Bubba Pollard scored another marquee Super Late Model win on Wednesday night, but he had to fight for it.
Pollard took the lead from Blake Rowe with five laps to go in the Money in the Bank 150 presented by Baker Auto Group at Berlin Raceway, giving him two wins in the first two UARA National events of 2024.
A competition caution with 11 laps to go set the stage for an intense battle for the victory between Rowe, Pollard and defending Money in the Bank winner Erik Jones. Rowe was on older tires than both Jones and Pollard, but feverishly defended the top spot over the closing laps with $15,000 on the line.
Ultimately, Pollard proved too strong, making the pass for the lead and the win on Rowe’s outside with five laps to go.
(VIDEO): The winning move from Bubba Pollard in Wednesday’s Money in the Bank 150 at Berlin Raceway. Full replay available soon. ? @uaranational X @BerlinRaceway pic.twitter.com/IKcnUv8R13
— Racing America (@RacingAmerica) June 13, 2024
“It takes a group effort,” said Pollard. “I got a little pumped up there. I got mad. Usually, I save. I didn’t save, I didn’t give a shit. I just drove the hell out of it.”
Pollard now has four wins across Berlin’s two marquee Super Late Model events, Money in the Bank and the Battle at Berlin. Pollard won last year’s Battle at Berlin, finishing ahead of Chase Elliott in that race.
The Senoia, Georgia driver has enjoyed plenty of success over the years at the demanding Marne, Michigan oval, but stopped short of saying he has been dominant there.
“Well, I don’t know if it’s dominating. These guys around here are good. We’ve just got good race cars. Terry Senneker, everyone who works at his shop that makes this possible and gives us fast race cars, give us what we need. When I pick up the phone to call them, they’re there for us in support. I just can’t thank those guys enough.”
Rowe took the lead on a lap 90 restart, after many of the front-runners pitted for fresh tires and adjustments. Surprisingly, he stayed out front and stretched out a comfortable lead until the competition caution.
Rowe valiantly battled for the win after the restart, but the tire deficit proved too much to overcome.
“We were just flat out of tire at the end,” said Rowe. “We had 65 laps or so more on our tires than everybody else. We were just hanging on. It was so close, man.
“If that [caution] wouldn’t have fallen, we would have been riding free with that baby. I’m just really proud of the run. We were struggling there at the start. [John VanDoorn] and the whole crew, they never quit on this thing. They made it right at the stop. It was a hot rod. If we dropped the green like that, I think we would have wore them out.”
Erik Jones finished third returning to his home state of Michigan for some Late Model racing before heading to Iowa Speedway with the NASCAR Cup Series this weekend.
Jones took the lead from fellow NASCAR competitor Carson Hocevar on lap 71 after several laps of side-by-side racing, and led until pitting during the lap 90 caution. The car did not respond to those new tires as Jones hoped, but he still enjoyed the fierce race for the win.
“I just got a little tight at the end, after we put those tires on,” said Jones. “I kind of knew it firing off. I was hoping it would come to me, and it never freed up like we did in the first segment of the race.
“It was a good night It’s frustrating when you’re leading laps and you think you’re good enough to win and you can’t quite bring it home. Third’s good, the car’s pretty clean and in one piece. Running up front with those guys was a good show for everybody.
“I had fun. That’s what we came here to do. I had fun. The car is good and we were racing for a win. I wish we had a little bit more, but it’s a good baseline for the 250.”
Gavan Boschele finished fourth driving the Wilson Motorsports No. 24 entry, while Derek Griffith rounded out the top five.
The next event for UARA National is the Motor Mountain Masters 150 on July 10-11 at Jennerstown Speedway. UARA will then return to Berlin on August 6-7 for the Battle at Berlin.
-Photo credit: Koty Geyer
MONEY IN THE BANK 150 PRESENTED BY BAKER AUTO GROUP
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
| FIN | NO | DRIVER | LAPS | DIFF |
| 1 | 26 | Bubba Pollard | 150 | — |
| 2 | 131 | Blake Rowe | 150 | 0.378 |
| 3 | 4J | Erik jones | 150 | 0.773 |
| 4 | 24B | Gavan Boschele | 150 | 1.595 |
| 5 | 444 | Derek Griffith | 150 | 2.039 |
| 6 | 71H | Carson Hocevar | 150 | 2.391 |
| 7 | 22S | Evan Shotko | 150 | 3.164 |
| 8 | 20W | Kris Wright | 150 | 3.400 |
| 9 | 24S | Dylan Stovall | 150 | 4.757 |
| 10 | 14P | Chase Pinsonneault | 150 | 4.956 |
| 11 | 71K | Katie Hettinger | 150 | 5.612 |
| 12 | 14A | Michael Atwell | 150 | 5.861 |
| 13 | 4R | Tyler Rycenga | 150 | 6.210 |
| 14 | 18H | Keith Herp | 150 | 6.400 |
| 15 | 24N | Steve Needles | 150 | 6.418 |
| 16 | 88S | Andrew Scheid | 150 | 6.853 |
| 17 | 20A | Austin Hull | 150 | 7.770 |
| 18 | 37D | Jordan Dahlke | 150 | 7.944 |
| 19 | 28T | Scott Thomas | 149 | 1 Lap |
| 20 | 32 | Chris Shannon | 149 | 1 Lap |
| 21 | 08 | Tony Elrod | 148 | 2 Laps |
| 22 | 20H | Hudson Halder | 148 | 2 Laps |
| 23 | 90C | Kyle Crump | 138 | 12 Laps |
| 24 | 101J | Joe Bush | 131 | 19 Laps |
| 25 | 27 | Ken Wobma | 114 | 36 Laps |
| 26 | 90K | Derek Kneeland | 106 | 44 Laps |
| 27 | 47 | Brian Campbell | 103 | 47 Laps |
| 28 | 92 | Levie Jones | 90 | 60 Laps |
| 29 | 12B | Brian Bergakker | 89 | 61 Laps |
| 30 | 66 | Nate Walton | 68 | 82 Laps |
| 31 | 18B | Chase Burda | 52 | 98 Laps |
| 32 | 45 | Sean Gipson | 46 | 104 Laps |
| 33 | 88T | Trever McCoy | 34 | 116 Laps |
