Bubba Pollard scored the win and the Sunoco Gulf Coast title at Mobile International Speedway Saturday. Photo by FastTrax Photos
In his magical 2011 season, Bubba Pollard rarely has had an equal.
That was never truer Saturday at Mobile International Speedway in Irvington, Alabama, a Rick Crawford Performance Track.
The Miller Lite Super Late Model 100’s star studded field was decimated by multiple collisions and car problems but at the end it was Pollard accepting another checkered flag.
Pollard ran away with Saturday’s Miller Lite 100 just like he has done all year and, thus, the MIS track season championship.
Pollard also wrapped up the Sunoco Gulf Coast title, which combines Super Late Model points from the Miller Lite Series and the Blizzard Series at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
Here are some more of Pollard’s superlatives: The win was his 16th of his unbelievable year, the 52nd of his career. He also swept all five Miller Lite Super Late Models at MIS.
“I was more excited to win all five than the championship itself, to tell you the truth,” Pollard said. “It’s hard to win a race much less five.”
Nothing seems hard for the Senoia, Georgia hotshoe.
He took over the lead with 57 laps complete when then-leader Mike Garvey got involved in a gruesome wreck with lapped traffic.
Garvey, the pole winner thanks to a 16.915-second qualifying time, assumed the lead from Casey Smith on lap 16. Garvey appeared to be the car to beat until he, literally, ran over Thomas Praytor.
As Chris Davidson ducked under Praytor in turn 3, Praytor went up the speedway and right into Garvey’s path. Garvey’s No. 1 went up the back of Praytor’s No. 12 and across the roof.
Both cars were finished for the night, much to the dismay of Pollard.
“I was hoping to race Mike at the end,” Pollard said. “He has had a good racecar the last couple of times and had some bad luck. I hate it for him.”
The carnage didn’t end there. As the likes of Steven Davis, D.J. VanderLey and Dale Little struggled with mechanical failures, Smith’s great night ended on another jaw-dropping wreck on with 80 laps in the books.
This time, Canadian Jerry Artuso’s No. 5 climbed atop Smith’s hood and ripped it completely apart.
“You just gotta run your race,” Pollard said. “You have to know the pace you’re going to run. You need to be in the right positions, know the situations and who you’re racing against.”
Just like his hands on the steering wheel, Pollard has a firm grip on all of it.
Alabama Pipe and Supply Modifieds
Donald Crocker couldn’t contain his excitement.
The Citronelle native got out of his No. 5 and was still shaking with happiness.
And why not? Crocker won the Alabama Pipe and Supply Modifieds 20-Lap feature, easily coasting to the victory while Bubba Pollard seemed content with a runner-up finish.
Crocker started fourth, but wasted little time in getting to the front once pole sitter Mike Maddox had a violent crash down on the inside wall entering turn 3.
Gerald Wilkerson finished third and has a virtual lock on the track title heading into the Lee Fields Memorial next Saturday night. He leads Crocker by 84 points.
More importantly, though, Wilkerson set a blistering track record in qualifying, but started sixth after the die-roll invert.
After Pollard (17.847 seconds) initially topped his own track record, Wilkerson followed with a scorching 17.559-second clip.
What made it more impressive was that it bettered Wilkerson’s first lap time by nearly a full second.
“Track records don’t win you races,” Wilkerson said succinctly.
Praytor Realty Super Stocks
Okie Mason liked his view out front.
He liked it so much, Mason decided he’d stay out there all night in the Praytor Realty Super Stocks 20-lap feature.
Mason won for the second time this season in his No. 14, leading from wire to wire Saturday night at Mobile International Speedway, a Rick Crawford Performance Track.
“Anytime you win, you’re having fun,” Mason said. “This is a very good car, but we were lucky to start out up front. I’m glad nobody put a lotta pressure on me because I had a little battle on my hands with the car.”
Mason easily beat Regan Baker and Jessie Reid, who finished second and third, respectively.
The eight-car field was highlighted by a pair of trucks for the second time this season. Chopper Stagner and Todd Pitts represented themselves well with Stagner cracking the top five with a fourth-place finish.
Shannon Jackson, who finished a disappointing seventh, will carry a 36-point lead against Bubba Winslow into next Saturday’s Lee Fields Memorial.
Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen
This win was a long time in the making.
Michael Sanford had labored over his No. 25 for two years to get it ready for this Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen season.
All his hard work paid off Saturday at Mobile International Speedway, as he avoided a big crash on the last lap to find victory lane.
Amid a cloud of smoke down the front stretch, Sanford celebrated with a burnout of epic proportions.
“I hope get another one next week,” he said.
Taking nothing away from Sanford’s win, the major storylines happened behind him.
