CALLAWAY, Va. – Jared Fryar outdueled Mike Looney in a near-photo finish, while Bubba Pollard made a late-race pass on Sammy Smith during the Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour AutosByNelson.com 250 at Franklin County Speedway on Saturday night.
Fryar and Looney swapped the lead multiple times during the final laps in a physical battle for the win in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour feature. Fryar ultimately prevailed, passing Looney entering turn three on the race’s last lap.
“That was tough right there,” Fryar said in victory lane. “That was good racing. I tried my hardest to stay off of him right there. I was getting a little free up there and slipped up and just caught his wheel I think and shot us both away. I don’t even know what happened on the last lap, just going for it there. I hit him at some point and knocked the toe out and then he hit me off four. Just racing.”
For Fryar, Saturday night ended a winless drought that stretched back to March 2017, when he won the second Duel at Dominion Raceway in the CARS Tour’s inaugural visit there.
After entering the race leading the Late Model Stock Cars standings by nine points over Layne Riggs, Fryar extended his points lead with the win.
“I’m speechless right now,” Fryar said. “I can’t even breathe. I don’t think I took a breath the last five laps. Just thankful. We worked so hard to get here. This feels so good to be here.”
While Looney had hoped to win, he had no hard feelings with Fryar about their battle.
“Man, that was a blast,” Looney said. “I don’t know how you take a car that fast and lose with it. Hats off to Jared and those guys. He drove his tail off. I got to follow him a few laps when he passed me earlier. I could see what he was fighting. That car wasn’t perfect but he drove it to victory lane, so hats off to those guys.
“We were beating and banging. He gave me a little shot and got me sideways. I was a little mad for a second and gave him a shot back, but I’m really glad he held on to it because I would’ve looked like a donkey’s butt if I dumped him down there. What a show.”
Though Looney had no hard feelings towards Fryar, the defeat was still bitter.
“I’m disappointed for my guys who worked so hard this week,” Looney said. “I don’t think they actually went to work for two days. We lost a lot of time preparing. We knew these CARS Tour regulars are pros. We used home field advantage for a little while but we knew they’d catch on quick. It didn’t take but 100 laps for them to master this place. I’ve won a bunch out here, but he out-drove me tonight.”
Connor Mosack charged past Bobby McCarty in the closing laps to finish third, tying his career-best CARS Tour finish. Corey Heim rounded out the top five.
Sammy Smith started on the pole in the Super Late Model portion of the AutosByNelson.com 250, but Pollard saved his best for last, working his way through the field after a lengthy delay for rain at lap 25 and picking up his third win of 2020.
It was Pollard’s ninth career Solid Rock Carriers CARS Tour victory in his first career start at Franklin County Speedway.
“I knew we had a good shot just because our program’s really good anywhere we go,” Pollard said in Victory Lane after the race. “This place is fun. We took off there at the beginning of the race before the red flag and rode around. We didn’t know what to expect.”
The rain slowed racing for approximately two hours, and when racing resumed around 9:45 p.m. ET, Pollard said it changed the dynamics of the racing drastically.
“I guess the rain got everybody excited because I think I qualified for 100 laps,” Pollard said. “It was crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it. [Sammy Smith] probably had a better car tonight. We just got around him on a restart and were able to be out front. Never seeing the place, we just brought a baseline setup.”
Smith went on to finish second while Gus Dean, Jake Garcia and series points leader Matt Craig rounded out the top five.