Michael Pope Avoids a Snake Bite at Cottonmouth 100

When you are 16, the world is full of firsts. For 16-year-old Michael Pope this weekend held several firsts as he competed in the Cottonmouth 100 at South Alabama Speedway (AL). It was the first time he competed in an event outside of the Georgia Asphalt Series, and he was also able to claim the first time that he led a lap in the competitive Pro Late Models that are so popular in the southern states, as he brought home a top-five finish..

“It was a real exciting weekend,” said Pope. “It started off good, we led some laps, and it ended good.”

The weekend started off with Pope qualifying in the top-six. Thanks to the inversion, he started third and stayed up there for the first part of the race. As the leader, Ronnie Sanders had bad luck with some mechanical problems with his car. Pope was then able to take the lead.

“On the start we jumped out and followed Ronnie Sanders who started on the pole and was running second. Something happened to his car around lap eight, and then I took the lead. It was really exciting to be out front for the first time, and we stayed out there for about 20 laps.”

Bad luck for the leaders eventually found its way to Pope, however, as he had a tire start to go down. He pitted to fix the tire under a caution and had to restart at the back of the lead-lap cars which left him in the 18th position.

“We were green for about 20 laps, and then we have a caution come out. After the caution I had a right-front tire start going down, and we ran about 20 more laps and another caution came out. And by that time my tire was completely flat, so we had to come in and change the tire. We went back to 18th and came back up to finish fourth.”

Despite the bad luck, Pope wasn’t going to let that ruin his good day. He was able to work his way back up through the field and finish in the fourth finishing spot.

So while the outcome of the race may not have been what the car had, a top-five is still a good finish when faced with the adversity that Pope and his team faced.

“I am really pumped up now,” added Pope. “That was my first race that I ever led, so I am really looked forward to our next race, because we have been on such a roll lately. Lanier National Speedway is our next track and I am pumped up for it, but Lanier hasn’t always been too good to me, so I hope things will change this time.”

The next event for the Georgia Asphalt Series racing action takes place this Saturday, September 23rd, at Lanier National Speedway located in Braselton, Georgia. The racing action starts at 7pm.

For more information on The Wild Child, Michael Pope, please contact Amy Hayes at (704) 455-2051 and be sure to check out Michael Pope’s new website at www.michaelpopeonline.com.