Two-time defending NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Lee Pulliam hasn’t run the full season at Southern National Motorsports Park, but has been dominant in the races he’s started. Saturday night, it was once again Pulliam’s time to shine.
In the first of two Late Model Stock twin-50 lap races, Pulliam edged track point leader Tommy Lemons Jr. in Sunoco Race Fuels qualifying by a mere .018 seconds. Once the green flag flew, though, it was clearly Pulliam with the dominant car while the field battled for position behind him. Myatt Snider moved his way toward the front, but couldn’t catch Pulliam, as Pulliam won the first 50 lap race. Snider finished second, edging David Garbo Jr., who took third. Payton Ryan, in his return to SNMP, finished four, while Mike Darne finished fifth.
An eight-car invert from the first race put K&N East driver Kaz Grala on the front row, alongside Ricky Jones III. Grala led early, but Tommy Lemons Jr. gained the upper hand after a Lap 3 restart. Lemons held the lead until Lap 31, when a hard-charging Lee Pulliam slipped past. A late restart gave Lemons one last attempt to win, but Lemons could do no better than third, as Pulliam won the second half of the Late Model double-header. Mike Darne ran up front for the bulk of the race and finished in second, while Jonathan Cash finished fourth and Jones fifth.
With Tommy Lemons Jr. finishing strong in Race 2, and Myatt Snider having trouble after a mid-race spin, Lemons has opened up a 78 point advantage over Snider. Mike Darne continues to sit third, but now is only eight points behind Snider, while Pulliam moves back up to fourth. Ryan Wilson is fifth.
August 23 is the birthday of Limited Late Model driver Rusty Daniels, and he celebrated in as big of a way as he could. Daniels set the fast time in qualifying, and dominated from the pole in the first half of the Limited Late Model double-header. Behind him, Andrew Grady, Ronald Refnrow and Ross Dalton all battled for position. Daniels won easily, with Dalton finishing second. Grady, Haley Moody and Ronald Renfrow rounded out the top five.
A full-field invert placed Tyler Mathews and Travis Green on the front row of the second Limited Late Model race. Mathews led early, pulling away while Dalton, Moody and Grady all battled behind him. At just past halfway, Moody caught Mathews, making her pass for the lead on Lap 14. From there, Dalton and Daniels both gave chase, and while both drivers closed the gap on Moody, it was Moody’s race. Haley Moody took her second win of 2014, with Dalton finishing second, Daniels third, Grady fourth and Renfrow fifth.
Point leader Wayne Goss sat on the pole in the first of two Charger races, but Michael O’Brien quickly took the lead. O’Brien, who had won the previous two Charger division races, pulled away from the field, as Gerald Benton and Tom Sauls wrestled for position. Sauls eventually took advantage, and while O’Brien found victory lane for the third time in three races, Sauls scored a season-best second place finish. Jeremy Bohne finished third, despite not taking any practice or qualifying laps.
In the second Charger race, Paul Williamson sat on the front row with Wayne Goss, but once again it was Goss taking the early advantage. Goss held the lead for the first 18 laps before succumbing to the advances of Charger rookie Jeremy Bohne. Bohne held off a late charge by Michael O’Brien to win his first ever Charger race. O’Brien took second, while Tom Sauls finished third.
In Ultimate Body Shop UCARs, James Stroud and Tyler Horne continued their season-long point battle. With Horne finishing sixth in the first race, along with Stroud finishing right behind Horne on the podium in the second, Stroud left Southern National Saturday night with a 12 point advantage over Horne. In Race 1, Joseph Pittman battled with Stroud, finishing second with Ronnie Jones finishing third. In the second 20 lap event, Stroud held off a hard-charging Mickey Conner to take second, while Connor finished third.
Greg Barnette once again dominated the 25 lap Street Stock event, holding off a late charge by Kyle Smith, while Blaise Brinkley won from the pole in Bandoleros, keeping Henry Broadbent Jr. back.
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