Cole Butcher claimed the ASA Southern Super Series victory at Mobile International Speedway on Saturday night in a photo finish with Jake Finch, winning by a margin of 0.002 seconds.
It was an evening full of fireworks and excitement, and the finish matched that level of drama. Butcher and Finch lined up side-by-side on a late restart to close out the Battle on the Bayou 100 presented by Mobile Sports Authority, running door-to-door to the finish.
When the two cars crossed the line, it was Butcher’s No. 28 Wilson Motorsports entry ahead by a nose on the outside line.
“I can’t thank Jake Finch enough for driving me clean,” said Butcher in victory lane. “These Hoosier tires, they lasted the whole race, I can’t thank them enough. These ST1s and ST2s are great. Mobile Speedway, thank you for having the Southern Super Series.”
Butcher’s win came in a backup car, adding to the excitement of the victory. On the first night of the ASA Southern Super Series Gulf Coast doubleheader at Five Flags Speedway, Butcher crashed from the lead after a flat right-front tire early in the race.
“Yesterday did not go the way we wanted to,” said Butcher. “We had one bad race car and ended up with a flat tire. This makes up for it. This one feels good. It feels really good.
“I don’t get very excited very often, but this one feels good. We did not have the best car tonight, but we had the best team. I did everything they told me to do, and it feels good.”
Meanwhile, a dejected Jake Finch rued seeing a Southern Super Series win escape his grasp. He took solace in a pair of strong runs on the weekend, finishing second and fourth in the two Gulf Coast races.
“It sucks, but still a good run, nonetheless. I’m just happy to be able to run up front yesterday and today. I think we’ve had some good runs this year. Hopefully, we can start knocking off a few.”
While Finch won last weekend’s ARCA Menards Series event at Talladega Superspeedway, he is hungry to add a touring Super Late Model win to his resume.
“That was last week, right? I try to show up at the race track and win as much as I can. I’m think I’m to the point where I need to start winning. It felt like we had one tonight and it didn’t work out the way we wanted to. Hopefully, we’ll have a few more runs and we’ll be able to get some.”
A series of late cautions set up the dramatic finish. The last yellow flag flew with two laps to go after an incident involving Stephen Nasse exiting turn two after contact with Casey Roderick.
It was the second time in the evening Nasse spun after contact in turn two. With eight laps to go, Nasse spun from the lead after contact with Jeremy Doss, with Doss also going to the rear of the field for his role in the incident.
Bubba Pollard, piloting Tony Elrod’s No. 08 after an incident of his own at Five Flags inherited the lead. The next caution came three laps later, as Dustin Smith spun challenging Pollard for the top spot.
Pollard survived that skirmish, but contact with Jake Finch sent him around with five laps to go.
Michael HInde finished third, with Jake Garcia and Matt Craig rounding out the top five. Dustin Smith recovered from his late spin to finish sixth, followed by Billy VanMeter, Roderick, Pollard and Jett Noland.
After three races in a busy month of April, the ASA Southern Super Series will have a month to prepare for its next event. The Tar Heel 250, co-sanctioned with the ASA STARS National Tour, takes place at Hickory Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 23.
-Photo credits: Bruce Nuttleman Ultimate Lap Photo - Dan Vining Photo
-Racing America Story