Chuck Barnes Sr. celebrates his victory in the second annual Polar Bear 150 at the Rockingham Speedwway on Jan. 1, 2010. (Photo: Rockingham Speedway)
During the days when it hosted two NASCAR Sprint Cup weekends per year, Rockingham Speedway had a reputation for some of the best racing on the circuit.
The combination of abrasive pavement and a wide racing surface made the 1.017-mile North Carolina oval a favorite stop for racers each year. And although the track fell victim to NASCAR’s realignment and no longer hosts Cup events, it still has some fine racing.
That much was evident on New Year’s Day, as for the second year in a row Chuck Barnes Sr. captured his second consecutive Frank Kimmel Street Stock Nationals Polar Bear 150 at ‘The Rock.’
Barnes survived a furious late-race charge by Brett Hudson to win by less than a car length at the end. Will Kimmel finished third ahead of Frank Kimmel II, with Chad Hall completing the top five.
The key to victory was track position, as Barnes fought off Hudson’s last-lap bump-and-run attempt.
“We had a good car, not the fastest car,” Barnes said. “He (Hudson) is a good driver and had the fastest car, I think. These cars are a whole lot better when they’re out front, mine was, and I know his was too. Somehow, I got him on the start and managed to stay in front of him. He drove me clean and he deserved to win because he had a better car.”
“I knew I had enough for him,” said Hudson. “I knew the only way I was going to do it was to back off early here (Turn 3) and pull up under him on Turn 4. It worked out perfect on the last lap, the lapped car broke his momentum down here (backstretch), he went in low and I went in high. It was looking good for me and he just held it down on the bottom and broke my momentum and I just hit him right in the center of the corner, all I did was shove him forward.”
Still, Hudson was pleased with his effort. “We would have loved to have won, but it was a great run for us and we’ll be back next time,” Hudson said.
The race was a calamitous affair, with two red flags 12 caution periods, resulting in only nine of the 60 cars that started the race finishing on the lead lap.
Jimmy Elledge, crew chief for Scott Speed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, found trouble on lap 60 that ended his day.
“It’s my fault, I was being stupid and driving my car way to hard and it was way too loose, said Elledge. “I was just trying to get to half way to get it tightened up. I was faster than that guy in front of me and I got below him. I almost had him cleared and he drove in on the outside of me and got me on the bottom, and I was way too loose on the bottom. I tried to finish the pass off, and it just got away from me getting into the corner and I spun out and wrecked. Nobody’s fault but mine.”
Racing returns to Rockingham Speedway on March 13-14 with the first-ever Chump Car 24 hours of Rockingham. The Spring Fling Legends and Bandolero challenge series also kicks off on March 14 on the Little Rock.
