TROY, NC :: A year ago Tommy Lemons, Jr. used an excellent late race restart to vault to the lead and the win at Martinsville Speedway in the MDCU 300 for his biggest career win.
This weekend he’ll roll back into Martinsville Speedway for the first time since then in hopes of duplicating his performance from last season. Lemons last year came in after a good year winning just four races at two different tracks but this season he comes in riding a wave of momentum that started last year at this exact venue.
“I’m so ready for this race,” said Lemons. “If you race in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series in a Late Model Stock Car, this race is the pinnacle. Winning it last year was the biggest win of my career and the only thing that could top it would be a second win at Martinsville.”
However, Lemons knows that this race has been known for humbling drivers no matter what their experience or results in the past.
“Don’t get me wrong though. I’m excited about this race but this is the toughest race there is. Making this race is bigger than winning most other races. This field will be tough and there will be a lot of people watching what we do because we’re the defending winners. It’s not enough just to be fast you have to be lucky too.”
Lemons is looking to go in with a no pressure approach and just act like nothing’s different than it was last year.
“There’s a lot of pressure coming back but we’re just focusing on this race like we’ve never won it before. If we go there hungry like we always have, we can be one of the contenders. My team has prepared us better than last year and now we just need to perform and have a lot of luck and we can repeat.”
Lemons will be going to the track with a teammate this year as Joey “Mooch” Mucciacciaro will be driving one of Lemons’ other cars. Lemons hopes the additional effort will add to their notes and help get both teams a great finish.
“Having Joey running this weekend too will certainly be a great help to the team. It’s double to practice, double the notes to look at from practice going into the qualifying session and another driver to debrief with. He’s a good driver who knows what he wants and knows what it takes and we’re looking forward to working with him on our Jumpstart Motorsports team.”
Lemons is supported this weekend by Colonial LP Gas, Hytec Coating, Old North State Granite, Lyons Metal Roofing, Carolina CAT, Robinwood Enterprises and Lemons Backhoe.
