The starting lineup for the ValleyStar 300 was set by a mixture of qualifying for the first two spots and heat races along with a last chance qualifier for the final ten spots.
1. #87 Mike Looney
2. #5 Lee Pulliam
3. #01 Phillip Morris
4. #04 CE Falk III
5. #12B Bobby McCarty
6. #17A Stacey Puryear
7. #02 Brandon Butler
8. #08 Deac McCaskill
9. #88 Josh Berry
10. #83 Matt Bowling
11. #26A Danny Edwards
12. #15 Kres VanDyke
13. #2A Myatt Snider
14. #16 RD Smith
15. #14 Ryan Repko
16. #20 Sam Yarbourgh
17. #03 Brenden Queen
18. #22 Trevor Noles
19. #57 Justin Carroll
20. #12A Austin Thaxton
21. #4 Dylan Hall
22. #12 Nick Smith
23. #33 Macy Causey
24. #1A Christian Eckes
25. #63 Tyler Matthews
26. #27 Tommy Lemons Jr
27. #98 Stefan Parsons
28. #50 Boo Boo Dalton
29. #9 Brad Kurth
30. #51 Chris Chapman
31. #01A GR Waldrop
32. #18 Bradley McCaskill
33. #26 Peyton Sellers
34. #21 Mike Darne
35. #55 Mark Wertz
36. #55 Mark Wertz
37. #81 Justin Johnson
38. #41 Haley Moody
39. #4C Annabeth Barnes-Crum
40. #57A Jimmy Mullins
41. #1 Jamie Sweeny
42. #90 Terry Carroll
The most prestigious LMSC race in the country all comes down to this, this one is for $25,000 and all the marbles. The field will go until lap 100 for a competition caution and then have a to be determined invert.
The field got to turn one and then it all hit the fan when Tyler Matthews went around in front of Chris Chapman, Bradley McCaskill, and Terry Carroll, with all four cars receiving damage and the crash. Jamie Sweeny stopped to avoid the wreck but stalled and had to be pushed to restart. After this incident, Race Control decided to completely restart the race from scratch.
The “official start” saw Lee Pulliam take the lead on a questionable start, one he almost got black flagged for but Lee fell back in line, giving the lead back to Mike Looney. Looney, Lee Pulliam and Phillip Morris running 1-2-3 put some day light between them and CE Falk III in the first 20 laps while the field ran single file in the early stages of the event.
Macy Causey, a popular pick among Langley Speedway fans took her No.33 to the garage on lap 22, ending her hopes of a grandfather clock. Haley Moody, who got in the race via the last chance race, blew a motor around lap 25 and ended her day, much earlier than she anticipated.
Mike Looney’s commanding lead was stretched out by the time he started putting lapped cars between himself and Lee Pulliam and at one point, on lap 34 there were three cars between the two drivers who shared the front row for today’s race.
Looney’s massive lead was erased when Peyton Sellers, still chasing his first grandfather clock came to a stop at the entrance of turn four. The incident ended the race for Peyton, another heartbreak for Sellers in the biggest race of them all, another year where he won’t hoist the grandfather clock.Another year he was among the favorites and just couldn’t get it done.
Once the race got back going, Lee Pulliam got around Mooney for the lead on lap 49 and took it from there, extending the lead to around two car lengths within the first lap. The lead was short-lived as Bradley McCaskill went around in turn four, along with Stefan Parsons getting into the wall, sending up a plume of smoke. And ending Parsons’ day at Martinsville.
Pulliam and Looney fought for the lead for the first lap after the restart with Pulliam getting it as the field worked lap 65. On lap 70, race control announced the invert would be a six-car invert, with the leader going back to sixth, second place going to fifth and fourth going to third and vise-verse. Pulliam’s three car length lead was erased by a debris caution, caused by Boo Boo Dalton in turn three on lap 73, while under caution, national champion Matt Bowling came down pit road to take his hood off but was ordered back in to put it on and never lost a lap. JR Motorsports driver Christian Eckes took his car behind the wall as well.
On the restart, Pulliam beat Looney again while Morris, Puryear, and McCarty before a huge wreck, causing a red flag on lap 85. RD Smith and Garrett Bunch along with defending champion Tommy Lemons Jr who had already overcome a black flag during his heat race earlier in the day all had huge damage, ending their hope of winning a grandfather clock or, in Lemons’ case another grandfather clock.
When the action fired back up, Pulliam once again beat Looney for the lead, Pulliam jumped out to a three-car length lead within two laps as Looney lost second to Phillip Morris.
At the halfway break the top 20 were:
1. #5 Lee Pulliam
2. #12B Bobby McCarty
3. #17 Stacey Puryear
4. #87 Mike Looney
5. #88 Josh Berry
6. #01 Phillip Morris
7. #14 Ryan Repko
8. #26A Danny Edwards
9. #02 Brandon Butler
10. #04 CE Falk III
11. #2 Myatt Snider
12. #15 Kres VanDyke
13. #12 Austin Thaxton
14. #08 Deac McCaskill
15. #57 Justin Carroll
16. #50 Boo Boo Dalton
17. #20 Sam Yarbourgh
18. #21 Mike Darne
19. #12 Nick Smith
20. #4C Annabeth Barnes-Crum
With the invert at six, Phillip Morris inherited the lead, followed by Josh Berry, Mike Looney, Stacey Puryear, Bobby McCarty and Lee Pulliam.
