The 56th Snowball Derby has provided NASCAR fans with much-needed off-season racing action. The prestigious Tom Dawson trophy has had many winners over the years, but none of the names is Bubba Pollard. Pollard, now 36, will race in the prestigious competition for the 18th time and have another go at the elusive victory at the Five Flags Speedway.
Clearly, Pollard has a ton of experience at the venue on his side. Having won 32 races at this Speedway, it has contributed to making him a four-time champion of the Blizzard Series. With Sunday posing another challenge that he still needs to move past, the short-track racing veteran is confident about his chances in just the right amount.
Bubba Pollard is ready for everything at the Snowball Derby
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In NASCAR, drivers have often found winning certain races difficult. Dale Earnhardt earned a Daytona 500 win after a long wait in 1998. Kyle Larson won his first race at the Darlington Raceway in the 2023 playoffs opener. Meanwhile, Bubba Pollard has been sensational in the Late Model circuit races. 23 of his 32 wins at the 5 Flag Speedway have come in a Super Late Model car and eight in a Pro Late Model.
With this much history at Pensacola, one would believe that the Snowball Derby win must be under his belt by now. However, that is not the case. But it is yet to hinder his confidence. Pollard said about his chances in the main event on Sunday, “I feel pretty confident. I’m not saying I’m going to go out there and win the race. That’s our goal, but at the end of the day, I feel like our program’s in a good place to come here for this weekend. I’m excited about it.”
2023 has been a strong year for Bubba Pollard. He even held former Cup Series champion Chase Elliott at bay to win the Battle at Berlin 250 earlier in August. The Five Flags Speedway also witnessed one of his wins in the Blizzard Series season finale.
Coming on the back of an impressive season, he has liked the vibes coming into the weekend. Elaborating on the same, he said, “I feel like the energy, the team, we’ve had a good year. We’ve had a lot of success. We’ve been fast at a lot of different places. We kind of got our mojo back a little bit. We kind of stepped our program back where it needed to be, where I knew what it was capable of.”
The preparation and build-up for the weekend have been solid for Bubba Pollard. As the conversation with Racing America continued, he discussed the challenges they’d had to overcome and how that had boosted his confidence.
Pollard reveals his game plan for the Snowball Derby
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Bubba Pollard has never finished better than P3 in the coveted race. However, his statistics have been impressive. He has led 302 laps in his 18 attempts; he could have been among the record books for the race. He performed his best at the competition in 2017, when he led 157 laps but eventually fumbled it to finish third.
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Bubba Pollard has raced in a Gary Crooks-owned Port City Super Late Model car for the past two years. In 2023, he decided to return to his roots and to racing with Senneker cars. This move was advantageous for him and is also one of the reasons he has been confident about the main event. He said, “We got back in Senneker race cars, and it really helped our year from the beginning. We come out the gate swinging right there… So we’ve learned a lot.”
The 36-year-old had expressed his comfort in a Senneker car earlier when he chose them ahead of other cars, which have dominated the chassis power rankings in Late Model racing. He has had to adjust to the car a bit but has taken his time.
“It’s kind of a different race car than what we’re typically used to, but we’ve learned a lot along the way, and it’s been good for us. I’m excited; I’m confident. I feel pretty calm.“ claimed Pollard.
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Short-track experts and former champions like Ty Majeski and Noah Gragson will get on the side of Bubba Pollard, hoping to dethrone Derek Thorn from the lead. Thorn has been incredible in the qualifying race and will start on the pole on Sunday. While Pollard is just a little behind, the grid is stacked with competition and will be racing as hard as ever.
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