MOBILE, AL. :: So it all comes down to this.
After 14 races across four states and six tracks, the Southern Super Series championship comes down to a single race at Mobile International Speedway as Bubba Pollard leads defending champion Daniel Hemric by 13 points entering the season-ending Sunoco 125.
Just as they have done for the better part of a month, neither driver is willing to talk about the prospects of a championship. Both have decided to wait until after the final flag drops to see how the standings have played out and react accordingly.
Pollard maintains the perspective that he has carried since day one.
“We just got to go win,” Pollard said on Friday night when asked about the prospects of winning his first career touring series championship.
More: Recap and Results from Friday at Pensacola
Hemric is hopeful that he can bridge the gap to his rival but says he isn’t going to change the way he races. This is especially true since winning on Saturday night is most likely the only way to overcome the deficit to Pollard.
“We’ll find out tomorrow,” Hemric said. “I just hope that fans pack the house tomorrow and we’ll give them a show.”
Qualifying pays a maximum of 15 points per event. The pole winner will earn 15 markers, second place 14, third 13 and so on. Each qualifier will gain at least one point for taking time trials. Pollard can give himself an extra cushion by out-qualifying Hemric, while the defending champion could possibly aid his effort with a fast lap.
The race itself pays a maximum of 100 points. The winner earns 100, second place 97, third 94 and then 91, 88, 85, 82, 79 and 76 and so forth. There are no bonus points for leading a lap.
So there are many ways in which the championship can be won or lost on Saturday night. During the season finale last year at Nashville in the All-American 400, Hemric overcame a 54-point disadvantage due to a late incident where Pollard was unfortunately slammed hard into the Turn 1 wall on a restart by Kyle Benjamin.
Hemric finished second to race-winner Chase Elliott and took the inaugural crown by just a single digit. Thus, the second ever Southern Super Series championship is far from over despite the sizable Pollard lead.
More: 2013 Championship Finale Revisited
Race22.com will be on-site Saturday for the Southern Super Series championship race in Mobile — the Sunoco 125. Follow him on Twitter @MattWeaverSBN. The entry list for the race can be found below.
- Denver Foran
- Mike Garvey
- Donnie Wilson
- Jimmy Simmons
- Dalton Sargeant
- Bayley Currey
- Casey Roderick
- Harrison Burton
- Josh Bragg
- Bubba Pollard
- Jeff Choquette
- Anderson Bowen
- Kyle Grissom
- Dustin Smith
- Allen Karnes
- John Coffman
- Don Hale Jr
- Steve Wallace
- David Odell
- Ross Kenseth
- Garrett Jones
- Jimmy Garmon
- Daniel Hemric
- Casey Smith
- Augie Grill