This week is all about North Wilkesboro Speedway and the return of the historic track. Bubba Pollard got a win he’ll never forget. The ASA late model race car driver had to hold off not one, but two talented NASCAR drivers. That included Chase Elliott, one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers.
The CARS Tour and ASA both raced on Wednesday night at North Wilkesboro. It is a week-long celebration of this track’s revival. After Dale Jr. and Kevin Harvick raced, it was time for a serious lineup of Cup Series guys for the ASA race.
Bubba Pollard came into this race knowing he had a talented group of drivers on the track with him. Still, he knew that he had a little bit of an advantage. He drives these late models a lot more than these Cup Series guys do.
With 55 laps to go, a big wreck led to a restart with Pollard in third behind Elliott and William Byron. He had Noah Gragson and Daniel Suárez not far behind. Watch this late-model driver hold off some of the biggest names in stock car racing, via FloRacing.
There are not many times these late-model drivers get a chance to show off against the NASCAR talent. When it does happen it is usually one or two guys in the field. Might be a big name, might not be. However, Bubba Pollard has a North Wilkesboro win over the 2020 Cup Series champion, Elliott. He also just took down Byron who has the most wins this season in the Cup Series.
Pollard was more than happy to take the win with such a stacked field on Wednesday night.
Bubba Pollard really likes beating Cup Series guys
With this major win over the Cup Series drivers, Bubba Pollard isn’t going to let it get to his head. He knows Byron and Elliott. He’s raced them a number of times before. Pollard has nothing but respect for those Cup drivers in the field.
“That’s what I like, I like for everyone’s focus to be on them,” Pollard said to FloRacing. “And just the small guys slide in there and try to get it done. I tell you what, it’s fun racing those guys, I’ve got a lot of respect. William’s raced with us, Chase raced us for years, me and Chase grew up together, I’ve got a lot of respect for those guys, man. … It just feels good to beat those guys.”
North Wilkesboro is officially back! The lift still works and gets the winner up to Victory Lane. Bubba Pollard is as happy as he can be after his huge win in the ASA race. So, now we’ve just got NASCAR action to look forward to.
How about getting some of these late-model guys a Truck or Xfinity Series ride? They’ve shown what they can do against the big boys.
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