"We had a real good car early, then the tires went
away, or I ran them a little too hard, and after they cooled the car
came back and we got faster as the race was going on, we seemed to be
faster at the end" An elated Pollard stated in Victory Lane.
Ryan Sieg started the night as fast qualifier,
winning the WearCrete Racing with Jeff Fultz Fast Qualifier Award and
drew a five for the invert to put Pollard on the pole with Ryan Lawler
on the outside of the front row. Lawler jumped to the early lead, but
Pollard would not be out done and he took the lead from the fourth lap
and held on for the first long green flag run of
40 laps, with spirited racing behind him for second. When the race
restarted after a car spun, Jeff Fultz was in second.

Fultz wasted little time taking first driving by
Pollard to take the lead on lap 42 with Pollard slipped back to third
when Augie Grill made a bold move to take second. Fultz however was
the first to have lightning strike, when a bracket on his trailing arm
broke when he came out of the second turn and the car slipped off the
outside of the track on the backstretch sending him on a wild ride
sliding down the grass sideways before stopping in the third turn.
Fultz crew was able to repair the car and he continued.
Grill held the lead for just a couple of laps before
Lawler moved past him to take the lead. Lawler then ran out to a large
lead and looked to be taking the race over when lightening stuck for a
second time as Lawler’s car slowed and he was eventually forced to the
pits due to an ignition problem. Grill then inherited the lead once
again on the 62nd lap.
Sieg had worked his way up to second on was pushing
Grill hard when lightening again struck with both cars spinning on the
102nd lap, in the fourth turn. Despite the cars ending up
sideways on the track the other cars managed to miss them both and all
of the cars on the track were able to continue racing. This put Justin
Drawdy in the lead.

Drawdy held the lead narrowly over Danny Bagwell
until contact between the two cars caused Drawdy to spin. Bagwell was
sent to the tail also, leaving Pollard as the final leader of the
event.
Korey Ruble and Danny Bagwell earned Hoosier Racing
Tire Performance Awards. Ruble also earned the VDL Fuel Systems
Hardcharger of the Race Award advancing nine positions to finish in
second. Grill was the Total Performance Halfway Leader and won the ARP
Bodies Cool Move of the Race Award for his great pass of Ryan Lawler
early in the event. Tony Ponkauskas was awarded the Safety Solutions
Tough Luck Award after his oil pump locked up during his qualifying
run ending his night. Bagwell received the Racing Electronics Improved
Positions Award.
The next CRA Super Series South Event will be the
All American 150 at the Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville on May 3 in
a combined event with the North series. The CRA Super Series North
kicks off its season on April 11 at Anderson Speedway with the
Anderson 125. For more information see
www.craracing.net.
Ryan
Sieg Fast Qualifier
Ryan
Sieg set the fast time for the inaugural CRA South race with a lap
time of 15.756 seconds, Augie Grill was second, Jeff Fultz third,
Ryan Lawler fourth and Bubba Pollard fifth.
Seig then
drew a 5 for the invert putting Bubba Pollard on the pole.
Qualifying Results
Feature Lineup
Lawler
Fastest in Second Practice
Ryan
Lawler was the fastest in practice session 2 and the fastest of the
day so far with
a
15.970 second lap. Chris Gabehart was second in both that session
and for the day at 15.993. In the second practice session Bubba
Pollard was third, Jeff Fultz fourth and Augie Grill fifth.
Practice #2 Results
Grill
Leads Practice for Watermelon 125
Birmingham, Alabama's Augie Grill was the fastest in the first
practice session for the CRA Super Series South Inaugural Season's
first event turning a 16.032 second lap at the Watermelon Capital
Speedway. Michael Pope was second fast at 16.074, Jeff Fultz third,
Justin Drawdy fourth and Ryan Sieg fifth.
The field
has several new names to CRA racing as well as several drivers very
familiar to CRA fans, including former Series Champion Chris Gabehart
driving his brand new machine, Jeff Fultz, Augie Grill, Ryan Lawler
and Justin Drawdy.
First Practice Session Results
Qualifying Order