Several years back, Bon Jovi had a hit song “Who Says You Can't Go Home?” With a little help from family and supporters, plus some burned midnight oil by the BDI Racing team, 19-year-old Michael Pope was able to do just that with high hopes for success in the “Watermelon 125” CRA Super Series South season opener at Watermelon Capital Speedway.

WCS is just a short drive from the young driver's Dublin, Georgia hometown. With a large contingent of family and local fans in the grandstands, Pope was determined to get a good result behind the wheel of the “Rally Against Cancer for the Jimmy Fund,” Country Inn and Suites #51 SLM for BDI Racing.

While he and the team did their part to ensure a strong result, unforseen mechanical issues under the hood of his Chevrolet Impala SS kept Pope from a victory, but a top-10 finish in ninth was still something for everyone at BDI Racing to build from.

“The car was really good early on in the race,” said Pope. “We started ninth and we worked our way up to fifth.  We were just riding at that point and then the car just started to tighten up lap after lap and we lost the handle.  In the center of the corner it started to shove the nose and I couldn't get into the gas at all. 

“Then on lap 90, we had an oil line break going into turn three and we looped it. That was pretty much the end of our night.”

The event being so close to Pope's hometown gave him and the entire BDI Racing incentive to succeed at Watermelon Capital. The BDI crew, led by Crew Chief Jerry Babb, Car Chief Jason Ricker and the rest of the crew spent long hours in the shop preparing the “Red Rocket” Chevy Impala for battle at WCS so that Pope could put on a show for the home crowd.

“I owe everybody in the shop so much after this effort to get here to race.  Jerry, Jason, Dustin (Archer), Duke (Kentfield), Bob and the Dillner family and everybody with BDI; they all worked really hard to get this car to the track and we were really fast in practice and in the first half of the race or so. We were able to run up front for a while, plus we were able to raise some money for the Jimmy Fund to support the “Rally Against Cancer,” so that was a big positive for the trip.

“By the time we got to Cordele, it was 6am Saturday and we had to be at the track by 8am, so when the race was over Saturday night, the whole crew really had a good night's sleep at the Country Inn and Suites in Cordele. The next morning, we had a great breakfast at the hotel and we were headed back to the shop to start getting ready for the next race at Hickory.”

Pope will be back behind the wheel of the familiar black #51 Chevy Impala at Hickory Motor Speedway for the “Easter Bunny 150” PASS South event on Saturday, April 11th.