Friday at South Alabama Speedway, Senoia, Georgia driver Bubba Pollard may have floundered in 30th place on the practice charts, but he never flinched. His qualifying run on Saturday afternoon showed why.

Pollard turned a lap of 15.082-seconds to claim the pole position for Sunday’s Hardee’s Rattler 250, the first race of the 2016 Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco.

“If it doesn’t drive good, there is no reason to put tires on it (in practice),” Pollard said. “Tires are a fix-all. We just worked on race runs all day Friday, just to make sure it was driving good. We put ourselves in position to have a good starting spot and it worked out for us.”

Pollard is no stranger to success at South Alabama Speedway, having captured multiple wins and poles in a variety of divisions at the 4/10-mile oval between Opp and Kinston, Alabama.

With nearly two decades of racing under his belt, Pollard feels that his base setup is the deciding force in his Deep South dominance.

“When you’ve been racing 20 years, you better have a good baseline,” Pollard said. “The tires change and the racetrack changes, so you try to keep up with those all weekend. The key is to have a good package when you unload and everything comes easier.”

Kyle Busch Motorsports driver William Byron qualified second with a lap of 15.085 seconds. Kyle Grissom, Harrison Burton and Kyle Plott rounded out the top five.

The 40th Annual Rattler 250 is scheduled for a 2 p.m. CST start Sunday afternoon. More information about the 40th annual Rattler 250 including ticket information can be found by visiting www.southalabamaspeedway.com.

The 40th Rattler 250 will be just the tip of a packed 12-race schedule that makes up the 2016 season for the Southern Super Series. For more information on the Southern Super Series, visit www.southernsuperseries.com.

Qualifying Results:
1 26 Bubba Pollard 15.082
2 9B William Byron 15.085
3 31 Kyle Grissom 15.114
3 12 Harrison Burton 15.114
5 4 Kyle Plott 15.167
6 51N Stephen Nasse 15.171
7 91 Ty Majeski 15.201
8 99 Casy Smith 15.226
9 17 Quinn Houff 15.234
10 51 Christopher Bell15.235
11 15 Christian Eckes 15.236
12 97 Cole Anderson 15.244
13 16 Brandon Odom 15.256
14 11 Logan Boyett 15.265
15 2W Donnie Wilson 15.272
16 2 Brett Holmes 15.274
17 9K Derek Kraus 15.301
18 77 Zane Smith 15.317
19 66 Korey Ruble 15.323
20 01 Derek Scott Jr 15.325
21 55 Dalton Sargeant 15.340
22 14 Chris Davidson 15.360
23 47 Allen Karnes 15.367
24 9S Travis Sauter 15.371
25 3 Kaz Grala 15.377
26 51A Michael Atwell 15.395
27 88 Garrett Jones 15.411
28 10 Steve Dorer 15.489
29 1 Cody Coughlin 15.497
30 96 Augie Grill 15.534
31 71 Johnny Brazier 15.554
32 98 Kenzie Ruston 15.678
33 X2 Dennis Reno Jr 15.696