9/24/2011
Five Flags Speedway
Pollard Continues Hot Streak While Grandmother Davidson Wins First Career Race
Chuck Corder
Bubba Pollard made it look, in a word, effortless.
Before the super late model engines fired Friday at Five Flags Speedway, the Senoia, Ga., hotshoe told the crowd winning the Miller Lite 100 was “gonna be tough.�
Hardly.
Pollard put on an absolute clinic, cruising to Victory Lane in the caution-free Blizzard Series finale.
Pollard took the lead on Lap 41 and never looked back in his rearview, lapping nearly every one of the 25-car field.
“This thing has been so good all year,� said Pollard, who bookended his Blizzard season with victories in the first and last race. “I hope we can keep it going.�
Reigning Snowball Derby champion Johanna Long raced with a heavy heart tonight after her grandfather’s death Thursday.
The Pensacola native and the NASCAR trucks series rookie crashed at the top of Turn 2 in practice and broke an upper arm on the right side of the No. 10’s front suspension. Long was able to rebound for qualifying and finished a respectable ninth.
She was just one of the 20 cars that Pollard lapped Friday night.
He was the fastest car in qualifying at 16.676 seconds and had no troubles working his way up from eighth after the die-roll invert.
“The way these races have been playing out,� Pollard said, “if you have an opportunity at the beginning of the race to jump out early, you take advantage. The outside opened up and the car was good enough at the top.�
Truth be told, the No. 18 was good anywhere it went Friday just as it has been for the entire season.
Car owner/crew chief Ronnie Sanders couldn’t stop gushing about his driver that has won all over the southeast.
“It’s unbelievable,� Sanders said. “Bubba is such a good person. Tonight, he went out front early and the car never gave up. We make a pretty good team, I guess.�
Indeed.
The pair enjoyed another effortless night.
Miller Lite 100 Results — 1. Bubba Pollard, 2. Mike Garvey, 3. Augie Grill, 4. Jerry Artuso, 5. Chris Davison, 6. Grant Enfinger, 7. Jeff Choquette, 8. Logan Boyett, 9. Johanna Long, 10. Casey Smith, 11. David Rogers, 12. Donnie Wilson, 13. T.J. Reaid
Super StocksDarin Matthews took home the 25-Lap feature checkered flag, but Bubba Winslow’s runner-up finish was good enough to lock up the track title.
“I’m thankful I could get one,� said Winslow, who hails from just down the road in nearby Cantonment.
Matthews prevented Winslow from winning in style thanks to a fierce car.The Pascagoula, Miss., native was the fastest car in qualifying and backed it up despite starting in the middle of the 10-car field when he set the invert with a die roll of six.
Matthews made an art of running on the outside all night and jumped all the way to second with 10 laps complete when he blew past Winslow and Darryl Rudd with Corbitt Moseley still leading.
Matthews took the lead on Lap 12 as he made contact with Moseley. From there, Matthews enjoyed a joyride, extending a lead that stretched to almost a full straightaway.
“It was very good,� Matthews understated.
It was good throughout. There were two cautions, though, including a huge crash in Turn 4 early on.
Five cars collected when Brandon Harris got into the back of Jessie Reid. Mike Moore, Randy Thompson and Joe Mahuron were also a part of that.
Super Stocks 25-Lap Feature Results — 1. Darin Matthews, 2. Bubba Winslow, 3. Randy Thompson, 4. Corbitt Moseley, 5. Darryl Rudd, 6. Brandon Harris, 7. Joe Mahuron, 8. Junior Skipper, 9. Jessie Reid, 10 Mike MooreSportsmen
The cheers filled the speedway.
Tina Davidson is known at Five Flags Speedway as a grandmother several times over and a wife whose husband Rick is in a hard battle with cancer.
On Friday, she became a first-time feature winner, leading wire to wire in the 20-Lap feature.
“I’ve never led a race start to finish,� said Davidson, who had won just a heat race in her long career before Friday. “I have to say someone was riding with me. The last few weeks have been very bad for me.
“If it wasn’t for him holding me and giving me strength, I wouldn’t be here tonight.�
She held off a hard charge from Steve Buttrick, who has dominated this class the last two years.
It really got interesting on the final lap.
Davidson started to get loose in and out of the turns once the white came out. And coming out of Turn 4, Buttrick pounced.
He got into Davidson as she swerved over the racetrack. But she held on for first career victory.
“She drove the wheels off of her,� said Rick Davidson, who was able to make it out Friday.
An emotional and inspirational scene covered Victory Lane.Tina Davidson choked back tears among a throng of supporters. The good karma only increased as Chris Cotto, who owns West Florida Coatings (the Sportsmen division sponsor), announced that he was donating a $500 bonus to help with the Davidson’s bills.
Sportsmen 20-Lap Feature Results — 1. Tina Davidson, 2. Steve Buttrick, 3. Jimmy Goodwin, 4. Bubba Winslow, 5. Michael Couture, 6. Randy Thompson, 7. Johnny Greene Jr., 8. Jim Pokrant, 9. Brannon Fowler, 10. Marty White, 11. John Ward, 12. Justin Babb, 13. Paul Mathis, 14. Gene Valentino
Bombers
This class never fails to disappoint.
Gary Goodwin flip-flopped the lead with several drivers before claiming the 20-Lap feature Friday at Five Flags, topping Brandon Burks .
“Finish first, that’s what we want,� Goodwin said before delivering a barb toward Brandon Burks. “Better than the Wal-Mart tires.�
Goodwin had the lead, lost it, reclaimed it only to lose it before finally snatching it back in the waning moments of the caution-plagued
He battled Burks for most of the night, with the pair swapping paint for most of the night.
Their aggressive racing finally came to a head on Lap 10 when they made contact and Burks’ left front tire went flat.
He raced to the pits and made his way from the back of the pack with a valiant effort to claim runner-up honors.
Burks fired his own verbal attack toward Goodwin after.
“Some people think they’re still racing on dirt, I guess, but it was fun,� Burks said.
With Goodwin nursing a 17-point lead now, it promises to be an incredible Night of Champions between he and Burks on Oct. 8.