Once again, Bubba Pollard rendered his rivals helpless Friday night at Five Flags Speedway.
A familiar theme resurfaced at the Summer Sizzler 75 for the Southern Super Series, and the third of four Deep South Crane Rentals Blizzard Series races at the Pensacola, Florida raceway.
The Senoia, Georgia speedster bided his time patiently, running in the top three for most of the feature until he decided it was time to launch toward clean air. Pollard passed then-leader Kaden Honeycutt on lap 62 in turn 3 and drove away to the victory.
It marks his all-time-leading 22nd Blizzard Series victory and earned him a whopping $15,000 in prize winnings.
“Wins like these are hard to come by,” said Pollard, who also captured last year’s inaugural Summer Sizzler 75. “You never know when your last one is gonna be. I’m very excited and lucky to have good racecars and have better people around me.
“This was my type of race – long green-flag runs. This thing comes alive the longer we race. All I’ve gotta do is hit my marks and maintain the car. That’s what you’ve gotta do here.”
Honeycutt, who started on the pole and led the first 61 laps, impressed all night. The 17-year-old Texan, driving Donnie Wilson’s No. 2, finished runner-up. Stephen Nasse rounded out the podium.
Pollard swept all the cash that was up for grabs Friday night. He pocketed $5,000 for the win. Through the Southern Super Series’ “Double Down in the Next Down” promotion, Pollard earned an extra $5,000 for racing – and winning – at Montgomery Motor Speedway in early July.
Finally, he was rewarded a $5,000 bonus from Phoenix Construction for finishing in the top four earlier in the night during his heat race. He finished second to Hunter Robbins, the only setback Pollard endured at the famed half-mile asphalt oval Friday.
“I enjoyed it, I liked it,” Pollard said of the tweaked format, which differed from the Blizzard Series’ traditional setup of qualifying and 100-plus-lap races. “It’s exciting for the fans, and anything to make those guys happy out there. There’s no better feeling than driving around this place and seeing that many people in the grandstands. It gives me chill bumps each time.”
Robbins struggled early, but righted his No. 18 machine to record a seventh-place finish. Jeremy Pate had another strong showing in a Blizzard Series and Southern Super Series race, posting a fourth-place finish despite starting 15th in the 22-car field.
“Momentum’s everything in racing,” Pollard said. “We’ve worked hard to get the program where it needs to be. When you’ve got a good group guys behind you and work as hard as you do and has that desire, it’s special. And, I’m lucky because that’s what we got.”
In other action, James Finch scored his first career Faith Chapels Outlaws victory, leading flag-to-flag of the 35-lap feature.
Bubba Winslow – a past track and Snowball Derby champion – and reigning Outlaws series champion Chris Cotto finished second and third, respectively.
Finch became the fourth different Outlaws driver to earn a trip to Victory Lane.
Winslow tried poking the nose of his No. 92 under Finch a few times, but found the door closed each instance.
Defending Outlaws Snowball Derby champion John Heil, who has two wins this season, had his push toward the front thwarted by a lapped car. He was running third behind Finch and Winslow when Heil reached the back bumper of Rocky Boyd, Sr., who was running 11th.
Heil quickly grew frustrated when he couldn’t get around Boyd and spun him with 23 laps completed to bring out the second of the feature’s four cautions.
Jerry Goff added to his win total in the Lloyd’s Glass Pure Stocks division.
He took the lead from polesitter Dylan Courtney on lap 1 of the 20-lap feature and never broke a sweat en route to his third victory at the half-mile asphalt oval.
Daryl McDonald III finished runner-up and Caleb Burkett rounded out the podium.
“I didn’t wanna waste any time in getting away from those guys,” Goff said. “I’d rather watch them race each other in the rearview. I knew Daryl was coming.
“This feels like it was a long time coming. It seems like forever since we’ve been up here after a couple bad races. I’m glad we broke that drought.”
The win also draws Goff closer to McDonald for the Pure Stocks points lead.
For more information on 5 Flags Speedway, visit 5FlagsSpeedway.com.
Southern Super Series
5 Flags Speedway – Pensacola, FL
Summer Sizzler 75 – July 31, 2020
1. Bubba Pollard – Senoia, GA #26P
2. Kaden Honeycutt – Bridge City, TX #2H
3. Stephen Nasse – Pinellas Park, FL #51
4. Jeremy Pate – Pensacola, FL #21
5. Kyle Plott – Marietta, GA #4
6. Casey Roderick – Lawrenceville, GA #25
7. Hunter Robbins – Mt.Juliet, NC #18
8. Connor Okrzesik – Mobile, AL #14CO
9. John DeAngelis – Hubertus, WI #7D
10. Boris Jurkovic – Joliet, IL #53
11. Jake Garcia – Monroe, GA #35
12. Jett Noland – Groveland, FL #81
13. Daniel Dye – Deland, FL #43
14. Kyle McCallum – Macon, GA #4M
15. Logan Bearden – Leander, TX #66
16. Hudson Halder – Cumming, GA #9
17. Chris Davidson – Pearland, TX #14
18. Bob Lyon Agua – Dulce, CA #44
19. Michael House – Panora, IA #1
20. Kyle Bryant – Navarre, FL #79
21. Willie Allen – Centerville, TN #26
22. Lance Elliott – Laramie, WY #42
Outlaw
1. Jake Finch – Lynn Haven, FL #51
2. Bubba Winslow – Cantonment, FL #92
3. Chris Cotto – Milton, FL #17
4. Jody Henderson – Opp, AL #17H
5. John Heil – Floresville, TX #96
6. Kevin Chase – Gulf Breeze, FL #15C
7. Todd Jones – Pace, FL #4
8. Conner Sutton – Pensacola, FL #54
9. Bill Tutchtone II – Pensacola, FL #5
10. Doug Thorpe, Jr. – Pensacola, FL #84
11. Rocky Boyd, Sr. – Pensacola, FL #25
12. Brandon Shiflett – Milton, FL #77
Pure Stock
1. Jerry Goff, Jr. – Lucedale, MS #10
2. Daryl McDonald III – Theodore, AL #19
3. Caleb Burkett – Pensacola, FL #24
4. Austin McDuffie – Mobile, AL #4%
5. Michael Moody – Mobile, AL #8
6. John Kevin Merritt – Pensacola, FL #22M
7. John Tyler Hudson – Lucedale, MS #35
8. Robert Riley – Gulf Breeze, FL #95
9. Brandon McKendrick – #25
10. Ira Roberts – Milton, FL #33
11. Micheal Stringfellow – Lucedale, MS #9
12. Dylan Courtney – Citronelle, AL #22
