With 35 laps to go, Tyler Hughes found himself on the verge of the biggest Late Model victory of his career, as he held a comfortable lead over four-time Whelen All-American Series champion Lee Pulliam in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 at South Boston Speedway.
Those hopes for Hughes were dashed only a few moments later when he cut a tire on his #8 ROW6 Late Model, which would ultimately relegate him to an eighth place finish on the evening.
“It’s disappointing for sure,” Hughes said. “This is the closest I’ve ever been to winning a big race, and I think it’s the most laps I’ve ever led in a big race. The car just kept getting better and better on the long run.”
Hughes did not obtain the best starting position in qualifying, as he was forced to work his way up to the front from the 15th position.
As Philip Morris, Josh Berry and others battled for the lead, Hughes bided his time and gradually worked his way towards the front before finally cracking the Top 10 shortly before the halfway break.
Hughes’ entire race would be transformed when Berry selected the #10 as part of the halfway break invert, which kicked him all the way back to tenth and put Hughes in control of the field as the leader.
The second half of the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200 would feature an endless amount of cautions that took out Morris, Berry and several others, but Hughes stood his ground through the carnage by holding off challenges from Colin Garrett and Layne Riggs.
Pulliam began to show his muscle as the laps wound down by carving his way through the traffic and putting himself in second with less than 50 to go.
Hughes knew that it would be extremely difficult to hold off someone like Pulliam, but he stated that he was more than ready to duel Pulliam all the way until the checkered flag.
“I look up to Philip Morris, Peyton Sellers and Lee Pulliam,” Hughes said. “They are people who have been really successful in Late Model racing, and there was an incident a couple of years ago between me and Lee, and I told him that the one day I beat him for the win was going to be a day I remembered for the rest of my life. I felt like I got a taste of that tonight.”
Hughes would not get his chance, as the right-front tire gave out on his Late Model with 32 laps remaining, which brought out a caution and forced him to come to the pits.
Hughes’ crew managed to get him back out on track, but he ended up falling a lap down to Pulliam, who was now the leader.
Another caution with 25 to go enabled Hughes to get back on the lead lap and salvage an eighth place finish, but even though he plans to move forward and learn from what worked in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200, he could not help but think about his battle with Pulliam that never came to fruition.
“My spotter was telling me that [Lee] was catching us about a car length every few laps,” Hughes said. “I would’ve loved to have a had a shot to race him and try to hold him off on the outside if he ever got to my rear bumper. It wasn’t meant to be tonight, but we worked our tails off with a small crew all weekend to get this done, and I can not thank my crew enough for their hard work.”
The eighth place finish for Hughes puts him in a decent position in the Virginia Late Model Triple Crown, which will head to Langley Speedway on July 20 for the 11th annual Hampton Heat.
Hughes will have to chase down Peyton Sellers for the title, who finds himself in a good position to pick up his fourth Virginia Late Model Triple Crown after holding off Pulliam for the win in the Thunder Road Harley-Davidson 200.
