Pollard Doubles Up at South Alabama Speedway

By Mark Chisum

Bubba Pollard is back on track at South Alabama Speedway. After experiencing rear end problems in last month’s Viper Series race and finishing last, Pollard returned to Victory Lane after Saturday night’s Copperhead 100. A little later in the evening, Pollard made a second visit after the Modified Feature.

Dakota Stroup was the fastest qualifier on the night, turning the 4/10ths mile oval in 15.499 seconds, an average speed of 92.909 mph. Inversion put Stroup fifth for the start, with Korey Ruble on the pole. Ruble got a good start and took the lead going into turn one. Brandon Odom followed him from the third starting spot with Pollard moving into third.

After a lap five restart, Ruble built a comfortable lead as Pollard moved into second. The field settled in with Ruble leading, followed by Pollard, Odom, Stroup, and Dennis Reno, Jr. The order remained intact until lap 50, but Pollard had erased most of Ruble’s advantage. A caution on lap 58 took care of the rest. The caution flew again on lap 62 and two laps later, Pollard made the move to the inside to take the lead. Ruble began to slip back through the field as Odom got by on lap 66. Stroup followed three laps later. Reno moved into fifth on lap 73. With 25 laps to go, Pollard led Odom, Stroup, Reno, and Ruble.

Odom looked as though he may have something for Pollard as he closed the gap as the laps ran down. The race’s final caution flew with four laps to go and set up a sprint with all the leaders up front. Pollard got the jump and got a slight advantage over Odom. Odom had to turn some of his attention to Stroup who was fighting to get by for second. Stroup was able to scoot by Odom to gain the spot, but was unable to catch Pollard. Pollard led Stroup to the stripe by 1.178 seconds to take the win. Odom was third, followed by Reno and Ruble.

Pollard led all 35 laps in the Modified Feature, but had to hold off Ruble in the closing laps before celebrating the win. Pollard grabbed the lead from the pole with Donald Crocker following. Ruble got past Crocker on the second lap. Pollard pulled away to start with, but Ruble began to reel him back in as the race went on. Ruble was able to get to Pollard’s bumper, but couldn’t find a way past Pollard. Kevin Peel came from the sixth starting spot to finish third. Heath Mills and Lance Blacker were fourth and fifth.

The Street Stock Feature came down to a wild final lap before a winner was decided. Dennis Thomas led the field to the green and led the first lap before Jody Henderson took over on lap two. Brandon Odom sliced through the field from the eighth starting spot and moved into second on lap nine. Odom closed to Henderson’s bumper and the battle was on. Coming out of turn four on lap 16, there was contact between the two leaders and Henderson spun. Both were sent to the rear and Chris Lucas took over the lead with Chris Salter. Lucas and Salter picked up where Henderson and Odom left off, putting on a great show for the fans. On the final lap, Lucas got loose and Salter got into him, sending Lucas around. Salter came around to take the checkers, followed by Johnny Otto. Henderson and Odom came back to finish third and fourth. Billy Maxie rounded out the top five.

Kim Bishop continued his dominance of the Roadrunner class, wining his ninth feature in a row. Bishop had to work a little for his win with stiff competition from Mike Wolfe and Chris Yeakos. Rick Thompson led the first three laps. Wolfe moved into the lead on the fourth lap and led until Yeakos took over on lap 14. Bishop followed one lap later and went to work on Yeakos. Bishop was able to work his way past Yeakos on lap 20 and went on to win. Yeakos followed Bishop with Wolfe third. Bobby Rhodes was fourth with Thompson slipping to fifth.

Danny Thompson led all 25 laps to win his first Coyote Feature. Thompson grabbed the lead from the outside pole with Tony Tidwell coming from the eighth starting spot to second on the first lap. Joseph Chandler got past Tidwell after a lap 11 caution and chased Thompson the rest of the way. Tidwell was third with Rusty Locklar fourth and Michael Smith fifth.

In the Mini Sportsman Feature, Dustin Monday took the lead on lap 12 and went on to win. David Daniels led the first four laps before Eddy Hinson took the lead on lap 5. Hinson led the next seven laps until Monday sped by and then sped away. Monday stretched his lead with the raced going green and took an easy win. Hinson was second, followed by Doyle Langford, Donnie Howell, and Karen Williams.

Action continues at South Alabama Speedway on August 20 with heats and features in six local classes. For more information, contact the track at (334)565-3539, or visit the track’s web site at www.southalabamaspeedway.com.

Results

Pro Late Model

Viper Series

1. Bubba Pollard

2. Dakota Stroup

3. Brandon Odom

4. Dennis Reno, Jr.

5. Korey Ruble

6. Roger Adkins

7. Chris Serio

8. Shankey Smith

9. Charlie Gresham

10. Anderson Bowen

11. Lance Blacker

12. Nathan McBride

13. Jacob Wallace

Modified

1. Bubba Pollard

2. Korey Ruble

3. Kevin Peel

4. Heath Mills

5. Lance Blacker

6. Cameron Henderson

7. Mario Lupi

8. Donald Crocker

9. Jeff Darby

Street Stock

1. Chris Salter

2. Johnny Otto

3. Jody Henderson

4. Brandon Odom

5. Billy Maxie

6. Dennis Thomas

7. Lee Phillips

8. Chris Lucas

9. Lee McManus

Roadrunner

1. Kim Bishop

2. Chris Yeakos

3. Mike Wolfe

4. Bobby Rhodes

5. Rick Thompson

6. Nick Petrie

7. Robert Berry

Coyote

1. Danny Thompson

2. Joseph Chandler

3. Tony Tidwell

4. Rusty Locklar

5. Dustin Jowers

6. Michael Smith

7. Cameron Grissett

8. James Harris

9. Chris Johnson

10. Danny White

11. Michael Piland

12. Dylan Wolfe

13. Lee Rogers

14. Wade Burgess

Mini Sportsman

1. Dustin Monday

2. Eddy Hinson

3. Doyle Langford

4. Donnie Howell

5. Karen Williams

6. David Daniels

7. Dale McLendon