STATESVILLE, NC – CARS Tour race director Chris Ragle said Bubba Pollard should have been sent to the rear for his involvement in a late race incident at Hickory Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
With 40 laps to go in Saturday night’s CARS Super Late Model race, Josh Berry spun when trying to make a pass on Brandon Setzer, setting up a chain reaction. Pollard, who went on to win the race, got hit from behind by Jared Fryar and looped it around. Ultimately, CARS Tour director Chris Ragle determined, at the time and without video replay, which is usually available to him, that Pollard spun to avoid the incident and was allowed to keep his position.
“Most places, we have the technology and stuff, we pride ourselves on that, to have replay and tools like that at our fingertips to use,” Ragle told Race22 Radio on Monday. “Hickory, the beautiful layout that it is, where they do the announcer and everything like that is downstairs a level and all the way across so the ability for me to have access to instant replay isn’t there. Everything that I have to make a decision on is just what I see and my team we have in the tower.”
Ragle then elaborated on what he thought happened at the time.
“When the 97, I know some people, well the 97 broke a hub or he didn’t break a hub,” Ragle explained. “That’s not what caused him to spin. He tried to stay off of Brandon after making a little contact and looped it around. What I initially thought I saw was everybody jammed on the brakes, the 26 of Pollard, and jammed on the brakes to avoid it. Same thing Josh did but Josh obviously was the reason the caution came out.
“So, my initial thought was that the 97 was what caused that caution and everybody else either stopped, spun, grabbed a gear, go, slowed down, didn’t really stop and hit anything. Everybody did a phenomenal job. Nobody hit the wall. Nobody hit anyone else. Hey let’s go back to last completed lap except the 97 who caused the yellow.”
The non-call caused outrage on social media – most notably from NBC Sports analyst, team owner and former Daytona 500 champion Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
For 70 years you were just part of the accident. I wonder why that is viewed differently today?
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) March 24, 2019
Ragle now feels that, after getting the opportunity to watch the video replay, he made the wrong call at the track on Saturday.
“Looking back now that I have the ability to replay, the 14 dumped the 26, so there was that contact there,” Ragle remarked. “Looking back, the 26 and the 14 should have went to the rear for contact and being in it and being the yellow as well.”
Ragle’s comments were part of the CARS Tour Report segment of Race22 Radio, which runs on every Monday following CARS Tour events.
