SOPHIA, NC :: The 2015 season to date had been a tough one for Tommy Lemons, Jr. and Lemons Motorsports with a roller coaster ride of good runs and no finishes to show for it. That all changed on Saturday, July 4th with a dominating performance in the Rusty Harpe Memorial at Caraway Speedway.
Lemons rolled into Caraway Speedway looking to rebound after a blown engine at Motor Mile Speedway took him out of the lead and out of a victory last weekend. Lemons posted the fastest time in qualifying just edging out a NASCAR Whelen All-American Series National Champion and a star studded field of 21 cars.
A lap one crash scrambled the field and took out several front running cars but Lemons kept himself clean and took the lead after a lap 14 restart on the high side and held the field in tow. Though he would be challenged several times throughout the race Lemons puts in a dominating performance leading the most laps and taking home the win.
“This feels so good,” said Lemons after winning the Rusty Harpe Memorial 171 at Caraway Speedway. “We’ve had about all the bad luck you can have this season so far. We’ve had nights where we were just ill handling and couldn’t compete for the win, broken parts, blown engines and crashes. This makes it all better though.”
Lemons also wasn’t lost on what it means to win a race in honor of one of Caraway Speedway’s top Late Model competitors.
“This is for Rusty. I grew up racing here like he did, this is my home track. To win this race here in honor of Rusty is really special. This is one of those races we’ve always wanted to win and now we’ve got it.”
Lemons time to savor the victory will be short lived this week. He’ll have to turn his attention back to the CARS Tour for next weekend’s visit to Motor Mile Speedway. Lemons was the strongest car in last weekend’s Sunday matinee on the 4/10 mile track and he’s looking to finish next weekend with another win.
“We’ve not been as good on the CARS Tour this year as we thought we would be but heading to Motor Mile should be good for this team. We’ve always ran good at Motor Mile and thought we had a winning car last weekend until the engine gave up. It’d be great to get our first win in CARS at Motor Mile but the series has some stiff competition but I think this win will help fuel our team into next weekends race.”
Lemons is supported by Lemons Backhoe, Colonial LP Gas, Hedgecock Racing Enterprises, John West Racing Engines. For more information on Tommy Lemons, Jr. or the Lemons Motorsports team, check out their website at www.tommylemonsjr.com.
