While several races are remaining for the Southern Super Series, only one remains for the Deep South Crane Blizzard Series. Stephen Nasse posted his third finish of second or better in the Blizzard Series to claim the lead heading into the final event. Nasse has never won the track championship at Five Flags Speedway and will look to make that happen in September.
Bubba Pollard picked up his 37th career ASA Southern Super Series win at Five Flags Speedway on Friday night. For Pollard, it’s his 25th win in the Deep South Crane Blizzard Series. Pollard now has three wins this season, along with Cole Butcher, as the season shifts to the final few events before a series champion will be crowned in Pensacola in September.
Matt Craig set fast-time earlier in the night to claim his second pole award of the 2024 season. Craig now has seventh awards for being the fast qualifier which leaves him second behind only Bubba Pollard. Craig is the first driver to win multiple poles in a season since Bubba Pollard in 2022.
For only the second time in short track racing history Bubba Pollard, Stephen Nasse, and Casey Roderick took all three podium spots. The trio did the trick at SpeedFest 2024 with Pollard coming out on top. You think with as much as the three of these drivers have won across the country it’s surprising that this is only the second time they have swept the podium.
Casey Roderick is still winless after a third-place finish at Five Flags Speedway. Roderick led 74 laps and was the leader of a Southern Super Series race for the fifth time this season. Despite all the laps led the win still seems to slip away each night. Roderick has six top-five finishes in the eight races this season. He seems to be the only driver who has not had a mulligan this year and he leads the standings with three races to go. Roderick is chasing his third Southern Super Series title.
The headliners at Five Flags were former NASCAR Cup champion Kevin Harvick and fellow NASCAR Champion Chase Elliott. Harvick ran with the leaders early on in what was his maiden voyage at the famed half-mile track. Elliott led the opening laps, but the handling went away on the number nine ride and he, along with Harvick finished a lap off the pace.
Don’t look now, but Jacob Gomes is having a quite successful season at Five Flags Speedway. The California driver has three top-10 runs in three races at Five Flags Speedway. Those finishes have him fourth in the Deep South Crane Blizzard Series point standings. That could be very big come Snowball Derby time in December as the top 10 drivers are eligible for provisional spots if they don’t make the race on time.
If you look down the point standings at Five Flags you see Michael Hinde tucked into third spot in the standings with a race to go. Hinde has finished fifth, sixth, and seventh this year in the Deep South Crane Blizzard Series. On top of that, he has four top-10 runs in his last six Southern Super Series starts.
Defending Deep South Crane Blizzard Series champion Jeremy Doss posted a 10th-place run on Friday to run his total of top 10 runs at Five Flags to seven consecutive races. Doss has only finished one Blizzard Series race outside the top 10 in his career. We expect to see him return for the finale and perhaps the Nashville events.
In the column of getting better each week, we find Connor Okrzesik who logged his third top-10 of the season and 14th career in the Blizzard Series. He’s creeping up the points ladder in both the Southern Super Series and the Blizzard Series as the season winds down. He and crew chief Mike Garvey still seek the right combination to race inside the top five each week.
The series will be back in action on Saturday, July 13th at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway (TN). This will be the first two stops for the ASA Southern Super Series in 2024. The second will be the All American 400 weekend in November.
Dan Vining Photo
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