Pollard Closes Out Season with Alabama 200 Sweep

By Mark Chisum

South Alabama Speedway closed out its 2010 racing season Saturday night with the Alabama 200, a 150-lap Pro Late Model race, and a 50-lap Modified race. Senoia, Georgia’s Bubba Pollard swept the event, first earning a hard fought victory in the Pro Late Model portion, and then coming back later in the evening and winning the Modified Feature.

Pollard set the tone early, setting fast time in both classes. His time of 15.164 set a new standard for Pro Late Models, while his Modified qualifying run of 15.774 was just .070 off of Ryan Redmon’s record time.

In the Pro Late Model race, Pollard started the race from the pole and took the early lead over Brandon Odom and Mike Garvey. Garvey worked his way past Odom on lap 16 and erased the small lead Pollard had built. The pair battled for the lead the remainder of the race, with neither building more than a two car length lead for most of the race. Garvey, coming off wins at Five Flags Speedway and at Gresham Motorsports Park the previous weekend, was strong again, and took the lead from Pollard on lap 30.

Pollard stayed close and pulled alongside of Garvey around the lap 50 mark. Pollard beat Garvey to the line to lead lap 53, but Garvey battled back to retake the lad the next lap. Pollard fell back into second and waited for his next opportunity. Garvey led Pollard, Odom, David Hodges, and Logan Boyett at the halfway point.

Garvey continued to lead until lap 121 when Pollard was able to get inside and make the pass. With the race going green for an extended time, Pollard was able to ease away from Garvey as the race headed into the final stages. Garvey’s last shot was a caution with seven laps to go. Pollard was able to pull away when the green fell and beat Garvey to the line by 1.379seconds. Boyett came on strong at the end and finished third. Odom was fourth, followed by Hodges.

In the Modified Feature, Pollard had to battle with Jeff Letson before pulling away at the end. Ricky Sanford led the first alp before Korey Ruble took over on lap two. Letson worked his way past Ruble to take the lead on lap seven. Pollard was able to get past Ruble on lap 23 and then went to work on Letson. Letson was able to keep Pollard behind him until lap 37 when Pollard was able to get the inside position and take the lead. Once out front, Pollard was able to pull away from Letson. Pollard led Letson to the stripe by almost three seconds to take the win. Kevin Peel came from the seventh starting spot to finish third. Lance Blacker and randy Herrick were fourth and fifth.

The Street Stock Feature wasn’t decided until post race inspection. Cameron Henderson led all 35 laps with Johnny Otto on his bumper. Otto tried several times to get position on Henderson, but never could get the traction he needed. Henderson led Otto to the checkers to take the apparent win. Chris Salter came from the back of the pack to finish third. Chris Lucas was fourth with Todd Valdez fifth. However, Henderson was disqualified in post race inspection for having altered rear end suspension parts, giving the winner’s trophy to Otto. Salter, Lucas, and Valdez moved up in the finishing order and Billy Maxie moved into the top five.

Travis Slawson dominated the Coyote Feature, leading all 25 laps. Slawson took the lead from the pole and was never seriously challenged for the lead. Max Nelson chased Slawson all race, but settled for second. Rusty Locklar was third, followed by Jason Monaghan and Mike Wolfe.

In the CupLite Feature, Greg Adams held off Zak Wallace to take the win. Adams led all 25 laps of the race, but Wallace came from the fifth starting spot to make it an interesting race. Jack Whittle joined the fray late in the race, taking some of Wallace’s attention from Adams. Adams ran a smooth race and led Wallace and Whittle to the checkers. Rick Northey was fourth and Waylon Spivey fifth.

In the Mini Sportsman Feature, Eddy Hinson took the lead on lap nine and went on to win. Dylan Wolfe led the first two circuits with Joey cannon taking over for the next six laps. Hinson took the lead and held off Joshua Sibley for the win. Jason Cannon was third, followed by Joey Cannon and Mike Wolfe.

The night closed out the season at South Alabama Speedway. The track will reopen for the 35^th Annual Rattler Weekend, scheduled for March 4-6. More Rattler Weekend  information will be released in the coming weeks. Log on to www.southalabamaspeedway.com for updates,

Results

Pro Late Model

Alabama 200

1.       Bubba Pollard

2.       Mike Garvey

3.       Logan Boyett

4.       Brandon Odom

5.       David Hodges, Jr.

6.       Giancarlo Serenelli

7.       Eric Courville

8.       Shanna Ard

9.       Danny Bagwell

10.   Cody Humphreys

11.   Sam Smith

12.   Kyle Bryant

13.   Roger Adkins

DNS Will Mack

Modified

1.        Bubba Pollard

2.       Jeff Letson

3.       Kevin Peel

4.       Lance Blacker

5.       Randy Herrick

6.       Bo McCraney

7.       Korey Ruble

8.       David Brown

9.       Ricky Sanford

10.   Mario Lupi

11.   Danny Bagwell

DNS Ricky Brooks

Street Stock

1.        Johnny Otto

2.       Chris Salter

3.       Chris Lucas

4.       Todd Valdez

5.       Billy Maxie

6.       Jeremy Mack

7.       Greg Harrison

8.       Darrell Cawley, Jr.

9.       Justin Killian

10.   Johnny Willis

11.   Dennis Thomas

DQ Cameron Henderson (1)

Coyote

1.        Travis Slawson

2.       Max Nelson

3.       Rusty Locklar

4.       Jason Monaghan

5.       Mike Wolfe

6.       Lee Rogers

7.       Michael Piland

8.       Robert Colvin

9.       Kevin Bishop

10.   Joseph Chandler

CupLite

1.        Greg Adams

2.       Zak Wallace

3.       Jack Whittle

4.       Rick Northey

5.       Waylon Spivey

6.       Jeremy Peacock

7.       Karl Williams

8.       Carol Williams

Mini Sportsman

1.        Eddy Hinson

2.       Joshua Sibley

3.       Jason Cannon

4.       Joey Cannon

5.       Dylan Wolfe

6.       Donnie Howell

7.       Mike Wolffe

8.       Dale McClendon