Red Cars Sweep Weekend Butcher & Pollard Win on the Gulf Coast

A milestone win came in memorable fashion on Saturday night for Bubba Pollard.

The Senoia, Georgia driver charged through the second half of the Mobile Sports Authority 100 at Mobile International Speedway, taking the lead with 12 laps to go for his 40th career ASA Southern Super Series victory.

Like many drivers, Pollard paced himself during the first half of the 100-lap affair, preserving his tires for the late-race push. When Pollard took the lead from Carson Brown on lap 89, he was hardly out of the woods with Cole Butcher closing in.

Try as he might, Butcher could not chase down Pollard before the checkered flag, and Pollard took the win in the second race of the Southern Super Series' Gulf Coast doubleheader weekend.

"This is a place I love coming to," said Pollard. "We've had a lot of success over here over the years, but I hadn't got nervous leading a race in a while. I was nervous there.

"Thanks to all my guys for not giving up. We had a rough night last night and just worked hard. Brought our heads together, brought a new package, and it worked out."

It was also important for Pollard to get back to victory lane in his partnership with VanDoorn Racing Development.

"I'm proud to be associated with them," said Pollard. "I'm proud they gave me an opportunity. They're good race cars, good, hard workers at VanDoorn Racing Development."

Butcher was particularly aggressive with his tire-saving, running 12th when the race reached the halfway point and even pitting to rotate tires on his No. 28 Wilson Motorsports entry. That gave him plenty of speed at race's end, but his charge through the field came up one spot short after winning at Five Flags Speedway on Friday night.

"The car would do everything I wanted to do," said Butcher. "I just didn't want to do it. We saw how this race played out last year. These ST3 tires just didn't have the fall-off we're used to. Congrats to Bubba, congrats to the VanDoorn family. I can't thank Wilson Motorsports enough for giving me a hot rod."

Matthew Craig rounded out the podium, who surged to second in the closing laps before Butcher slipped by with six laps to go.

"We're getting better and making gains at it," said Craig. "This tire has just been a struggle for us. We either hit it really good or hit it really bad. We'll keep working at it."

With his second-place finish, Butcher secured a $1,000 bonus from Gulf Coast Graphix for best average finish over the course of the Gulf Coast doubleheader. He narrowly missed out on the $5,000 prize offered by Diamond Seamless Solutions for a driver to sweep the weekend.

The next stop for the ASA Southern Super Series is the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway for the North/South Super Late Model Challenge on May 3.

-Photo credit: Ultimate Lap Photo

Five Flags Recap

So far in 2025, the Five Star Race Car Bodies Road to the Snowball Derby has Cole Butcher's name written all over it.

Cole Butcher won Friday's Pensacola Sports Authority 100 at Five Flags Speedway, giving him two wins in the first two Deep South Crane Blizzard Series events of the 2025 season.

The Canadian driver won the ASA STARS National Tour Sunshine State 200 in March in the first Super Late Model race of the year at the Pensacola, Florida half-mile oval. Coming one week after another ASA STARS National Tour win at Dominion Raceway, Butcher continued his winning ways by leading wire-to-wire at Five Flags.

While Butcher and the Wilson Motorsports team experimented some in practice for Friday's race, they ultimately relied on a proven formula for their win on Friday night.

"I can't thank Wilson Motorsports enough," said Butcher. "We tried some stuff when we unloaded, but we went back to what we know.

"It's good to be back."

Butcher may have made it look easy on Friday night, he insisted that negotiating lapped traffic over the course of 100 laps proved plenty challenging.

"It's really tough. Especially passing some of the lapped cars. This car, clean air means everything. I can't thank the competitors enough for putting on a clean race, and we'll look forward to Mobile tomorrow."

He also knows better than to rest on his laurels despite the recent string of success.

"I'm sure something will happen and it will all go downhill. We'll take it as it is."

Carson Brown finished second, unable to keep in touch with Butcher following a mandatory caution at lap 50. He hopes to find a little more speed before the ASA Southern Super Series takes the track Saturday night at Mobile International Speedway for the second leg of the Gulf Coast doubleheader.

"It's not bad, just needed a little bit more," said Brown. "Big thank you to Anthony Campi and the team, everyone for the hard work. Congrats to Cole Butcher on a really good run. Just didn't quite have enough.

"We just need to get this thing dialed in a little bit more, practice a little bit more and we'll get there."

Meanwhile, Jackson Boone scored a third-place finish to round out the podium. It was the Tennessee driver's best ASA Southern Super Series finish since a third-place effort in the Blizzard Series finale in 2023.

"I'm just proud of this team," said Boone. "They started this Super deal last year and went through a lot of struggles and hurdles to get here. I'm just honored I could get a top three for them."

With the win, Butcher enters Saturday night's ASA Southern Super Series event at Mobile with a chance at a big payday. Diamond Seamless Solutions has offered a $5,000 bonus if a driver can sweep the Gulf Coast doubleheader weekend, while Gulf Coast Graphix of Mobile is offering a $1,000 prize to the driver with the best average finish across the two races.

The doubleheader continues on Saturday night at Mobile, with racing starting at 8 p.m. CT/9 p.m. ET. Fans can watch live on RacingAmerica.TV.

Last year, the ASA Southern Super Series event at Mobile ended in a photo finish, with Butcher scoring the victory over Jake Finch.

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