BRISTOL, Tenn. (May 22, 2017) – For Bubba Wallace, the 11th time was the charm at Bristol Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular put on a dominating performance Sunday evening in his first time at the controls of a Super Late Model and raced to his first victory at The Last Great Colosseum.
In other racing action on Sunday at BMS, Cole Williams took the Pro Late Model victory and Myatt Snider was the winner of the Late Model Stock 100 lap affair.
Wallace finished in front of Super Late Model category-regulars Jake Crum and Chandler Smith, who finished second and third respectively.
Pole-sitter Travis Braden finished 22nd when his night ended at lap 65. Second-generation racer and son of nine-time Bristol winner Rusty Wallace, Steve Wallace started third and finished fifth in his red No. 66 Ford. NASCAR Truck Series regular Noah Gragson, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, was collected in an early wreck and finished 30th.
Bubba Wallace started sixth in his black No. 6 Ford and quickly moved through the field and led the race at the 51-lap break. In the final 49-lap segment he led wire to wire and pulled away from the field at the end to take the checkered flag with a bit of distance between he and Crum.
“It’s good,” Wallace said from Victory Lane. “This is the first time for me here in 11 tries. It shows my track record here. This is a really cool event. Thanks to everybody involved. Thanks to Jerry (Caldwell, executive vice president and general manager) and everybody here at Bristol. They put on a great show tonight. I want to thank my uncle for coming on board as a sponsor and everybody at Fat Head Racing. Jamie (Yelton, owner) takes a lot of pride in his cars. He has a great group of guys working for him and I knew he would give me a shot there and it was good.”
In the Pro Late Model race, two-time national champ Williams started sixth in his blue and yellow No. 46 Cardinal Services Toyota and like Wallace, moved into the lead by the 51-lap break. Williams took advantage of an early-race crash, which took out top runners Dillon Oliver and Eddie Fatscher, and led to a brief skirmish in the pits where punches were thrown between members of the two teams. In the final 49, Williams cruised to the victory, holding off challenges from Jon Beach and Jack Smith
“This is freaking awesome this is definitely the biggest win in our career,” Williams said. “I knew if we could keep our nose clean we’d have a shot at it. I can’t thank everybody enough for what they do. It’s Bristol Baby!”
Snider, the son of veteran motorsports television announcer Marty Snider, started on the pole in the Late Model Stock race and stayed out front for most of the race to take the checkered flag for his career CARS Tour win.
Snider held off hard-charging Jared Fryar, who moved from ninth to second, Justin Crider and Travis Swaim. Defending NASCAR Whelen All-American national champ Matt Bowling, who started on the front row in his No. 83 Hopkins Lumber machine, led several laps early but finished seventh.
“It’s awesome,” Snider said. “I feel like we’ve been close to a CARS Tour win for a long time. It’s been a tough road. We’ve had a lot of problems and freak accidents. What better place for that first win to come than here at Bristol. I was really impressed with Jared. I had to drive the car as hard as I could to get away from him.”
About Bristol Motor Speedway
Forged amid the scenic mountains of Northeast Tennessee near the Virginia state line, Bristol Motor Speedway is The Last Great Colosseum, a versatile multi-use venue that hosts major auto races, football games, concerts and many other captivating events. The facility features a 0.533-mile concrete oval race track with 28-degree corner banking and 650-feet straightaways that offers racing in several NASCAR touring series, highlighted by two major Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series weekends. While at the track, fans are offered a unique viewing experience courtesy of Colossus, the world’s largest outdoor center-hung four-sided video screen with a 540,000-watt audio system. The adjacent quarter-mile dragstrip, Bristol Dragway, offers more than 70 events annually, including the marquee NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals. Three football games have kicked-off inside the oval, most notably the 2016 Pilot Flying J Battle at Bristol, where border rivals the University of Tennessee and Virginia Tech met before an NCAA-record crowd of 156,990. In existence since 1961, Bristol Motor Speedway was purchased in 1996 by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., a publicly traded company that is a leading marketer and promoter of motorsports entertainment in the United States. For more information, please visit www.bristolmotorspeedway.com.
