Pulliam Survives Wild Finish in Martinsville
Wins Prestigious Late Model Stock Special Event For Second Time
MARTINSVILLE, Va. – Lee Pulliam realized a few weeks ago that he didn’t have a chance to win his third straight NASCAR Whelen All-American Series championship but what he accomplished Sunday might ease a little bit of his frustration at not getting another title.
Pulliam took the lead on the restart of a green-white-checkered finish from Peyton Sellers and went on to win his second grandfather clock winning the MDCU 300 for the second time in four years. Pulliam’s first Martinsville victory came in 2011.
On Sunday’s final restart on Lap 198, Pulliam was able to pull ahead of Sellers and take the lead. On the final lap, Sellers and Sam Yarbrough got together in Turn 1. The contact sent Sellers into a spin in front of the field. Anthony Anders, 2014 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion, was unable to miss Sellers and was collected as well.
[Photo Gallery] by Brad Newman
Yarbrough was able to rebound from the contact to finish second with defending event winner Tommy Lemons Jr. followed in third. B. J. Mackey, who started 31st in the 42-car field, finished fourth and Mike Darne completed the top five.
“The last four or five years when I felt I had the winning car I got wrecked or something crazy happened and the two years I won it (the race) I didn’t have the best car,” Pulliam said. “They say the best car never wins and you have to be at the right place at the right time.”
For his take on the last-lap accident, Yarbrough felt it was just a product of hard racing between competitors going after the prestigious win.
“Coming in to Turn 1 I thought I had position (on Sellers) and you saw what happened, but we come out the other side in pretty good position,” Yarbrough said. “When went in to the turn I felt I had position and I think it was just one of those racing deals.”
The first half of the race featured three changes among four drivers with 15-year old Kaz Grala leading 52 laps in the segment.
After the halfway break, Darne jumped to the lead and held it three times in the second half of the race before Sellers took the lead for the final time on Lap 181 where he stayed until the final restart of the race.
Matt Bowling, Matt Waltz, Davin Scites, Kyle Dudley, and Brayton Haws completed the top 10.
Sellers was credited with a 12th-place finish which helped him secure the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown challenge sponsored by South Boston, Langley, and Martinsville Speedways.
The race was slowed 10 times by caution with two red flags given to the field for cleanup of multicar accidents.
RACE RESULTS | AUDIO: POST-RACE COMMENTS FROM LEE PULLIAM | AUDIO: POST-RACE COMMENTS FROM SECOND-PLACE SAM YARBROUGH & THIRD-PLACE TOMMY LEMONS JR.
NWAAS Martinsville 10/5/14 Unofficial Results
Whelen All-American Series
Race:
Pos No. Name Sponsor Make Laps Diff
1 5 Lee Pulliam Kiker Tree Service Chv 200
2 20 Sam Yarbrough Robert Elliott Trucking Chv 200 1.087
3 27 Tommy Lemons Jr. Robinwood Enterprise Chv 200 1.823
4 93 B.J. Mackey Barber Automotive Frd 200 1.922
5 14 Mike Darne Dean Technologies Frd 200 2.469
6 83 Matt Bowling Hopkins Lumber Chv 200 2.991
7 2 Matt Waltz Waltz Engineered Sales Chv 200 3.557
8 6 Davin Scites Wayne Lumber Inc. Chv 200 4.652
9 51 Kyle Dudley Kings Hauling and Excavating Chv 200 5.701
10 41 Brayton Haws Rheem Mechanical HVAC Services Frd 200 13.627
11 2 Mike Looney VA. Heavy Equipment Sales Chv 200 22.318
12 99 Peyton Sellers Danville Toyota Tyt 199 1 Lap
13 88 Josh Berry Speedco Chv 199 1 Lap
14 36 Anthony Anders Outback Steakhouse Frd 199 1 Lap
15 15 Kres Van Dyke Service Fuel / Pizza Plus Chv 199 1 Lap
16 1 G.R. Waldrop Jersey Mike’s Subs Chv 198 2 Laps
17 57 Eddie Johnson Johnson Racing Frd 198 2 Laps
18 9 William Byron Liberty University Chv 198 2 Laps
19 59 Coleman Pressley Jasper Frd 197 3 Laps
20 44 Dillon Bassett Rex Younger Galleries Frd 194 6 Laps
21 62 Myatt Snider myattsnider.com Chv 193 7 Laps
22 74 Michael McGuire Woods Towing & Transportation 193 7 Laps
23 40 C.E. Falk III Avalon Fishing Pier Frd 193 7 Laps
24 47 Timothy Peters Autos by Nelson Tyt 192 8 Laps
25 17 Stacy Puryear Puryear Racer Parts Tyt 192 8 Laps
26 90 Terry Carroll Carroll’s Automotive Chv 191 9 Laps
27 31 Kaz Grala OzLINK Chv 163 37 Laps
28 21 Travis Swaim United Sewing Machine Frd 151 49 Laps
29 26 Philip Morris Clarence’s Steak House Chv 149 51 Laps
30 3 Brenden Queen Freeland Electric Chv 143 57 Laps
31 91 Justin Carroll Carroll’s Automotive Frd 130 70 Laps
32 8 Deac McCaskill H&L Logging Chv 130 70 Laps
33 8 David Garbo 129 71 Laps
34 7 Clint King King Racing Chv 118 82 Laps
35 70 Gary Lewis International Parking Management Tyt 117 83 Laps
36 82 Barry Beggarly Alamance Muffler Chv 117 83 Laps
37 45 Joey Mucciacciaro Pools by Murphy Chv 116 84 Laps
38 98 Todd Gilliland Country Chevrolet Chv 107 93 Laps
39 32 Austin Thaxton Fallen Trucking Tyt 101 99 Laps
40 16 R.D. Smith Smith Rentals Chv 73 127 Laps
41 0 Shane Lee Leeboy Chv 38 162 Laps
42 58 Tyler Ankrum Modern Meat Co. 200 Laps
Sources: Tim Southers, NASCAR PR