Before that, Bollman clashed directly with Nitro Motorsports team-mate and title rival Thomas Annunziata. He slid up into Annunziata and spun him early in the race, with Annunziata then spinning Bollman a few laps later.
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While it had all the hallmarks of payback, Annunziata later claimed that he simply ‘misjudged it’ while also calling it an ‘eye for an eye,’ referencing other incidents where Bollman got into him.
Annunziata and Bollman ended up tying for the championship, with Annunziata winning the tiebreaker. It was a brutal loss for Bollman who essentially controlled the championship for most of the year.
Bollman said after the race: “We should have been more patient, but I wanted to really get that last win. I don’t feel like I put myself in any bad situation except that lapped car deal, and cost us a little bit there. But getting flat out dumped for that? I apologized right as it happened on the radio. It wasn’t intentional. I already had 16 points on him. Didn’t need to wreck him, right? It just hurts real bad…”
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The “lapped car deal” Bollman is referring to is where contact with his team-made ended up spinning Annunziata. He later told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports that he “won’t ever talk to him again”.
Annunziata was asked about those comments in his championship press conference.
“Yeah, it does (bother me) a little bit,” said Annunziata. “I think he’s a bit salty about the situation that happened. And it’s unfortunate, he’s my team-mate. But he’s not innocent. I mean, he’s run into me a lot this year. I mean, Duquoin — the last laps of Duquoin with eight to go, I was on the outside row and he thought it was funny to floor it 60 feet before the finish line, trying to push me ahead of Carson Brown to get me a penalty. I was locked up on the brakes before the restart.
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“He spun me out today, and that was not my intention to spin him out there. I was not going to leave him an inch. I could have went around his outside. I decided to go down his inside and get as close to him as possible to, to side draft. But I think that it’s a bit ridiculous. That’s the only time I’ve gotten into him this entire year. He’s gotten into me most of the times.
“We’ve out qualified them, 13 weeks straight. He’s never in front of me. He’s usually behind me, so he runs into me. So, that’s a bit unfortunate. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s done a great job this year. I was hoping he was okay, especially after that hit. I saw — I watched the whole thing and it’s unfortunate, but if he doesn’t want to talk to me. That’s fine. But I think that’s a bit silly because I’m not the reason why he lost the championship tonight.”
Annunziata went on to mention that Bollman himself said pre-race that it would be ‘fair game’ if they got into it for the title. He again said that he didn’t wreck Bollman on purpose, concluding his comments with: “I didn’t take the championship away from him today.”
Read Also:
Thomas Annunziata wins ARCA title on tiebreaker after clashing with teammate Bollman
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