Ida Fields (left), Bubba Pollard (center) and Juanita Wiltz (right), President of Midwest Cooling Towers, pose in victory lane after Pollard's victory in the Lee Fields Memorial at Mobile International Speedway Saturday night. Photo courtesy MIS
Bubba Pollard has the look of an undisputed champion.
He has been virtually unbeatable this season with 17 wins.
It only was fitting then, that at the end of the Lee Fields Memorial 150 on Saturday night at Mobile International Speedway — a Rick Crawford Performance Track — it was Pollard hoisting the Championship Belt.
Pollard passed runner-up D.J. VanderLey at the century mark and won his third straight Lee Fields Memorial against a 19-car Midwest Cooling Towers Pro Late Model field.
Chalk up 17 late model victories this season for Pollard and 53 for his career. But it was his first with such a unique prize.
“Trophies mean a lot to us, but to get a belt is real cool,” Pollard said. “It shows and represents what Lee Fields was all about. I’m happy to get it.”
So was his adoring public.
As Pollard moved the belt from above his head to around his waist, fans practically begged the even-keeled Pollard to flex for photographs, ala a wrestler.
He was the last man standing despite a finish that took forever to reach. A handful of late cautions that made things interesting with several cars flying off the track in turn 4, including Donnie Hamrac’s No. 33 that landed upside down.
VanderLey managed to reach Pollard’s door on the restarts before Pollard pulled back away.
Saturday's victory was Pollard's 17th Late Model win of 2011, and the 53rd of his career. Photo by Fastrax Photos/Tom Wilsey/Loxley, AL
“With all the cautions we were having, I knew we were better on the long, green runs,” Pollard said. “D.J. was tough, but I knew we had the better car on the long runs.”
The two certainly were the class of Saturday’s field with Josh Hamner joining the pair with a very respectable third.
MIS’ first-year General Manager/Promoter Rick Crawford did not disappoint in his first foray into a late model in many years. The all-time starts leader in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finished fifth, a spot behind Chris Davidson.
VanderLey lost the battle Saturday, but won the season-long war as he collected his second consecutive Midwest Cooling Towers Pro Late Model track championship.
“The car was great,” VanderLey said. “I don’t know what else I can do to it. On the last restart, I spun the tires bad. I don’t know if that cost us the race, but I couldn’t catch back up to (Pollard). We had such equal cars it made it so hard to pass him.”
He glided like a champion for most of the night.
With a light orange crescent moon hovering above turn 2, VanderLey took the lead on lap 11 and held it through the halfway break when the cars stopped on the front stretch to make adjustments during a 10-minute window.
When Pollard assumed the lead on lap 100, VanderLey knew the trick was not letting the red No. 18 out of his sights and leave him and the rest of the field.
“He was running a great line,” he said of Pollard. “When he’s in that zone, you cannot pass him. That’s why he has won 53 races.”
And it’s why Pollard got to pose with the Lee Fields Memorial Championship Belt on Saturday.
Okie Mason scored the Super Stock victory Saturday night. Photo by Fastrax Photos/Tom Wilsey/Loxley, AL
Praytor Realty Super Stocks
It seemed like fate when Okie Mason crossed the finish line first in the Praytor Realty Super Stocks 20-Lap feature Saturday at MIS.
Mason’s mother greeted him in victory lane and the win was made more special because Fields drove for Mason’s father back in the day.
“It’s neat to win with something that his name on it,” Mason said.
Donald Crocker led the entire event for the Modifieds to pick up the victory. Photo by Fastrax Photos/Tom Wilsey/Loxley, AL
Alabama Pipe and Supply Modifieds
Donald Crocker knows how to close a season.
For the second straight week, he started on the pole. And for the second straight week, Crocker led wire-to-wire to claim another Alabama Pipe and Supply Modifieds checkered flag.
The real battle to watch was between Gerald Wilkerson and the aforementioned Pollard. The two, who had some great door-to-door clashes all season, were at it again early on.
Each tried to lay claim to the second spot as Crocker drove off. Wilkerson held it until Pollard overtook him following a caution with three completed laps. Pollard couldn’t make up much ground on Crocker, though.
Still, all was not lost for Wilkerson. He basked in the glory of an 11th track title.
Johnny Greene scored his first career win after taking the lead with seven laps to go in the Sportsmen feature. Photo by Fastrax Photos/Tom Wilsey/Loxley, AL
Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen
The Lee Fields Memorial Championship Belt was handed out in the Midwest Cooling Towers Pro Late Models, but the real wrestling match came in the Bob’s Speed Shop sportsmen 25-Lap feature.
Johnny Greene’s first-career win cannot go unnoticed, especially in the fine fashion he took home the checkered flag. Greene surprised everybody, including himself, when he passed then-leader Randy Thompson on a restart with 18 completed laps.
“I never saw that coming, but I’ll take it,” Green said with a laugh. “I drove it in there and the car stuck. Randy raced me real clean. I really appreciate that.”
For the second straight week, though, the race winner was the warm-up act compared to the no-holds-barred action that happened during the race.
