TROY, NC :: Tommy Lemons, Jr. is now looking ahead to the Thanksgiving Classic where he hopes to bookend the 2013 racing season with a victory after scoring a fifth place finish in the Myrtle Beach 400 on Sunday.
Lemons started Sunday’s 200-lap race in the 15th position. Like most drivers, Lemons spent much of the race saving his tires up to mount a late race charge for the victory. In the closing laps, Lemons charged towards the front of the field and worked his way up to a top-10 position.
“We just needed time,” Lemons said. “My timing wasn’t right. We waited a little bit too long to go there in the second half. I kind of let my guys down. We really had a good car. I’m not going to say we had a winning car but we had a really good car and I just let them down.”
Lemons was able to avoid a series of incidents in the closing laps, one of which on the second Green-White-Checkered attempt of the race which ended the race.
“I couldn’t tell anything (about what happened in front of me) from where I was at,” Lemons remarked. “I just seen smoke and the spotter started hollering about keep it low so I don’t know what happened.”
Lemons went on to finish fifth. Now, Lemons looks ahead to Southern National and the final race of the 2013 season and the final special event. He hopes to finish the season in Victory Lane at a track he’s won at three times this season.
“We didn’t do too badly in special events,” Lemons stated. “We’ve had a win, a second and a fifth. We’ve got one more to go. If we can get a win at Southern National, we’ll cap off a pretty good year.”
Lemons has scored seven wins, 34 top-five finishes and 39 top-10 finishes on the 2013 season to date with only one race remaining. Practice, qualifying and heat races which will set the field for the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic will be held on Saturday with the 200-lap Late Model Stock Car race in the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic will be held on Sunday, December 1st at 3pm. RACE22.com will have coverage of the race.
