The best stock car driver you've never heard of is a 31-year-old from Georgia named 'Bubba.'
Completely serious.
Andrew "Bubba" Pollard doesn’t regularly race on television and will never appear in any national advertising campaigns. But he is without a doubt the undisputed face of pavement short track racing in North America.
In a little over a decade, Pollard has amassed a reputation that likens him to the all-time greats, Dick Trickle, Sam Ard and Jack Ingram. In fact, when it comes time to chisel the short track Mount Rushmore, those are the four who warrant inclusion.
Consider his wins. which include the All-American 400, Oxford 250, Kern County Winter Showdown, World Crown 300 and the 2014 Southern Super Series championship. Pollard is the winningest driver in the discipline over the last decade, piling up more victories by double than any other driver during that time.
But Pollard’s growing legacy goes beyond the races he has won or lost and is instead defined by his popularity and promotional drawing power. After meeting him for the first time at the 2017 Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Florida, NASCAR regular Noah Gragson referred to him as 'Redneck Jesus.'
Pollard has a love-hate relationship with the moniker, but it’s fitting and has stuck. He is bearded with a stout frame earned in equal parts from digging ditches, driving a 3,000-pound stock car and drinking beer — and the short track community loves him for it.
He is a blue-collar family man from Senoia, Georgia — a construction worker who just happens to moonlight behind the wheel of a Super Late Model. A third-generation racer, Pollard is the grandson of Senoia Speedway founder Hence and the son of driver Sonny.
His team includes his dad and brother. His sister spots for him. His wife and daughter tag along. This is simply what the Pollards do.
"Some families go huntin' or fishing and we go to the race track," Pollard said.
Pollard is the driver that promoters will tell you they most want on their entry list to drum up interest and ticket sales. Fans come out to see Pollard and he returns the favor. It’s not uncommon to see Pollard driving a four-wheeler through the parking lot to mingle with fans during a week-long event like the Snowball.
"That's what NASCAR is missing," Pollard said. "NASCAR forget where it comes from. This is why dirt racing is growing so much right now. They represent the middle-class, down to earth people that NASCAR seems to have forgotten.
"NASCAR wants to showboat money and flaunt this politically correct bull crap, and that's not what racing is about. It’s about wearing blue jeans and a T-shirt, having a good time. If you look in the stands, that’s who is there. You’re not going to see suits and dress shoes. That’s what NASCAR keeps trying to be, but that’s not their fans."
Pollard has the respect of those in NASCAR too. As much as Pollard wishes the highest levels were like grassroots racing, those already there envy the lifestyle and schedule Pollard has built for himself.
"Bubba Pollard is kind of living my dream right now," said Kyle Busch during a press event for the Brickyard 400. "He’s the biggest name in Super Late Model racing. He’s traveling all across the country, running the biggest races and winning them. That’s something that I want to do."
Dale Earnhardt Jr. called him "a Super Late Model legend who wins everywhere."
So, if Pollard is this good, then why isn't he racing on Sundays?
"I never got a call from a team a single day in my life," Pollard said. "If there isn’t dollar signs attached to it, they don’t want anything to do with it."
When Pollard was a teenager, he was invited to take part in the Roush Racing: Driver X reality television show. When that didn’t pan out, he made a handful of ARCA Racing Series starts, but his career never took off due to a lack of funding.
Even as the wins and accolades have piled up over the last decade, he knows it would take a multimillion dollar sponsor to pair with Pollard to seek out a NASCAR deal. And at this stage of his career, Pollard really isn’t that interested.
"I like to drink beer," Pollard said. "I'm not very politically correct. I don't always say the right things. I wouldn't play the game very well. I like my schedule. I like that I can spend time with my family. We're winning races and having a lot of fun doing this."
Pollard would like to make a NASCAR Truck Series start someday but not under the circumstances you might think.
"I don't want to do it with a big team or anything like that," Pollard said. "If I were to make a NASCAR start, I'd want to do it in the Truck Series and I want to do it with my guys.
"I want to buy a truck and take these guys from my Late Model team to a NASCAR race. That's takes a lot of work and money, but that's an experience I want to have with these guys."
In the meantime, he’s going to continue chasing wins in the biggest short track races across the country. He also recently began experimenting with a Dirt Super Late Model and made his Lucas Oil Tour debut over the summer. He wants to race a Tour Type Modified and a USAC Silver Crown car.
For Pollard, that’s enough.
"I've been lucky to surround myself with great people," Pollard said. "I just try to go out there and have fun. All that legacy talk? The legend stuff? That doesn't matter to me. I just want to win races. I would race every day of the week if I could. I want to be remembered as a guy that liked to race."
"BUBBA" originally appeared in the December 18, 2018 issue of Autoweek: Subscribe Today!
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