PILOT, VA :: Jason Lawrence is returning to the cockpit of a Late Model Stock Car for the first time since being suspended from NASCAR after an on-track altercation with Philip Morris at Motor Mile Speedway just under seven years ago.  Lawrence will make his return in Sunday’s Labor Day Classic at Franklin County Speedway.

Lawrence was suspended from NASCAR indefinitely and punished by Motor Mile Speedway after wrecking Philip Morris in a race at Motor Mile in September 2006.  Lawrence has told track officials that he intentionally wrecked Morris.  Morris had been contending for the NASCAR Whelen All American Series (NWAAS) National Championship that season, which he would go on to win for the first time in his career.

“It had been brewing all year,” Lawrence said in an interview with RACE22.com on Thursday.  “Me and Philip, before that year, had always driven each other incredibly clean.  2006 was different.  I was second in points and we were real close.  I outran him several times, we won a few races.  And he got to driving me dirtier.  He spun me out of winning my sixth race so he could win his 60th.  It kept getting worse and worse.”

Lawrence started running Late Models on dirt after the suspension where he has won feature races at Wythe Raceway in Virginia and competed in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.  Lawrence says he’s now older, wiser and more mature.

“I feel like everything happens for a reason.  If I had to do it all over, looking back, I’m not sure it would’ve turned out the same way.  I might keep my temper in check better than when I was younger.  I’m older and wiser.  I’m sure the deal with Philip changed my reputation in a lot of peoples’ eyes.  Before that, you could’ve asked anybody and they would’ve said I was one of the cleanest drivers to race against.  I feel the same way.  I won’t drive another driver dirty first.  I race people the way they race me.  I’m not the one to initiate contact but I won’t roll over either.”

Lawrence was reinstated by NASCAR in 2010 and had planned on running at Motor Mile Speedway for Derrick Lancaster after doing some testing but the deal fell through.  Lawrence has been unable to get a ride in the asphalt Late Model ranks until now and has continued running on dirt off and on – where he has found some success in past years.

“It’s been a few years since I ran dirt until this year,” Lawrence explained.  “I started back in it this year.  We ran some national touring events a few years back and I did real well in those.  I finished second at a national race in Wytheville.  I’ve won a feature race there.  Dirt’s a lot different.  The driver means more in dirt than anything else I’ve driven.  Most asphalt tracks, the groove is on the bottom and that’s how it is.”

Sunday’s race at Franklin County Speedway will be Lawrence’s first race on asphalt since his suspension and his first career start at the 3/8 mile bullring in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Lawrence is confident his dirt experience will help him compete at Franklin County.

“I believe if I would’ve run dirt late models before asphalt, it would’ve made me a better driver.  It gives you more car control.  The only thing I raced before getting in a truck was a go kart.  From the trucks, I got in the cars and you’re not comfortable sliding something that big.  Dirt makes you comfortable sliding.”

Sunday’s race at Franklin County Speedway isn’t the only race Lawrence will compete in.  He will also race at Wythe Raceway on Saturday night in the Pro Late Nationals.  While Lawrence has never raced in the car he will compete in on Sunday, the car he will race has had success at Franklin County Speedway.

The car will be the no. 98 car that’s been piloted by Steve Dalton for part of the 2013 season at Franklin County Speedway.  Dalton has scored three wins this season and has recorded the fastest lap in the Late Model division at Franklin County in the 2013 season.

Lawrence will be supported by Racing Dynamiks, Thomas Trucking and Pizza Hut in Sunday’s twin 35 lap Late Model races.