Donnie Wilson Stops Pollard’s Streak with Mobile Southern Super Series Victory
Wilson’s Dominant Performance Ends Four-Race Win Streak for Bubba Pollard
IRVINGTON, AL — Saturday night’s Miller Lite 125 brought about the end of two streaks. The 125-lap Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco event saw Bubba Pollard’s four-race win streak snapped when Donnie Wilson drove his No. 2 to victory lane at Mobile International Speedway in Irvington, Alabama. Wilson’s victory also ended a streak where he had not won a race on the track in nine years.
Wilson was declared the winner at the Southern Super Series’ event at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville (TN) earlier in the season, but that win was given to Wilson in technical inspection after the unofficial winner was disqualified. Saturday night, there was little doubt that Wilson’s on-track winless drought would come to an end, as he took the lead for good on lap 78 and never looked back.
“It feels good to be here,” said an elated Wilson in victory lane. “We didn’t win Nashville like we wanted to, but we won this one like we wanted to. That’s all that matters. This car was super strong tonight and I just drove it as hard as I could.”
Wilson outran Anderson Bowen, who mounted a late charge to finish second. Saturday’s Miller Lite 125 was Wilson’s second official win of the season and his sixth top five-finish of the year in the series’ seven races.
“I’m old. I am getting too old,” joked the 43-year-old Wilson. “We have had a lot of seconds here at Mobile and this is Bubba’s place. So to get the win here and break Pollard’s streak is something special. It’s going to be a fun ride back to Oklahoma.”
Pollard is a multiple-time winner at Mobile and things looked like he’d be in victory lane again after he led the first 17 laps. Pollard’s No. 26 car faded in the final 50 laps and finished fourth, which ended his four-race win streak in the Southern Super Series.
“The car was a bit off tonight,” said Pollard. “I hate to make excuses, but we missed the setup a bit tonight. All good things have to come to an end at some point. Congrats to Donnie. I know we’ll see him at the next one.”
Late in the going Wilson dropped a tire off in the dirt with a handful of laps to go. That allowed Bowen to close up to under a half-second gap at the finish, but the Suwanee, Georgia driver ended up second.
“Running second for us is big at Mobile,” said Bowen. “Second is frustrating, but this is our best run here so that’s something to work on. I know we were second at the Rattler and third at Nashville. One day we’ll get one.”
Rounding out the top five were Augie Grill in third, Pollard in fourth and 2013 Southern Super Series champion Daniel Hemric in fifth.
Hunter Robbins started the night by capturing the $500 Pole Award, which is presented by Hamner Racing Engines, McGunegill Engine Performance, Progressive Racing Engines, Ford Racing and RW Racing Engines. Robbins marked the sixth different driver to win the pole in seven Southern Super Series races this season.
Race winner Donnie Wilson was the Dubz Thermal Products halfway leader and pocketed a $100 bonus for leading lap 63.
The Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco will be back in action on June 28th at Montgomery Motor Speedway (AL). That will be the second stop at Montgomery this season. Bubba Pollard won the first race there this season.
For more information on the Southern Super Series, visit SouthernSuperSeries.com. The Facebook page for the Southern Super Series is located at www.facebook.com/southernsuperseries. The series is also on Twitter at @SoSuperSeries. For advertising or sponsorship questions, please contact the track representatives. For media inquiries, please contact Matt Kentfield at 51 Sports via matt@51sports.net.
SOUTHERN SUPER SERIES PRESENTED BY SUNOCO
Official Finish
Miller Lite 125
Mobile International Speedway
Irvington, Alabama
May 24, 2014
1 2 Donnie Wilson 125
2 29 Anderson Bowen 125
3 112 Augie Grill 125
4 26 Bubba Pollard 125
5 98 Daniel Hemric 125
6 1 Mike Garvey 125
7 31 Kyle Grissom 125
8 18 Hunter Robbins 125
9 8 John Hunter Nemechek 124
10 5 Jerry Artuso 123
11 47 Allen Karnes 82
12 5 Will Gallaher 75
13 22 Josh Bragg 74
14 79 Kyle Bryant 50
15 2 DJ VanderLey 27
DNS 11 Clint Folsom
Sources: 51 Sports/ Southern Super Series PR