There was close to 10 cautions and plenty of hot tempers, none that drew more eyes than the ongoing feud between veteran Steve Buttrick and rookie Bryce Dulabhan.
Buttrick led, but was feeling the heat from Dulabhan on lap 19.
Dulabhan appeared to pass him on the back stretch only to see Buttrick push back and sending both cars spinning across the track.
It was Buttrick, however, who expressed his displeasure driving up to Dulabhan’s side and throwing some heated words.
The kid didn’t budge, backing into Buttrick and sending him down to the inside guard rail. Dulabhan was black flagged, while Buttrick headed into the pits.
Separated by a row, the two continued to gesture toward each other until Buttrick came back onto the racetrack.
Thompson was named the leader but quickly fell behind Greene, who collected his first win at any racetrack.
Thompson, though, was the one celebrating with a spinout and by smoking the tires because his finish guaranteed him the Island Motors II Bombers track title. It’s the fifth consecutive year Thompson has won a track championship at either MIS or Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Fla.
“That was a crazy race,” Thompson said. “The motor was giving us problems all night and I thought we were going to finish 10th.”
Instead, he survived the many fracases to stand atop the always compelling Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen in 2011.
Jay Jay Day survived a family feud to win Saturday's Bomber feature. Photo by Fastrax Photos/Tom Wilsey/Loxley, AL
Island Motors II Bombers
One more time in 2011, the Island Motors II Bombers played the game that’s sweeping the MIS grandstands: The Day Family Feud!
A bitter family rivalry that has dogged the Island Motors II Bombers all-season long once again reared its ugly head on the final night of the season at MIS. What a way to go out.
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It wasn’t enough, though, to overtake his cousin for the season points title.
“I feel like we should be a champion by now,” Jay Jay said. “It’s upsetting.”
More upsetting was what happened early in the race when Johnathan Day was racing James Day, his uncle and Jay Jay’s father, aggressively.
The pair battled hard for several laps until they drove off into turn 1 and James Day ended up on the infield grass at the beginning of lap 5.
Words were exchanged under caution between the three, but nothing more.
“He wrecked my dad,” Jay Jay Day said. “It’s all right, though, whatever. I think my Dad is more upset that I am.”
From there, the race was Jay Jay Day’s to lose. His restarts were phenomenal and any time it appeared as if Johnathan Day was reeling him in, Jay Jay Day looked up in rearview and put some more distance between the two.
“I pretty much know where everybody needs and how they’re going to start,” Jay Jay Day said. “I know Johnathan typically starts slow and I knew Rusty Powell likes to go fast. I wanted to try and keep (Powell) up there with me.”
Instead, Johnathan Day never budged and realized his dream of a track championship despite many ups and downs in a long season.
He was ecstatic the year had final reached its checkered flag.
“I’m super glad this stuff is over,” Johnathan Day said. “Maybe, I can get a little sleep at night.
“Luck just went around for us. We got all the way to the top and I guess the only way to go was down. We hit rock bottom, but we got lucky, I admit that. The car was good enough to stay up front. It was a stressful year.”
Stressful for the drivers. Entertaining for the fans.
Mobile International Speedway – Irvington, AL
Lee Fields Memorial – Oct. 1, 2011
Lee Fields Memorial 150
1. Bubba Pollard
2. D.J. VanderLey
3. Josh Hamner
4. Chris Davidson
5. Rick Crawford
6. Kyle Benjamin
7. Josh Bragg
8. Junior Niedecken
9. Kyle Bryant
10. David Jones
11. Dillon Spreen
12. Troy Grisaffi
13. Donnie Hamrac
14. Jake Moore
15. Elliott Massey
16. Cole Fancher
17. Thomas Praytor
18. Tim Baker
19. Travis Nelson
Praytor Realty Super Stocks
1. Okie Mason
2. Shannon Jackson
3. Steve Stagner
4. Jessie Reid
5. James Alonzo
Alabama Pipe and Supply Modifieds
1. Donald Crocker
2. Bubba Pollard
3. Gerald Wilkerson
4. Brandon Howell
5. James Patrick
6. Mike Maddox
7. Okie Mason
8. Bo McCraney
Bob’s Speed Shop Sportsmen
1. Johnny Greene
2. Randy Thompson
3. Bob Bryant
4. Lee Reynolds
5. Howard Langham
6. Chad Robinson
7. Jonathan Langham
8. Nick Brownlee
9. Philip Goudreaulet
10. Mark Barnhill
11. Steve Buttrick
12. Brannon Fowler
13. Jerry Goff Jr.
14. Jerome Lavinswky
15. Ron Palmer
16. Bryce Dulabhan
17. Steven Allday
18. James Myres Jr.
19. Michael Sanford
20. Jeff Smith
Island Motors II Bombers
1. Jay Jay Day
2. Johnathan Day
3. David Johnson
4. Rusty Powell Jr.
5. Jimmy Day
6. Rusty Powell Sr.
7. Dale Hammac
8. Michael Beasley
9. Daniel Hill
10. Wesley Barnhill
11. T.J. Thompson
12. Benny Bender Jr.
13. Mark Emerson Jr.
14. Troy Bartlett
15. Ralph Rogers
16. Jayme Corry
