April 20, 2024 Montgomery, Alabama:
Stan Narrison / Scott Reid
As part of the “Rumble by the River” late model doubleheader, the ASA Southern Super Series held a 125 lap event in addition to the “Show Me The Money” Pro Late Models battling for 100 laps and the popular Shelby concrete Street Stock season opener.
The ASA Southern Super Series feature saw North Carolina’s Matt Craig #54 prevail and take the checkered flag after 125 laps. Craig took the lead away from Florida’s Michael Hinde #69 on lap 84, who dominated the race until that point. Hinde ultimately suffered a broken rear axle shortly after losing the lead, sidelining him for the remainder of the night.
Craig, who hadn’t scored a Super Late Model victory since his triumph in the 2021 All-American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, had to manage holding off some hard-charging competitors on several late-race restarts. Despite the pressure, Craig prevailed while being the clear front-runner following Hinde’s exit.
“The race went just how I wanted it to,” said Craig. “We rode second for a while. The leader kinda missed a corner one lap and I was able to get by him and we were able to control the race from there to the finish. You get these nights sometimes where the car, you just hit it right. Tonight was one of those nights for us.”
Despite the late-race intensity with several restarts, Craig was calm and collected throughout.
“It was pretty standard. Our car was so good, I was able to get through 1 and 2 on the first lap good and be able to pull away. I wasn’t too worried, but anything crazy can happen.”
On the final lap, with Craig’s win already secured, the second and third place runners of John Bolen and Stephen Nasse were involved in a crash. The crash occurred as a result of Bolen running out of gas, leading to Nasse making contact with Bolen’s car and sending both drivers into the inside wall coming out of the final turn.
“John [Bolen] went low getting into 3 and then kinda washed up a little bit. I kinda thought he had a problem, and thought he was gonna give me the bottom,” said Stephen Nasse. “By the time I committed to it, he came down and we just got together. He said he lost all power, and these things aren’t much fun to turn with no power steering.”
“We talked about it, no hard feelings. We’re definitely both upset. We had two good race cars that were gonna be second and third and neither of us finished. That’s no fun for anybody.”
“Just ran out of gas, fifty feet short.” said Bolen. “Just sucks, we had a good second place run. Matt [Craig] said he ran out when he tried to do a donut for a burnout. I think everybody was that close on fuel, and we didn’t need those cautions there at the end.”
The unexpected last lap crash led to some new faces on the podium, with Dustin Smith #33 finishing in second as his car was badly overheating. Billy VanMeter #23, who had noticeable front end damage, rounded out the podium in third in just his first race at Montgomery Motor Speedway.
ASA Southern Super Series Rumble by the River 125 Results:
- Matt Craig
- Dustin Smith
- Billy VanMeter
- Gio Ruggiero
- Casey Roderick
- Dawson Sutton
- Cole Butcher
- Bubba Pollard
- Jackson Boone
- Jett Noland
- Jake Finch
- Connor Okrzesik
- Colby Howard
- John Bolen -1 lap
- Stephen Nasse -1 lap
- Michael Hinde -19 laps
- Hunter Wright -19 laps
- Michael Goddard -30 laps
- Augie Grill -100 laps
- Allen Karnes -109 laps
- Blaise Rutherford – DNS
- Timothy Watson – DNS
Nasse Beats Rival Pollard in Pro Late Model Feature
The 100-lapper Show Me The Money Pro Late Model feature at Montgomery saw two of short track racing’s biggest stars dueling it out on the historic half-mile race track.
Stephen Nasse and Bubba Pollard are two names that most would probably not expect to run a Pro Late Model feature at Montgomery, but they certainly put on a show, swapping the lead on a couple different occasions. Ultimately, Stephen Nasse would pass Bubba Pollard on lap 68 and pull away to score the victory.
“We’ve been doing so good this season, and we’ve been really confident with Pro stuff, so it does feel good to come out and be able to win like that,” said Nasse. “I really didn’t have much confidence in practice all weekend. It just was a little bit numb to me, but surprisingly in the race I felt like it was really good. Definitely one of the better cars.”
Jim Wall, the original entry for the no. 91 machine, fell ill, and Bubba Pollard ended up driving the car, leading laps and coming home in second place, an objectively huge success for such a last-minute deal. John Bolen would round out the podium in third position.
Bama Budweiser Qualifying saw the #91 setting fast time at 19.379 piloted by Pollard and closely followed by 2 young guns Seth Christensen #45 19.497 and Landon Devaughn #21 19.525
Top 8 in BAMA Budweiser qualifying
- Bubba Pollard #91 19.379
- Seth Christenson #45 19.497
- Landon DeVaughn #21 19.525
- Jake Finch #18 19.616
- Jeremy Williams #89 19.634
- Gavin Graham #70 19.640
- Zach Dixon #67 19.643
- Stephen Nasse #51 19.652
.681 separated the Field 1-18
Redraw
- Zach Dixon
- Gavin Graham
- Landon Devaughn
- Bubba Pollard
- Stephen Nasse
- Jeremy Williams
- Seth Christenson
- Jake Finch
Lap Leaders
Gavin Graham #70 1-49
Stephen Nasse #51 50-52
Bubba Pollard #91 53-67
Stephen Nasse #51 68-100
Hard Charger John Bolen #2 Started 14 Finish 3
Show Me The Money Pro Late Model Rumble by the River Results:
- Stephen Nasse
- Bubba Pollard
- John Bolen
- Jake Finch
- Zack Dixon
- Clint King
- John Boy Wilkinson
- Jeremy Williams -24 laps
- Gage Rodgers -36 laps
- Landon DeVaughn -46 laps
- Seth Christensen -48 laps
- Bryce Carver -48 laps
- Gavin Graham -51 laps
- Augie Grill -51 laps
- Steven Chunn -51 laps
- Jaxon Bishop -51 laps
- Trey Grimes -51 laps
- J.C. Cleckler -60 laps
Shelby Concrete hit the track for the first time in 2024. Group qualifying saw Charles Davis #6 leading the pack at 22.585 closely followed by Austin Evans #19 22.654, 3rd Tre Huff #14x 22.794 and Racing legend Billy Melvin #26 22.911 in 4th
As is usually the case the competition was tight with battles throughout the field. Austin Evans and Charles Davis started on the front row and were battling from the start with Evans leading the first 15 laps Contact sent the #19 to the pits ending his day While Davis retired from action 3 laps later. On the restart Will Smith #7 took the lead and never looked back winning the 30 lap feature paying $1000 to win and his Rumble by the RIVER Gloves and hardware.
Rumble by the RIVER 30
- Will Smith #7
- Tre Huff #14x
- Billy Melvin #26
- Dawson Parker #16
- Rogeon Logan $93
- Greg Foley #15jr
- Nicky Pate #8
- Kara Wesenberg #31
- Charles Davis #6
- Austin Evans #19
- Riley Randall #9
- Ryan Logan #31l
- Bubba Deaton #55
Photos: David Kranak Impact Zone Photos Reid Scott, Liberty Racing Review