{"id":25890,"date":"2019-09-25T10:23:18","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T14:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=25890"},"modified":"2019-09-25T08:24:04","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T12:24:04","slug":"short-track-legend-pollard-excited-for-inaugural-trip-to-milk-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2019\/09\/short-track-legend-pollard-excited-for-inaugural-trip-to-milk-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Short Track Legend Pollard Excited for Inaugural Trip to Milk Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Short Track Legend Pollard Excited for Inaugural Trip to Milk Bowl<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Barre, VT<\/em> \u2013 The 57th<\/sup> Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank is just days away \u2013 and one of the biggest stars of North American short track racing will be there. Senoia, GA\u2019s Andrew \u201cBubba\u201d Pollard is gearing up for his maiden voyage at Barre\u2019s Thunder Road this Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29 as he attempts to bring the famed Milk Bowl trophy down south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Pollard has won nearly every major Super Late Model and Pro Late Model race there is to win over the past decade. He triumphed in the first two Canadian Short Track Nationals, banking $75,000 CAD for his victory earlier this month. Pollard is also a previous winner of the Oxford 250, the All-American 400, the Rattler 250, the Snowflake 100, and many other nationally-known events along with multiple track and touring series championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This weekend, he will turn his attention to \u201cThe Toughest Short Track Race in North America\u201d. Pollard remarked on Speed51.com\u2019s \u201cMorning Bullring\u201d show over the winter that it was on his list of races he\u2019d like to run, which led to a deal with 2010 Milk Bowl winner Joey Polewarczyk and his team to try and score a kiss with a Vermont dairy cow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been following the race for the last couple years, and it really fascinating to me how the race was run with the segments, getting points for each one, inverting the field, and things like that,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cIt\u2019s really unique the way the race is run. And there\u2019s also the cow! I\u2019ve gotten to meet some of the guys like Patrick Laperle that have been up there racing and talked to them about the race. I\u2019m excited about it. I\u2019m looking forward to doing it, and I think it\u2019s a cool event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollard expects a challenge when he arrives at Thunder Road. He\u2019ll be stepping into an American-Canadian Tour (ACT) Late Model for the first time against drivers with decades of success on the Barre high banks. He also admitted he may have to tweak his driving style to adapt to the \u201cshort sprint\u201d format of three 50-lap segments. Pollard has been doing his homework in recent monthto get ready for when he rolls onto the track.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI watched last year\u2019s race on MAVTV a couple months ago,\u201d Pollard noted. \u201cWe sat down and watched it, we studied the segments, and we studied the guys that have won a lot of races up there. I watched a lot of videos on the internet to try to prepare myself for the track. I\u2019ve also talked to guys like Patrick, Joey, and a lot of other guys to try and prepare myself the best I can for when we get up there. You can kind of know what to expect, but you really don\u2019t know until you get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs far as the car, that\u2019s kind of the easy part,\u201d Pollard continued. \u201cYou\u2019ve got the same feel you\u2019re looking for in each car, even though it\u2019s different. Just getting more familiar with the racetrack and how the race is run is going to be the biggest thing \u2013 and also who you\u2019re racing against and the guys you\u2019re racing around. It\u2019s going to be important to learn all that throughout the weekend as well. I\u2019ll really lean on Joey and those guys to get as much information and feedback as I can to carry on into the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pollard isn\u2019t the only one excited about his impending trip to Barre. Drivers and fans have been buzzing about the modern short track legend\u2019s arrival and are eager to see what he can do in the Northeast\u2019s biggest Late Model event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the People\u2019s Champion of short-track racers,\u201d Warwick, MA\u2019s Tom Carey III said. He just loves to short-track race, and he doesn\u2019t really care about moving on up with the big boys. That\u2019s always been my whole thing, too \u2013 I never really wanted to do anything more than run short track races in New England at the Late Model level. And he\u2019s a big, heavy, tall boy like me, so it makes me feel good that he\u2019s whupping everybody\u2019s butt down South!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s great that somebody like Bubba Pollard, who has had success almost everywhere he goes, is coming to the Milk Bowl,\u201d Danville\u2019s Tyler Cahoon added. \u201cAt the same time, these cars are a little bit different than the Super Late Model he\u2019s used to racing. He\u2019s also going to be driving somebody else\u2019s car, which is always a little bit different\u2026but if you put a good, talented driver behind the wheel of a good car, I think they can race anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Pollard has the ultimate goal of winning like he does at every event, he knows it will be a tall task. He\u2019ll be going up against some of the modern greats of Thunder Road and ACT such as Jason Corliss, Scott Dragon, Scott Payea, Polewarczyk, and Laperle. If he did triumph in the Milk Bowl, he would be the first true \u201cinvader\u201d to do so since Butch Lindley in 1977. Regardless, he hopes to make the most of his experience this weekend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been traveling a lot for so many years racing in different places all over the country,\u201d Pollard said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched some of the races on TV, on Speed51, and to see that many people and the fans (at Thunder Road) is incredible. I\u2019ve heard the place is packed out and it draws a great crowd. I\u2019m really looking forward to racing against some new guys \u2013 some guys I\u2019ve heard of for a long time, but never gotten the opportunity to race with. I\u2019m looking forward to that, and I\u2019m looking forward to the fans, getting to meet new people, and hopefully we can have a good showing and make some new fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vermont Milk Bowl Weekend gets underway at 3:00pm on Saturday, September 28 with Booth Bros.\/H.P. Hood Qualifying Day. The Maplewood\/Irving Oil Late Models have time trials and 50-lap qualifying races to help set the Milk Bowl starting field. The Pro All Stars Series Super Late Models have a 150-lap event while the Lenny\u2019s Shoe & Apparel Flying Tigers, Allen Lumber Street Stocks, and Burnett Scrap Metals Road Warriors are also in action. A fireworks show from Northstar Fireworks and live music from local band Rumblecaddy will cap the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunday, September 29 is the 57th<\/sup> Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank. The Last Chance \u201cB\u201d Feature at 12:15pm will decide the final spots on the Milk Bowl grid. The three-segment Milk Bowl will follow along with action for the Flying Tigers, Street Stocks, and 7-Eleven Dwarf Cars. Adult admission is $45 for a two-day ticket, $30 for Sunday-only, and $20 for Saturday-only. Kids ages 12 and under are admitted free both days.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Short Track Legend Pollard Excited for Inaugural Trip to Milk Bowl Barre, VT \u2013 The 57th Vermont Milk Bowl presented by Northfield Savings Bank is just days away \u2013 and one of the biggest stars of North American short track racing will be there. Senoia, GA\u2019s Andrew \u201cBubba\u201d Pollard is gearing up for his maiden voyage at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thunder-road","category-vermont"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25890"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25891,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25890\/revisions\/25891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}