Pollard Completes Rattler Double

By Mark Chisum

It took a couple of months, but Bubba Pollard completed Rattler double Saturday night, winning the Modified Rattler Feature. The race was originally scheduled for March 3, but the Friday and Saturday portions of the 36^th Annual Rattler Weekend were rained out. Pollard wasted little time in completing the weekend, taking just over 13 and a half minutes to complete the 50 laps.

Donald Crocker set fast time in qualifying with a time of 15.811 seconds. Pollard was second, a little over a tenth of a second slower. However, when it counted, Pollard was dominant. Pollard grabbed the lead from the outside pole and never was contested. As Crocker and Korey Ruble battled behind him for second, Pollard pulled away. By the time Ruble cleared Crocker for the spot, Pollard enjoyed an insurmountable ten car length lead. Ruble was turning times comparable to Pollard, but without the aid of a caution, he was unable to cut much off of Pollard’s lead. Pollard led Ruble to the checkers by 1.251 seconds to take the win. Crocker finished third, followed by Billy Melvin and Brandon Howell.

In the Street Stock Feature, Chris Lucas took the lead on lap seven and went on to win. Billy Maxie took the early lead from the pole position and led the first three laps. Brandon Odom took over at that point and led for two laps before Chris Salter took over the point. Lucas had come from the fifth starting spot and followed Salter past Odom, moving into second. Two laps later, Lucas worked his way inside of Salter to grab the lead. Salter chased Lucas the rest of the way, and followed Lucas to the checkers. Dennis Thomas got past Odom with two to go to collect third place honors. Odom slid to fourth in the end, with Maxie rounding out the top five.

The Roadrunner Feature saw a last lap battle for the win, and then the win awarded in post race inspection. While Billy Maxie was leading the first 24 laps, David Daniels was making his way from the rear and chasing Maxie down. Daniels moved into second on lap eight, but had to overcome a big lead enjoyed by Maxie. Daniels sliced the lead each lap and caught Maxie as laps were running out. Coming out of turn four heading to the checkered flag, Daniels dove inside of Maxie and outran him to the stripe to take the apparent win. Ricky Strickland followed in third with Nick Petrie fourth and Rick Thompson fifth. However, in post race inspection, Daniels was found to have an illegal engine and the win was awarded to Maxie. Everybody else moved up a notch and Bobby Rhodes moved into the top five.

Joseph Chandler took the lead on lap 14 and went on to win the Coyote Feature. Danny Thompson led the first 13 laps, outrunning Ralph Sanders to turn one to grab the initial lead. Chandler, starting fifth, moved into second when James Harris spun on lap six. Thompson was able to keep Chandler behind him for several laps but Chandler was able to work his way into the lead on the 14^th circuit. Chandler had to battle Rusty Locklar over the closing laps before securing his second win of the season. Sanders was third, followed by Lee Rogers and Michael Piland.

Will Mack cruised to the win in the CupLite Feature, leading all 25 laps. Jack Whittle chased mack all race, but couldn’t keep pace with the leader. Waylon Spivey finished third, followed by Rick Northey and Shep Lucas.

Adam Slater led early and led late to take the win in the Mini Sportsman Feature. Salter grabbed the early lead from the pole and led until Donnie Howell took over on lap 13. Howell led three laps until the caution flew on lap 16. On the restart, Salter regained the lead and led the final five laps to take his first win. Howell and Paul Gay swapped positions three times over the final five laps with Howell grabbing the runner up spot on the final lap. Mara Andrews was fourth, followed by Lon Howell. However, in post race inspection, Gay was “dq’d” for too much left side weight and Andrews was “dq’d” for being too light, moving Lon Howell to third and Chris Salter to fourth.

Action continues at South Alabama Speedway on May 19 with a “Fan Appreciation Night”. Headlining the schedule for the night will be the Pro Late Model Viper Series Diamondback 100. Also on the night’s schedule are features for the Modified, Roadrunner, Coyote, CupLite, and Mini Sportsman classes. Admission for the night is just $5.00 for anybody ages 6-60. Everybody else will be admitted free. There will also be specials at the concession stand. For more information, contact the track at (334) 565-3539, or visit the track’s web site at www.southalabamapspeedway.com.

Results

Modified

1. Bubba Pollard

2. Korey Ruble

3. Donald Crocker

4. Billy Melvin

5. Brandon Howell

6. Heath Mills

7. Mario Lupi

8. Terry Davis

9. Bruce Permenter

10. Kip Whitehead

Street Stock

1. Chris Lucas

2. Chris Slater

3. Dennis Thomas

4. Brandon Odom

5. Billy Maxie

6. Darrell Cawley

Roadrunner

1. Billy Maxie

2. Ricky Strickland

3. Nick Petrie

4. Rick Thompson

5. Bobby Rhodes

6. Joseph Wyrosdick

DQ David Daniels (1)

Coyote

1. Joseph Chandler

2. Rusty Locklar

3. Ralph Sanders

4. Lee Rogers

5. Michael Piland

6. Chris Johnson

7. Danny Thompson

8. Tony Tidwell

9. James Harris

CupLite

1. Will Mack

2. Jack Whittle

3. Waylon Spivey

4. Rick Northey

5. Shep Lucas

6. Karl Williams

7. Lance Blacker

8. Carroll Williams

Mini Sportsman

1. Adam Salter

2. Donnie Howell

3. Lon Howell

4. Chris Salter

DQ Paul Gay (3)