Pollard Honors Friend With Viper Victory

By Mark Chisum

Bubba Pollard kicked off South Alabama Speedway’s 2011 Viper Series with another win, but things were a little different in Victory Lane this time. Instead of the familiar red #18, Pollard’s car carried camouflage on the sides, with a bright orange “08” on the doors. It was a tribute to Beau Slocomb, a fellow racer and good friend who recently lost his battle with cancer.

Pollard set fast time in qualifying with a time of 15.516. Inversion put Brandon Odom on the pole with Sam Smith on the outside. Pollard lined up fifth on the starting grid. Odom grabbed the early lead and led the first five laps. On the sixth circuit, Mike Garvey moved inside of Odom to take the point. Pollard had settled in the third position.

The running order stayed the same up front for the first half of the race, although Korey Ruble was hot after Pollard’s third place spot. Garvey led at the crossed flags, followed by Odom, Pollard, Ruble, and Will Mack. Pollard continued to follow Odom until lap 66 when he moved inside of Odom coming off of turn four to take the spot. With 25 laps to go, Gravey led Pollard, Ruble, Odom, and Mack.

Pollard quickly erased Garvey’s lead and went to work on the leader. The veteran driver never gave Pollard the inside, so on lap 77, Pollard went to the outside. They raced side by side for a lap, but Pollard was too strong on the outside and gained the spot. Once out front, Pollard eased away from Garvey to take the win by 1.364 seconds. Odom muscled his way past Ruble on the final lap to finish third. Smith followed Odom past Ruble to finish fourth.

The Street Stock class ran its Rattler Feature, which was originally scheduled for March 5. Chris Salter led all 25 laps to take home the winner’s trophy, but Johnny Otto made sure he earned it. Slater grabbed the lead from the outside pole, followed by Billy Maxie and Otto. Otto got past Maxie on lap three, and spent the rest of the race chasing the leader. Otto got a break with a caution with five laps to go. Otto was able to stay on Salter’s bumper for a couple of laps, but Salter began to pull away and led Otto to the checkers by two car lengths. Darrell Cawley worked his way from the sixth starting spot to finish third. Lance Blacker overcame a lap two spin to finish fourth. Pebo Windham was fifth.

In the Coyote Feature, Lee Rogers led flag to flag to collect the win. Rogers went from fifth to first on the first lap to grab the lead. Rusty Locklar followed Rogers through the field and challenged Rogers all race, but Rogers held his ground on the inside and Locklar couldn’t make the long route work. Locklar kept it close all race, but Rogers beat him to the checkers. Gordon Reese followed in third with Dylan Wolfe fourth, and Cameron Grissett fifth.

Grag Adams took the lead on lap four and went on to win the CupLite Feature. Jack Whittle led the first three circuits before Adams took over. Adams built a four car length lead during the race, but as the laps ran down, Whittle cut the lead. Whittle caught Adams on the final circuit and dove to the inside as they exited turn four headed to the checkers. Whittle came up about half a car length short as the checkers flew. Karl Williams was third, followed by Larry Crutchfield and Carroll Williams.

Eddy Hinson came from the fifth starting spot to win the Mini Sportsman Feature. Donnie Howell grabbed the early lead from the pole and led the first five laps before Hinson took the point. Hinson led the rest of the way to take the win. Howell Was second with Joshua Sibley third. Jeremy Geddings and Dale McLendon rounded out the top five.

South Alabama Speedway will reopen May 7 with a full schedule of local racing. For more information, contact the track at (334) 565-3539, or visit the tracks’ web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.

Results

Viper Series

Sidewinder 100

1.        Bubba Pollard

2.       Mike Garvey

3.       Brandon Odom

4.       Sam Smith

5.       Korey Ruble

6.       Logan Boyett

7.       Anderson Bowen

8.       Will Mack

9.       David Hodges

10.   Kyle Bryant

11.   Shanna Ard

Street Stock

1.       Chris Salter

2.       Johnny Otto

3.       Darrell Cawley

4.       Lance Blacker

5.       Pebo Windham

6.       Billy Maxie

7.       Criag Harrison

8.       Dennis Thomas

DNS LaDunn Stokes

Coyote

1.       Lee Rogers

2.       Rusty Locklar

3.       Gordon Reese

4.       Dylan Wolfe

5.       Cameron Grissett

6.       James Harris

7.       Chris Johnson

8.       Adam Salter

9.       Danny Thompson

10.   Bobby Rhodes

CupLite

1.       Greg Adams

2.       Jack Whittle

3.       Karl Williams

4.       Larry Crutchfield

5.       Carroll Williams

6.       Rick Northey

Mini Sportsman

1.       Eddy Hinson

2.       Donnie Howell

3.       Joshua Sibley

4.       Jeremy Geddings

5.       Dale McLendon