivated him to show he still was the king of Deep South Late Model racing.

 

After a convincing win in Saturday’s Allen Turner Hyundai Snowflake 100, Pollard showed the world that Five Flags Speedway is still his playground.

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Pollard Continues Five Flags Dominance in SSS Finale
A champion was crowned Saturday night at Five Flags Speedway (FL).

 

Stephen Nasse held on for 125 laps in the Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco finale, finishing second to race winner Bubba Pollard and securing his championship title.

 

“It feels good to get the Southern Super Series championship,” Nasse told Speed51.compowered by JEGS.  “We could’ve been one spot better tonight, but we’ll take the overall points victory.”

Nasse struggled throughout the feature, admitting during the competition caution that he wouldn’t be in contention for a win.

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