Epic Finish at Mobile Lands Hemric in Victory Lane and Pollard the SSS Championship
Top Three Separated by Less than a Hundredth of a Second at the Checkered Flag
The Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco reached an epic conclusion to its 2014 season Saturday night at Alabama's Mobile International Raceway.
2013 series champion Daniel Hemric came out on top of a three-wide battle for the win over Augie Grill and Jeff Choquette on the final lap. The top three were separated by just 0.008 seconds at the checkered flag.
Just like Saturday's race, as well as the series championship in 2013, the battle for this year's Southern Super Series championship went right down to the final lap. Behind the three-wide finish at Mobile, Senoia, Georgia's Bubba Pollard finished fourth to capture the Southern Super Series title by seven points over Hemric.
It was a tale of redemption for Pollard, who held the point lead into the series' final event at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville in 2013, only to be involved in a crash that cost him the championship by one point to Hemric.
"It makes up for last year," said Pollard Saturday. "We have had a great year I can't say anything bad about it. I hate to say we were point racing tonight, but we were doing what we needed to do to be the champion. We stayed up front and got the finish we need to be on top.
"I am proud of the season we have had. It's an honor to be the champion and to race with this group."
Pollard had the best view in the house of the three-wide battle on the race's final lap.
Hemric, who entered the 2014 season finale at Mobile 13 point behind Pollard, ran the final nine laps side by side with Jeff Choquette following the race's final restart. When the two got sideways together off turn four and headed for the checkered flag, Augie Grill, who won Friday night's SSS race at Five Flags (FL), made a bold three-wide move to their inside. At the start-finish line, it was Hemric's No. 98 car ahead of Grill's No. 112 and Choquette's No. 29 for the season-ending victory.
"It's pretty awesome when you can start 25 cars and have a finish like that after 125 laps," said Hemric. "That's why fans pay the money to see this series race. When we have finishes like that it keeps them coming back. I am just proud to be a winner on the final night with Carswell Motorsports."
Grill's second-place finish clinched the third position in the final point standings behind Pollard and Hemric.
"They were two wide for the last nine laps," said Grill. "I had nowhere to go so I tried to make it three wide for the finish. It was a lot of fun and great finish for the fans. We came up just a bit short, but all in all a good weekend."
While Grill ended up second on the bottom groove, Choquette was third in the middle of the last-lap sandwich.
"That was a first," said Choquette. "In all my 19-years of racing I have never been a part of a three-wide finish like that. Too bad we came out on the short end, but we had a great car tonight and we'll head to the (Snowball) Derby from here."
In addition to the Southern Super Series title, the Mobile Miller Lite Championship, which is comprised of the track's four Southern Super Series events, and the Sunoco Gulf Coast Championship (Mobile and Five Flags Speedway events combined) were also awarded to Pollard Saturday night.
Behind Hemric, Grill, Choquette and Pollard, Mike Garvey rounded out the top five. Casey Smith, Anderson Bowen, Donnie Wilson, Dalton Sargeant and Casey Roderick made up the rest of the top 10.
Choquette started the night by capturing the $500 Southern Super Series Pole Award, which is presented by Hamner Racing Engines, McGunegill Engine Performance, Progressive Racing Engines, Ford Racing and RW Racing Engines. It was his first SSS pole of the season.
Choquette was also the Dubz Thermal Products halfway leader and pocketed $100 for leading lap 63.
The Southern Super Series presented by Sunoco has now completed the 2014 regular season. The best of the best in the Super Late Model world will now head to the 47th Annual Snowball Derby at Pensacola, Florida's Five Flags Speedway on December 7th. During the Snowball Derby pre-race festivities, the Southern Super Series champion will be crowned before the most prestigious Super Late Model race in the country.
For more information on the Southern Super Series, visit SouthernSuperSeries.com. The Facebook page for the Southern Super Series is located at www.facebook.com/southernsuperseries. The series is also on Twitter at @SoSuperSeries. For advertising or sponsorship questions, please contact the track representatives. For media inquiries, please contact Matt Kentfield at 51 Sports via matt@51sports.net.
Southern Super Series Championship
Sunoco / Miller Lite 125
Official Results:
198Daniel Hemric
98Daniel Hemric2112Augie Grill
112Augie Grill329Jeff Choquette
29Jeff Choquette426Bubba Pollard
26Bubba Pollard51Mike Garvey
1Mike Garvey699Casey Smith
99Casey Smith729Anderson Bowen
29Anderson Bowen82Donnie Wilson
2Donnie Wilson95Dalton Sargeant
5Dalton Sargeant107Casey Roderick
7Casey Roderick1188Garrett Jones
88Garrett Jones125Bayley Currey
5Bayley Currey1322Josh Bragg
22Josh Bragg1400Denver Foran
00Denver Foran154Jimmy Simmons
4Jimmy Simmons1677Ross Kenseth
77Ross Kenseth1797Jimmy Garmon
97Jimmy Garmon1833Dustin Smith
33Dustin Smith1931Kyle Grissom
31Kyle Grissom2012Harrison Burton
12Harrison Burton2158John Coffman
58John Coffman2247Allen Karnes
47Allen Karnes2375David Odell
75David Odell2466Steve Wallace
66Steve Wallace2558Don Hale Jr
58Don Hale JrSeptember 21, 2014