Battling for the lead, Steve Buttrick and Bryce Dulabhan got into each other, as both spun down the back stretch. The fireworks from that pair also collected points leader Randy Thompson and Brannon Fowler, who is second behind Thompson.
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head,” said Buttrick, who led for most of the way. “I got spun out, but without seeing the replay, I don’t know why.
“I didn’t need that caution on lap 18, I know that.”
On that lap, the caution came out when Thompson, Dulabhan and Jeff Smith battled for second. The trio was three wide on the back stretch. With no room to go they began to beat and bang, sending Thompson for a spin followed closely by Smith.
Dulabhan somehow managed to escape without a scratch and climb to second.
“We were in a good spot on the last lap,” said Dulabhan, who had won the previous 20-lap feature last month. “At the beginning, the car wasn’t any good, but at the end we were fast for a few laps.
“(Buttrick) got loose and came across my nose and left my front in the grass.”
Perhaps, Thompson was the most distraught about the night’s events after challenging for the lead late in the race.
On a night where he virtually could have locked up the track title, the late incidents instead nearly dealt a serious blow.
Fowler’s 10th-place finish was ahead of Thompson in 11th. It allowed Fowler to cut into Thompson’s lead and he only trails by 29 points going into next week’s season finale at the Lee Fields Memorial.
Island Motors II Bombers
This one was bittersweet for Jay Jay Day.
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Like many Saturday nights this season at Mobile International Speedway, the local hotshoe collected another checkered flag.
However, unlike many Saturday nights, Day collected some news that left him shaking his head.
He once again dominated another 15-lap Island Motors II Bombers feature en route to his eighth/ninth win of the season.
But it was inside victory lane where Day learned because of his dominance, he must make the leap to a higher series next year.
“I’m happy with the win, but I’m disappointed in the news they gave me,” Day said. “I’m not financially able to do that right now. I don’t have any sponsors other than my dad.
“I don’t understand it, but we’ve had a great year — a lotta wins.”
So has his cousin. Johnathan Day posted another runner-up finish, which clinched the Island Motors II Bombers track title heading into next week’s Lee Fields Memorial.
Johnathan Day, who has driven the last half of the year on a backup car, celebrated his championship.
“It has been a long year,” Johnathan Day said. “There were at least two times I was about ready to call it quits. Things just worked out for us.”
A late caution with 13 laps complete set things up for what promised to be an interesting green-white-checkered finish with Johnathan Day on the outside of his cousin.
However, it never materialized as Jay Jay Day pulled away easily. He bolted out front and never had to sweat the final two laps.
Mobile International Speedway will be back in action next week with 2 nights of racing for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of Mobile International Speedway the Lee Fields Memorial 150.
For more information, visit www.mobilespeedway.net.
Mobile International Speedway – Irvington, AL
Race Results – Sept. 24, 2011
Miller Lite Super Late Models 100
1. Bubba Pollard
2. Jeff Choquette
3. Allen Karnes
4. Josh Bragg
5. Donnie Wilson
6. Logan Boyett
7. Jeremy Pate
8. Augie Grill
9. Jerry Artuso
10. Casey Smith
11. Steven Davis
12. Stephan McCurley
13. Chris Davidson
14. Mike Garvey
15. Thomas Praytor
16. D.J. VanderLey
17. Dale Little
Alabama Pipe and Supply Modifieds
1. Donald Crocker
2. Bubba Pollard
3. Gerald Wilkerson
4. Okie Mason
5. James Patrick
6. Brandon Howell
7. Scott Lopez
8. Mike Maddox
Praytor Realty Super Stocks
1. Okie Mason
2. Regan Baker
3. Jessie Reid
4. Chopper Stagner
5. Bubba Winslow
6. Todd Pitts
7. Shannon Jackson
8. Darin Matthews
Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen
1. Michael Sanford
2. Jared Courtney
3. Bubba Winslow
4. Jonathan Langham
5. Mark Barnhill
6. Bob Bryant
7. Johnny Greene
8. Chad Robinson
9. Ron Palmer
10. Brannon Fowler
11. Randy Thompson
12. Jerry Goff Jr.
13. Philip Goudreaulet
14. Bryce Dulabhan
15. Steve Buttrick
16. Steven Allday
17. Jeff Smith
18. David McDade
19. James Myres
20. Lee Reynolds
Island Motors II Bombers
1. Jay Jay Day
2. Johnathan Day
3. Jayme Corry
4. Wesley Barnhill
5. David Johnson
6. Rusty Powell Sr.
7. Rusty Powell Jr.
8. Michael Beasley
9. Dale Hammac
10. Mark Emerson Jr.
11. Jake May
12. Daniel Hill
13. Troy Bartlett
14. Benny Bender Jr.
15. T.J. Thompson
16. Donald Hunt
