RIDGEWAY, VA :: Tommy Lemons rocketed to the lead on a Green-White-Checkered finish to score the victory in Sunday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300, a race that was nothing short of epic.  Lemons got to the lead after a series of wild and controversial events resulted in Lee Pulliam, Philip Morris and CE Falk all being retired from the event in an accident that was not of their doing.

“Nothing tops winning this race,” Lemons remarked.  “There’s nothing that could express how important this win is.  I’ve been coming here since 2003.  Last year was the first time since 2006 that we didn’t make the race.  We had bad luck.  We had a good car last week, didn’t change anything, came back and it was still fast.  We left something off the table for qualifying and still ended up sixth.  I just felt really good about today.  We were fast in the first half, had some bad luck, battled back and we’re the winners.”

Lemons got the lead after a wreck took out several of the top contenders during a Green-White-Checkered finish.  Matt Waltz dominated much of the second half of the race before Lee Pulliam got around him in the closing stages.  Pulliam had to hold off a fierce challenge from Dillon Bassett before a competition caution came out with 10 laps to go.  From there, it got intense.  While leading, Pulliam was taken out by Deac McCaskill in an accident that also took out Philip Morris and CE Falk.  That allowed Dillon Bassett to inherit the lead.

Bassett would lose the lead coming to the green flag on a Green-White-Checkered finish when Lemons passed him up the outside coming to the green flag.  Lemons drove away from Bassett to score the victory.  Bassett, who was later hospitalized due to carbon-monoxide poisoning, got out of his car after the race, thinking he had won the race, and fell off the roof when celebrating.  Bassett’s team protested the results, claiming Lemons jumped the start.

The protest that the Bassett team lodged had no impact on the results and Lemons’ victory was official after post-race technical inspection cleared with no problems.  Bassett finished second followed by veteran racer Dennis Setzer in third, Blake Stallings finishing fourth and Lonesome Pine Raceway track champion Ryan Stiltner finishing fifth.

The late race accident left Lee Pulliam miffed.  Pulliam declined comment with RACE22.com on Sunday night.  Dillon Bassett was taken to a nearby hospital and was later released.

The carnage in the heat races pushed the start of the 200-lap feature event back two hours.  The race did end with the advertised distance being completed despite the darkness.  The most significant incident occurred in the first heat race when Michael McGuire’s throttle hung, causing him to drive up and over Anderson Bowen.  Bowen was also transported to a nearby hospital after the incident and later released without any major injuries.

Kingsport Speedway track champion Chad Finchum started the race on the pole after winning his heat race.  Lemons also won in his heat race while Matt Waltz and Philip Morris scored victories in their respective heat races.  Garrett Campbell won the Last Chance Qualifier race.

Official Race Results

1. #27 Tommy Lemons
2. #44 Dillon Bassett
3. #24 Dennis Setzer
4. #97 Blake Stallings
5. #22 Ryan Stiltner
6. #81 Wayne Ramsey
7. #03 Brenden Queen
8. #87 Hayden Woods
9. #72 Dennis Holdren
10. #73 Bruce Anderson
11. #41 Wes Falk
12. #08 Deac McCaskill
13. #18 David Roberts
14. #71 Peyton Sellers
15. #1 Lee Pulliam
16. #26 Philip Morris
17. #06 Davin Scites
18. #40 CE Falk
19. #21 Myatt Snider
20. #2 Matt Waltz
21. #8 David Garbo
22. #90 Brodie Kostecki
23. #76 Mack Little
24. #3 Adam Long
25. #17 Timothy Peters
26. #7 Dude Gibbs
27. #12 Ryan Wilson
28. #10 Nick Smith
29. #98 BJ Mackey
30. #77 Alex Yontz
31. #04 Ronnie Bassett
32. #88 Dustin Rumley
33. #84 Thomas Scott
34. #68 Brandon Brown
35. #19 Chad Finchum
36. #42 Garrett Campbell
37. #47 Bryan Reedy
38. #82 Scott Lancaster
39. #83 Matt Bowling
40. #16 RD Smith
41. #28 Ryan Glenski
42. #34 Giles Thornton