Bubba Pollard Takes Michigan 300 Victory at Owosso

After a chaotic and attrition-filled finish, Bubba Pollard persevered for the win in the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour Michigan 300 at Owosso Speedway.

Pollard pulled ahead of Cole Butcher on a restart with three laps to go and held off Dawson Sutton for the victory, his first with the ASA STARS National Tour in 2025.

A multi-car incident swept up several front-runners, including the likes of Carson Brown, Gavan Boschele, Blake Rowe, Derek Thorn and Kasey Kleyn, as the field made its way down the frontstretch to start lap 298. That set the stage for the final fight to the finish, where Pollard claimed the upper hand.

While Pollard's ability to navigate the chaos played into his favor, that wasn't the whole story in his eyes.

"When you race with respect, it shows it pays off," said Pollard in victory lane. "When you race like those knuckleheads that don't have no respect, karma comes back to get you.

"We had a good car the first half. We didn't free up enough in the second half with those four tires. The last couple of races, we hadn't done a very good job making calls in the pits, but we had a good race car. We had a really good race car. We were up there where we needed to be to put ourselves in a position to win the race. We didn't have the best car at the end, but we've lost some at times, too, when things happen. So we'll take it."

Before the hectic closing laps, Owosso put on plenty of side-by-side racing over the course of the 300-lap event. Pollard tipped his cap to Rex Wheeler and Owosso Speedway management for their preparation ahead of the event.

"We need some good racing, and it's all about spraying the top and getting the second line up there so there's a second groove," said Pollard. "These cars are so equal, everybody goes to the bottom. We're all hunting the bottom, just trying to find grip. Everybody's got good race cars now. You saw it in qualifying, you're only hundredths, thousandths there from on the pole to 20th.

"Kudos to these guys, Rex and everyone here at Owosso and ASA for spraying the racetrack and giving us somewhere to race. That's what it's all about, being able to move around in these long races and make something happen."

Pollard now sets his sights on a second Oxford 250 victory this weekend, making the overnight trip to Maine once post-race festivities conclude at Owosso.

"We're leaving tonight, going to Maine to race the Oxford 250. We're gonna drive through the night. Hopefully we can get it done up there."

Dawson Sutton finished second after running outside the top five throughout the final stage before the late incident.

"We struggled there on the short run, but I feel like we were pretty good on the long run, especially when the top came in," said Sutton. "It was really fun. That's all I can really say. My team gave me a great car. I'm super thankful for Rackley W.A.R, Rackley Roofing, W.A.R. Shocks, Hornaday Development, all the other people that put in the work in the race shop."

Butcher, the ASA STARS National Tour points leader, finished third. It was a strong finish despite qualifying 15th and battling a car that wasn't to his liking for most of the day.

"We were just too tight," said Butcher. "I mean, I planned on using them a little bit, but not like that. I came home third. Congrats to Bubba, congrats to Dawson. Yeah, we just weren't good all day."

The mid-week event featured two NASCAR Cup Series competitors, Noah Gragson and Erik Jones. Gragson finished fourth, while Jones was collected in a late-race incident and finished 17th.

"We kind of struggled most of the race, but got lucky dodging the wrecks for the most part," said Gragson. "I'm glad everyone's alright from those wrecks. First off, I want to say thank you to all the fans for coming out. You guys are awesome. Your support means the world, not only to myself, but to everybody with the ASA STARS series, all the drivers, everybody involved."

The next event for the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour is the Glass City 200 at Toledo Speedway on September 13.

-Photo credit: Bruce Nuttleman, Ultimate Lap Photo

Michigan 300 Unofficial Results