Bubba Pollard led the most laps on the night en route to the ASA Stars National Tour victory on Wednesday night at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Photo: ASA Stars National Tour
Bubba Pollard would not be denied Wednesday night at North Wilkesboro.
The Senoia, Georgia driver led all 50 laps in the final stage to score his first-career ASA STARS National Tour race at North Carolina’s historic North Wilkesboro Speedway over Hendrick Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series teammates William Byron and Chase Elliott.
From the onset of the event, it was apparent that Pollard would be one of the drivers to beat. Even when losing the lead during the race, he knew what he had loaded for the final run to the finish.
“We took off there and we were pretty good,” Pollard said. “I let William (Byron) by me to see what he had so we could be better and make some adjustments. Chase (Elliott) came out of nowhere and was fast and I thought we had nothing for him. We made the right adjustments during that last break, put four tires on it, and she was good.”
North Wilkesboro Speedway becomes the 31st track that Pollard has gone to victory lane at during his illustrious career. The Peach State driver had two previous starts at the facility. He finished fourth in last year’s Super Late Model event and was disqualified in post-race tech after a second-place run at “The Race” in 2011.
“We’ve struggled the past couple of years and these guys behind me (his team) have worked hard. I’ve got a family at home that’s supportive, a wife and two girls and one on the way. I never thought I’d be standing here on top of this. What they’ve done to this place and the history and everything, it’s been a huge past couple of days. I’m glad to be a part of it.
“It’s special to race at this place. I hope we can make it a yearly tradition. The fans were awesome tonight. I can’t wait until Sunday to see what it’s all about and to see how the racing goes.”
The ASA STARS National Tour heads to Hickory Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 25 for the Tar Heel 250, co-sanctioned with the ASA Southern Super Series. For more information, visit STARSNationalTour.com.
ASA STARS National Tour
North Wilkesboro Speedway – North Wilkesboro, NC
ECMD 150 – May 17, 2023
1. Bubba Pollard
2. William Byron
3. Chase Elliott
4. Sammy Smith
5. Daniel Suarez
6. Kaden Kvapil
7. Casey Roderick
8. Cole Butcher
9. Derek Thorn
10. Ty Majeski
11. Matt Craig
12. William Sawalich
13. Jett Noland
14. Austin Nason
15. Michael Hinde
16. Jeremy Doss
17. Stephen Nasse
18. Carson Hocevar
19. Jake Finch
20. Blaine Rocha
21. Hudson Halder
22. Albert Francis
23. Grant Enfinger
24. John Bolen
25. Derek Griffith
26. Anthony Sergi
27. Billy VanMeter
28. Justin Crider
29. Gio Ruggiero
30. Noah Gragson
31. Conner Jones
32. Derek Kraus
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