As soon as the field restarted, they went back under caution for debris on the front stretch. Morris beat Berry to turn one but Berry narrowly beat Morris back to the line for the lead, his first of the day. Berry couldn’t shake Morris, as the two continued to battle for a few laps, at one point being door-to-door until Morris went to the inside of Berry on lap 128, pushing him up the track but Berry lost it and spun around, but staying off the wall. During the green flag run prior, Stacey Puryear took his car to the garage, ending his day in what may be his final trip to Martinsville.
Mike Looney used the inside line to beat Phillip Morris off the restart but Josh Berry and Brad Kurth collided in turn three, while the field was under yellow, pre-race dark horse Ryan Repko spun while checking up in turn two. The damage caused by the crash has caused Berry to take his car to the garage, no clock for either JR Motorsports driver.
When they tried again to get going, Phillip Morris lined up to the outside of pole-sitter Mike Looney. Looney jumped out to the lead while Pulliam also got around Morris for second and then McCarty got around for third. Jamie Sweeny brought out the caution and jumbled back up the field when he smacked the wall in turn two on lap 150.
Pulliam and Looney stayed together for a few laps until Looney beat Pulliam going into three on lap 157. Looney opened up a four-car length lead while Pulliam held off McCarty for second. Bobby McCarty brought his car down pit road on lap 173, giving up the third place while Looney, Pulliam, and Butler pulled away until the lap 175 caution for tires.
At the final competition caution the top 20 ran down like this:
1. #87 Mike Looney
2. #5 Lee Pulliam
3. #02 Brandon Butler
4. #15 Kres VanDyke
5. #04 CE Falk III
6. #2A Myatt Snider
7. #26A Danny Edwards
8. #08 Deac McCaskill
9. #57 Justin Carroll
10. #01 Phillip Morris
11. #12 Austin Thaxton
12. #21 Mike Darne
13. #12 Nick Smith
14. #22 Trevor Noles
15. #83 Matt Bowling
16. #03 Brenden Queen
17. #14 Ryan Repko
18. #20 Sam Yarborugh
19. #4C Annabeth Barnes-Crum
20. #18 Bradley McCaskill
Phillip Morris lost his position when he took too long on pit road under the caution, with race control sending him to the rear. Morris also received a 2-lap penalty, which will be a death sentence for his hopes of winning this race for the fourth time
After the caution, a 25-lap shootout will follow. Mike Looney got the jump on the restart before the field went back green before Annabeth Barnes-Crum spun in turn one and began to leak water.
The ensuing restart saw Lee Pulliam line up inside of Mike Looney with Brandon Butler and Van Dyke in the row behind them. The field was once again bunched up when Trevor Noles, Noles then got out of the car and proceeded to walk on the track which, per the drivers meeting will ensure a fine from NASCAR later this week.
Looney had the edge on Pulliam on the restart and he and Looney started to pull away from Van Dyke and Danny Edwards. With 10 to go, the two got together in turn four with Pulliam coming out on the bad side.
The underdog Mike Looney pulled out the biggest win of his life, holding off Pulliam for his first ValleyStar 300 win. Unofficial top five are as follows.
1. #87 Mike Looney
2. #5 Lee Pulliam
3. #15 Kres VanDyke
4. #04 CE Falk III
5. #12A Austin Thaxton
6. #21 Mike Darne
7. #83 Matt Bowling
8. #57 Justin Carroll
9. #14 Ryan Repko
10. #03 Brenden Queen
Lee Pulliam came away second and said he faced adversity today, not having third gear for much of the race. “The whole race, all I had was first, second and fourth. Have to thank the guys around me for working with me, we had to try and time it on the restarts, we about burnt the clutch up.”
Kres VanDyke finished third,” It was crazy trying to stay out of trouble all day, we had to play a lot of defense. At certain times, we fell back a little bit but we had to stay strong and keep our heads up. We got 25 to go and we were in position, it’s just exciting to be here, it’s been a lot of work from my team getting the car ready for this race.”
Mike Looney, the surprise pole-sitter turned surprise winner was thankful that he even got into the race, let alone won the pole on even won. “It feels like the alarm clock is going to go off any minute, someone pinched me in victory lane so I guess it’s real, if I wake up and this didn’t happen I’m going to be so mad. I think I’m awake.”
“We had a blessed weekend, good grief. My crew worked our guts out, it’s a blessing that we had a crew this weekend, the friends I’ve got, we don’t have the money to pay anyone, they all come here because they want to be here, they pay their own way to come in here and work on my car.”
Car owner Billy Martin talked to me last month at South Boston and told me to “h his boy Mike at Martinsville.”
I asked him how he knew and Martin said, “I just knew, he is a heck of a driver but we don’t have a lot of money. I just knew he could do it, maybe now we can go buy another car and maybe run a full season at South Boston.”
