HICKORY, N.C. – Bubba Pollard finally got the monkey off his back Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway.
The Georgia native has been trying for several years to earn a victory at the historic .three-eighths-mile asphalt venue, but he finally got the job done during Saturday’s CARS Super Late Model Tour feature.
However, the triumph didn’t come without adversity.
Pollard was running within the top-five on lap 110 when race leader Josh Berry spun while trying to defend in turns three and four shortly after a restart. Pollard, who had restarted third, was forced to take evasive action and spun to avoid Berry.
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Berry was sent to the tail of the line for causing the accident, but because Pollard spun to avoid the incident and didn’t hit anything he was given his spot back in the running order. That moved Pollard up to second behind new race leader Brandon Setzer.
“The 97 (Berry), I was just trying to avoid him to keep from coming down and hitting us right there,” Pollard said. “That was a key incident in the race there and we were able to keep our spot.”
Setzer, who arrived at Hickory just before qualifying after working for Kyle Busch Motorsports earlier in the day at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, would only hold the lead for a few laps before Pollard took command.
Pollard moved around Setzer to take the race leader on lap 115, but the caution flag waved one lap later for Molly Helmuth’s disabled car coming to a stop in the fourth corner.
The driver of the No. 26 super late model held serve during what ended up being the final restart as Pollard led the rest of the way to pick up his first Hickory Motor Speedway victory and his second-straight CARS Super Late Model Tour triumph.
“I’ve won a lot of places, but this place just has so much history,” Pollard said about winning at Hickory. “A lot of great race car drivers have won here. This has been a tough one for us. We’ve tried several years and had some problems and this, that and the other, but tonight we had a good race car.
“To be able to run with Brandon Setzer around here is pretty good. He’s tough when it comes to this place.”
Setzer, a native of nearby Newton, N.C., had to settle for second.
“We had to race like heck. It was a lot of fun racing with Bubba,” Setzer said. “Josh Berry got into me a little bit and spun himself out and Bubba Pollard spun also and somehow Bubba got put back up to the front. I’m not sure how you spin…I don’t know. It’s whatever.
“Me and Bubba had a good race. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot from him. He’s a class act and he’s the best short track racer around right now. I think we had a little bit better car at the end, I just couldn’t make it happen.”
Matt Craig, the champion of the new defunct PASS South series, finished third after leading several laps during the 150-lap feature. Corey Heim and defending series champion Jared Fryar completed the top-five.
The finish:
Bubba Pollard, Brandon Setzer, Matt Craig, Corey Heim, Jared Fryar, Dan Speeney, Kodie Conner, Wyatt Alexander, Bronson Butcher, Josh Berry, Mike Speeney, Molly Helmuth, Tate Fogleman, Anthony Cataldi, Nolan Pope, Jeff Batten, Tyler Church, Tim Hollis, Trey Bayne.