RIDGEWAY, VA :: The MDCU 300 is both a marathon and a sprint with Late Model drivers having to survive the first 190 laps of the 200-lap feature while positioning themselves for the competition caution that automatically drops with 10 laps to go each year.

The caution creates a dilemma in that the leader is oftentimes a sitting duck.

Lee Pulliam dominated this race a year ago and maintained the lead up until the green-white-checkered when Deac McCaskill plowed into him entering Turn 1, eliminating both drivers from contention. Pulliam, the outside pole-sitter for Sunday’s race, says incidents like that are rare and he hopes for a cleaner finish this time around.

As a result, he wants to be the leader with 10 laps to go each year, without fail.

“Sometimes guys get moved or move someone out of the way or whatever but I finished second to Philip (Morris) in 2012 and we had a good clean race with 10 to go so I think it’s just a matter of who you’re racing around,” Pulliam said. “You have to remember that these guys know that you’re going to the tail-end if you wreck someone.

“You have to race smart, you have to race aggressive but in my opinion, you want to be on the pole with 10 laps to go.”

Peyton Sellers is on pole for Sunday’s race and hopes to remain there throughout the afternoon, citing the difficulty to pass as the primary reason.

“I personally think track position means so much in these Late Model Stock races,” Sellers said. “If you’re around good guys that race you clean, it works because last year was not typical of how guys up front typically race. I think you want to restart up front.”

Veteran driver Mike Looney agreed and added that racers always want the lead regardless of circumstances. He says that winning at Martinsville simply requires a display of defensive driving talent to accompany the offensive abilities that gets you to the front in the first place.

“You know the shove is coming at the end of the race,” Looney said. “You drive in a little lower and a little slower and you just hold on to it. You know what’s coming and while you’ll be mad in the moment, you’ll get over it within a week. You can’t get too attached to your race car because it’s Martinsville.”