03/21/2024
As Pensacola’s 5 Flags Speedway prepares for this weekend’s historic triple header, there are two familiar names to watch, Bubba Pollard and Jake Finch.
Panama City’s Jake Finch is coming off a big Pro-Late win at the Rattler and an incredible run in the ARCA race at Daytona International Speedway. The Eighteen-year-old driver has quickly become a fan favorite at 5 Flags. His aggressive driving style and colorful persona off the track keep social media humming win or lose. Last year’s win at Dover in the ARCA Menards Series proves he can be a threat to win at the ARCA Pensacola 150 on Saturday too.
With the exit of Pensacola’s Eddie Mercer from full time competition, the 5 Flags faithful have adopted Senoia, Georgia’s Bubba Pollard as their favorite son. Like Finch, Pollard is coming off a win at the Rattler and is basically undefeated in Super Late Model Competition in 2024. Along with winning his third Rattler 250, Pollard has parked it in victory lane at ASA in New Smyrna and Speedfest at Crisp Motorsports Park. In addition to running the ASA race on Sunday, the ARCA race on Saturday, Pollard has added a Crown Stock race on Saturday. If he wins all three, a lucky fan will win $1,000! Pollard will add to his racing resume in a couple of week making his first Xfinity start for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Another driver doing the double this weekend is the 2023 Southern Super Series and 2023 CRA Super Series Champion, Gio Ruggerio. Seekonk, Massachusetts is a long way from Pensacola Beach but the young 17-year-old has already made an impact on the Coast. This weekend he will pilot a Venturini Motorsports machine in the ARCA race and a Donnie Wilson Toyota in the ASA Sunshine State 200. Google fast, Venturini and Wilson names comes up at the top of the list.
Pollard, Finch and Ruggerio are well known entities at Pensacola, another guy to keep an eye on is Eden, Prairie, Minnesota’s, William Sawalich. The Joe Gibbs driver won the ARCA race at Pensacola last year and the ARCA East Championship, plus he’s hot off a win in Phoenix in ARCA Menards competition. Joe Gibbs Racing has won the last 3 ARCA Pensacola 150s.
A preview of the weekend would not be complete without mentioning the 2023 ARCA West Champion, Sean Hignorani. The Irvine, California native will skip the ARCA race on Saturday to focus on the ASA race on Sunday. Hignorani will pilot a Derek Thorn prepared Super Late Model on Sunday. Thorn is also a West Series Champion and won the 2022 Snowball Derby and the 2019 Snowflake at 5 Flags.
The driver who will win the longest commute award this weekend is Connor Zilisch. The North Carolina driver has filed an entry for the Craftsman Truck Series race at the Circuit of The America’s in Austin Texas and the ARCA race in Pensacola. Zilisch will climb in his Spire Motorsports Truck at 12:30 Pensacola time, turn 225 miles, hop in a plane, go 800 miles and then run the ARCA Pensacola 150. Not quite the Indianapolis 500-Coke 600 double but it will be interesting to see how the 17-year-old handles the two completely different tracks in the same day.
A lot of attention has been paid to the Saturday-Sunday racing in Pensacola’s historic triple header opening weekend but some of the best action of the weekend will happen on Friday night with the local Sportsman, Pure Stocks and Outlaw Divisions.
Young guns Connor Sutton and Carter Taylor will take on the Cantonment Legend Bubba Winslow (another Rattler winner) in the Outlaws. Derby winner James Patrick will try and hold off 2023 Champ Maddox Langham and 2022 Champ Chad Robinson. In what is known affectionately as the “Wild Bunch”, the Pure Stocks, dang near anything can happen and it usually does!
All tickets can be purchased online at 5flagsspeedway.com or trackenterprises.com. Pit passes can be purchased on the Pit Pay app. Tickets purchased ahead of the event have a five-dollar discount. As always tickets can still be purchased at the track on race day.
Tommy Praytor is in his 26th season of covering motorsports for WNSP 105.5 as host of Inside Alabama Racing. In addition to IAR Praytor has hosted National TV and Radio broadcast on racing and has been active in all levels of the sport as an owner and participant.
