Champion Profile: Lee Pulliam
Already Gearing Up For ’14 Season
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Lee Pulliam made a seamless, successful transition to a new team for 2014. He’ll take a break this week to celebrate the accomplishments of his 2013 season.
Pulliam won two out of four major post-season Late Model races he entered in October, November and December. Two of those events introduced his new alliance with Kiker Motorsports for 2014, and they won in their first start.
Pulliam, 25, of Semora, N.C., won his second straight NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship in September.
Pulliam savors his 2013 accomplishments. He joined five-time champion Larry Phillips and four-time champion Philip Morris as the third driver to win more than one NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championship, and to win two in succession, in the series’ 32-year history.
“I respect what Larry and Philip have done,” Pulliam said. “They are heroes and legends.
“It’s amazing to win one national championship. That’s special by itself. It’s an honor to win again and be included on that list with Larry and Philip.”
Pulliam Motorsports’ principals will also receive national champion awards.
Pulliam’s father and car owner Harold Pulliam will receive the national champion’s Lincoln Electric Car Owner Award and Winston Brooks will receive the Lunati Crew Chief Award.
The senior Pulliam, 54, of Semora, N.C., and his wife Debra are proud parents. They have three successful adult children, Harold III, Lee and Ashley. All three spent time working at the family’s small logging business when they were growing up.
“We were blessed with three good kids,” Pulliam said. “We’ve got a whole lot to be thankful for.”
Youngest son Lee wanted to race stock cars since childhood and had humble beginnings as a driver. He got his parents’ permission to go racing when he turned 18. His father gave him parts and pieces of a Limited Sportsman car race and told him if he could built it, he could race it. The teen ended up building the foundation to become a two-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion.
“Lee had to learn everything he could about race cars from the ground up,” Pulliam said. “If he hadn’t done the work, he’d never had a chance in racing. He’s a bright young guy.
“Lee improved every year as a driver even from last year to this year,” Pulliam said. “His feel for a race car is amazing. We’re thankful to be able to give him the opportunity to go racing. Lee is blessed with a natural ability to race, and he does it the right way. I’m very proud to be his daddy.”
Veteran crew chief Brooks is a key team player who helped driver Pulliam achieve his full potential over the past three seasons.
“People ask me what we’re doing differently, and I tell them it’s Lee. He’s grown in every way over the last three years,” Brooks said.
“Lee knows so much about a race car. He can pinpoint something and tell us what we can do to make the car better. He can dissect what a car’s doing and what it needs every foot of track through a corner. If the car has a problem, I’ve seen him compensate his driving and maintain the same lap times. It’s easy to work with a driver like that.”
Brooks, 52, of Oxford, N.C., joined Pulliam Motorsports beginning in 2011. In his first year with the team, Pulliam won his first career track championship at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., and placed third in national points. They won the national championship in 2012. This year they added 2013 track championships at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and Motor Mile and won their second straight Virginia state and national championships.
In November, Pulliam made headlines by winning the annual Myrtle Beach 400 in his debut as driver for Kiker Motorsports. The victory was the first by a reigning NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion in the event’s 21-year history. Robert Powell, the series’ 1988 national champion won the 400 back-to-back, 2001-02.
Pulliam won at Myrtle Beach in a car he’d never driven at a track he’d never raced. He swept the event by winning the 50-lap Dash For Cash and with it, the pole for the main event.
Kiker Motorsports is based in Indian Trail, N.C. The team is operated by Travis and Eddie Kiker. Until the Myrtle Beach event, Pulliam spent all seven years of his racing career with his family’s Pulliam Motorsports team.
“Travis and Eddie are the car owners, but we’ll still be working on it in our shop,” Pulliam said. “Putting Kiker Motorsports’ car into victory lane and all the firsts that came with winning at Myrtle Beach shows what we can do.”
The combination of Pulliam and Kiker Motorsports is mutually beneficial. Pulliam will still maintain the equipment, know every bolt on the car and learn its nuances. Parking his family-owned car provides relief from the finances of fielding a top-flight car. Kiker Motorsports benefits by gaining the experience of Pulliam’s built-in team.
“My first concern has always been to improve and make our team better,” Pulliam said. “When the competition stepped their programs up, we stepped ours up. I think we’ll take another step with Travis and Eddie.”
Kiker Motorsports recent-years drivers include Frank Deiny Jr. and Brandon Dean. The team has won plenty of races. With Dean they won the 2010 NASCAR Late Model championship at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va.
Before garaging his own car, he was leading when spun out in the closing laps of the Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 300 at Martinsville Speedway in October. He picked up a ride and won a 200-lap Pro Cup Series race at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C. in November. In his second start for the Kiker team on Dec. 1, he led late and placed third in the Thanksgiving Classic 200 for Late Models at Southern National. Ronnie Bassett Jr. won the event over Matt McCall and Pulliam.
Pulliam will be honored as the 2013 national champion at the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards in the Crown Ballroom of the Charlotte (N.C) Convention Center inside the NASCAR Hall of Fame on Friday, Dec. 13. The awards ceremony is slated to be streamed live online at www.nascarhometracks.com.
Sources: Paul Schaefer/NASCAR PR