Pollard Fends Off Charging Nasse, Wins SSS at Mobile

along two weeks for Bubba Pollard paid off with a trip to victory lane on Saturday in the ASA Southern Super Series' visit to Mobile International Speedway.

Pollard held off a hard-charging Stephen Nasse in the closing laps of Saturday's CraneWorks Battle on the Bayou 100. The win marks two victories in a row with the Southern Super Series, as well as Pollard's 44th career win with the series.

However, Pollard had experienced quite the adventure since that most recent Southern Super Series win at Cordele two weeks ago.

On Wednesday, August 26, Pollard was an early DNF in the ASA STARS National Tour event at Owosso Speedway due to an accident in the opening laps. Pollard and his team then traveled to Oxford, Maine for the 53rd Annual Oxford 250 on August 28-30, with the wounded race car from Owosso still on the trailer.

It wouldn't be until last Tuesday before Pollard returned to his Georgia home, where his team could make repairs from the Owosso incident. After thrashing on the car throughout the week, Pollard piloted that same Late Model went to victory lane on Saturday night at Mobile.

"It's all about the guys that helped me out," said Pollard. "There are a lot of them, but there's two standing back here that put in the work when we crashed this thing. I absolutely ran out of talent last Wednesday and crashed it. It sat in the trailer to go to Oxford, and we had to get back home Tuesday and go to work on it.

"We fixed it in about two or three days. These guys, Mark and Mike, and there's a lot of other ones that helped us out in the shop. Steven and Carl, hauling us up and down the road. It's been a long, tough couple of weeks, but we've got speed. There are still a few things we need to work on. All in all, not bad."

Despite being just 100 laps in distance, Mobile's abrasive racing surface brought strategy to the forefront on Saturday night. Pollard relied on his experience at the half-mile, waiting until the second half of the race to push the tempo while Jake Garcia and James Patrick dominated early.

Following a mandatory caution after 50 consecutive green-flag laps to start the feature, Pollard waited for his opportunity, then pounced around Garcia on lap 67. It was not smooth sailing from there, though, as Nasse closed in.

Nasse moved into second ahead of Garcia on lap 73, then worked on closing the gap between himself and Pollard. The two drivers were nose-to-tail entering the final lap, but Pollard held strong to secure the win.

"I knew I had to get out front there, to get in some clean air," Pollard said. "The 35 [of Garcia] ran hard there at the beginning of the race, not being here before, I feel like. I knew he jumped out there too fast a pace and tried to settle in. I knew I had to be in front of the 51 [of Nasse] there. They've been good all year, Campi stuff."

After a demanding stretch of racing, Pollard is happy to go back home with another trophy in hand.

"We've got speed now, and it's hard to get speed. We've just got to get more confidence in the changes we make throughout the day to get to the next level. We're close. We've just got to get our confidence back to making those changes for me in the race car. It's going to be a good week in the Pollard house.

Nasse echoed the importance of clean air after finishing second.

"It was definitely a good run," said Nasse. "Clean air would have helped a lot. Tried to have a good race there at the end. I thought I might be able to give him a litlte bit of a shot, but I didn't want to spin him out, of course. It was a good, hard race. I would've liked to get the win, but we worked hard, had a good weekend. I'm proud of these Anthony Campi guys, my family, everybody here that supports me."

Matthew Craig passed Garcia with seven laps to go, claiming the final step on the podium.

"I felt like we unloaded a little far off. We went down a path and came back the other way on the car. We just keep trying to get better, keep making adjustments, and trying things. The air is really hard. You get right behind a car, it's just so hard to pass. I kept getting tight, tight, loose behind the 35. I wish I could have gotten around him a little faster. I don't know if I would have had anything for these guys, but I would have liked to try."

Garcia finished fourth, with Spencer Davis rounding out the top five.

The next stop for the ASA Southern Super Series is Five Flags Speedway on September 26. That race is part of Five Flags' Night of Champions #2, crowning track champions in the Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series and Allen Turner Pro Late Model Series.

-Photo credit: David Kranak