Chase Elliott Wins his first Southern Super Series race presented by Sunoco. at Montgomery Motor Speedway (AL). (Speed51.com Photo)
Chase Elliott Benefits From Late Yellow to Win Alabama 200 at Montgomery
Elliott Charges From Sixth on Next to Last Restart to Capture First Alabama 200 Win
MONTGOMERY, AL (August 24, 2013) – Three races in a row now have produced a first-time winner in the Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco. The latest winner is 17-year-old NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Chase Elliott who took down the 49th Annual Alabama 200 at Montgomery Motor Speedway (AL).
Elliott elected to wait to take tires and had two fresh Hoosiers left when a caution flew on lap 185. Elliott was one of the cars who was involved in the caution allowing him to pit out of fifth to put on fresh tires. He then charged from sixth to take lead on lap 195 from Bubba Pollard and hold on as the distance stretched to 208.
"We need a caution and I didn't want to be the caution, but it worked out in our favor as we didn't hit anything," said Elliott. "I am really proud of Ricky and all the guys. It's been a while since we have won a Super Late Model race and this is a big win for us here. I wanted to come run this race and I'm glad we got to celebrate in victory lane with the fans."
The early part of the race saw yet another classic battle with Alabama's Augie Grill, who was racing for his fourth Alabama 200 crown, and Georgia driver Bubba Pollard who came into the event as the point leader. Grill led the opening 101 laps as Pollard led a 61 lap stretch in the middle. Both Grill and Pollard were never separated by more than a second when racing for the top spot.
"I had a good time racing with Augie tonight," said Pollard who ended up second. "We respect each other a bunch and we both work hard on our race cars. We know we can race side-by-side and not hit wreck each other."
"When Chase got those two new tires I knew we were racing for second," said Grill who ended up third. "I think Pollard and I have a lot of respect for each other and we are both good drivers. It's easy to race like that when you can respect the other driver."
Pollard got the lead from Grill on the lap 192 restart only to lose it to Elliott on lap 195. Pollard ended up second, Grill finished third after a pit stop as Mike Garvey and defending race winner Mason Massey rounded out the top five.
Bubba Pollard started the evening by winning the Fast Time Award and the $500 check presented by RW Engines, McGunegill Engine Performance, Ford Racing, Progressive Racing Engines, and Hamner Racing Engines. This was his eighth fast time award of the season.
"We can definitely use the extra money to keep us going," said Pollard. "We want to win races. We know that winning the fast time awards has helped us a bunch to become the championship leader."
The Next Southern Super Series event will be the Buddy's Homer Furnishing Blizzard Series finale at Five Flags Speedway (FL) on Friday, September 20th. That will be the first of a two-day weekend where the Southern Super Series will race at Mobile Int'l Speedway (AL) the following night on Saturday, September 21st.
For more information on the Southern Super Series, visit: www.SouthernSuperSeries.com The Facebook page for the Southern Super Series is located at:www.facebook.com/southernsuperseries and on Twitter it’s: @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
LOCAL DIVISION ACTION
In the Open Sportsman division, Bruce Griffin took his Outlaw bodied car to a new track record, setting a blistering 21.533 second lap around the half-mile. Bruce rolled a 4 for the inversion, putting Bill Bethea III on the pole for the 25 lap feature. Bobby Reuse, starting outside of the front row took the early lead until Griffin got around him on lap 8, and never looked back. Reuse finished second ahead of Bethea, Joe Bethea Jr was fourth, and Perry Patino rounded out the top five.
In Street Stock, division champion, Joe Bethea Jr set fast time with a 23.103 second lap, and rolled a 3 for the inversion. That put Dwayne Wesenberg and David Wood on the front row. Wesenberg jumped out to the lead and never looked back, taking the commanding win over Richard patino, Bethea, Wood, and Chance Atkins, who rounded out the top five.
In Mini-Mod, Lee Streetman set fast time at 23.970. He rolled a 1 for a straight-up start in the 3 car field. All three cars ran nose to tail the entire event always challenging each other for the lead. On lap 17, all three of them got together in turn three to bring out the caution. Streetman held on over a hard-charging Jack Collier on the final restart to take the checkers. Trey Richardson, making his MMS debut took home third.
In Buzz, Brandon Thornton, making his 2013 MMS debut set fast time at a 24.538. Bad luck on the dice roll for Thornton however, inverted the entire 5 car field. This put Perry Patino, who had mechanical troubles in qualifying, on the front row with Floyd Brown. Patino led flag to flag to claim the victory over Mathew Robbins, who came home second once again. Thornton worked his way up to finish third ahead of Brown and John Musgrove.
ALABAMA 200
Montgomery Motor Speedway
August 24, 2013
Unofficial Results
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Open Sportsman (25 Laps)
1. 28 Bruce Griffin
2. 89 Bobby Reuse
3. 21 Bill Bethea III
4. 33 Joe Bethea Jr
5. 51 Perry Patino
Street Stock (25 Laps)
1. 31 Dwayne Wesenberg
2. 51 Richard Patino
3. 33 Joe Bethea Jr
4. 24 David Wood
5. 2 Chance Atkins
6. 32 Kameron Wesenberg
Mini Mod (20 Laps)
1. 01 Lee Streetman
2. 71 Jack Collier
3. 21 Trey Richardson
Buzz (20 Laps)
1. 51 Perry Patino
2. 36 Mathew Robbins
3. 16 Brandon Thornton
4. 48 Floyd Brown
DNS 21 John Musgrove