January 18, 2025

Cordele, GA — The inevitability of Bubba Pollard’s dominance at SpeedFest has yet to fade away, and he proved that fact with his triumph in this year’s Southern Super Series season opener.

The Senoia, Georgia native worked his way through the field and eventually had to chase down Cole Butcher, who led a vast majority of the night’s laps. It was hard short track racing at its finest, with Pollard capitalizing on a different racing line that caught Butcher off guard.

Passing Butcher with twelve laps remaining, Pollard jumped out to a demanding lead and never looked back. This SpeedFest victory was Pollard’s fourth in a row and fifth overall, establishing another record for the elite driver in this particular event.

“It’s hard to do nowadays,” said Pollard on his consecutive win streak. “I tell ya, I raced Lakeland back in the day and never thought we’d be winning these SpeedFest races. Going to Lanier and seeing Kyle [Busch] and Chase [Elliott] win all those races and then coming here, I just love the place. It’s where I grew up.”

Pollard spoke on the late-race battle with Cole Butcher.

“I sat there watching everybody all race, beating all over each other, and it’s not what I want to do. I knew [Butcher] had a good car, but I could beat him up off the corner. I hit on something right there after the restart. I knew I could get that run if I got to his outside just a little bit, and we made it happen.”

Pollard was also asked about his higher than usual racing line around the track all night long and how much that helped his cause.

“I’ve been running a different deal than everybody here the last couple years,” Pollard chuckled. “[The racing line] is different. I wouldn’t say you gotta know how to do it, but you gotta know how to do it. These guys, I watch them and they just can’t do what they need to stay up there.”

Behind Pollard, Butcher came under fire from Colby Howard, who usurped Butcher for second position late in the race. Butcher settled for third position, rounding out the SpeedFest podium. Gavan Boschele and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.

Protect Your Melon – Buckle Up SpeedFest Super Late Model Results

1. Bubba Pollard
2. Colby Howard
3. Cole Butcher
4. Gavan Boschele
5. Chase Elliott
6. Carson Brown
7. Spencer Davis
8. Stephen Nasse
9. Dawson Sutton
10. Dylan Fetcho
11. Jake Finch
12. Ross Chastain
13. George Gorham
14. Hudson Halder
15. Billy VanMeter
16. Jett Noland
17. Hudson Bulger -1 lap
18. Chase Pinsonneault -2 laps
19. Conner Jones -13 laps
20. Timothy Watson -18 laps
21. Matt Craig -114 laps
22. Michael Hinde -114 laps
23. John Holtger -124 laps
24. Boris Jurkovic -124 laps

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Photo: Reid Scott