RIDGEWAY, VA :: One of NASCAR’s oldest and most prestigious tracks will be in action this weekend, but not for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing. On Saturday and Sunday, NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model Stock Cars will take on ‘the paperclip’ known as Martinsville Speedway for the 45th time in the Martinsville DuPont Credit Union (MDCU) 300.
The MDCU 300 is Late Model Stock Car racing’s premier event. To the drivers running the perimeter-style Late Models used primarily in South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee, Martinsville is their Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and World Series all rolled in to one. That comes with good reason. Martinsville boasts the biggest payout in Late Model Stock Car racing — $25,000 to the winner and $1,000 to start.
The format for the MDCU 300 is different from the traditional race format. Time-trial qualifying laps are still standing in Late Model Stock Car racing but not at Martinsville. In 2012, time-trial qualifying was eliminated from the MDCU 300 and the race format was altered with the implementation of group qualifying and heat races which set the whole field. This year, the qualifying format has been altered again, this time with the two fastest qualifiers in Saturday’s practice session being locked in for the main event, on the front row – similar to how the front row is set for NASCAR’s Daytona 500.
For the rest of the drivers, they will have to race their way. There will be three 25-lap heat races with the top-10 finishers from each race advancing to the 200-lap main event and, for those who don’t advance, one 25-lap last chance qualifier – again with 10 cars advancing. Those races will set the 42-car grid for the 200-lap feature event in Sunday’s MDCU 300.
Over the years, NASCAR stars past and present have competed in the race. Denny Hamlin and Darrell Wallace, Jr. have both attempted to win the race while Jake Crum, Dennis Setzer, who is still a regular competitor in the MDCU 300, Elton Sawyer and future NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Mark Martin have all won Late Model Stock Car races at Martinsville Speedway over the years.
The 200 lap race features an intermission at halftime to allow drivers to make adjustments to their cars and a competition caution with 10 laps to go. That competition caution has created some wild moments throughout the years – most notably in 2009 when Jake Crum scored the win after Brennan Poole and Matt DiBenedetto, among others got caught up in an incident. In 2011, a late race restart gave Lee Pulliam the opportunity to catch up to and get to the rear bumper of Matt McCall on the last lap. The bump-and-run allowed Pulliam to score the $25,000 victory while McCall left the track miffed.
In last year’s race, the competition caution interrupted a thrilling duel between Lee Pulliam, Dillon Bassett and Matt Waltz. On an ensuing restart, Pulliam was wrecked off the front bumper of Deac McCaskill. Dillon Bassett appeared to have the race in hand until Tommy Lemons, Jr. rocketed by him on the outside line on a controversial late race restart and went on to take home the check and the iconic grandfather clock.
“Nothing tops winning this race,” Lemons said after scoring the victory in last year’s race. “There’s nothing that could express how important this win is.”
Lemons scored the track championship at Southern National Motorsports Park (NC) this season and looks destined to once again be a contender.
“We’re actually taking a different car than what we won with last year but, after the test, we feel like we’ve got a good piece coming in to this weekend. Hopefully that will be good enough to defend and go back-to-back… It’s all about luck there. You’ve got to be in the right place at the right time.”
The MDCU 300 has been graced by the presence of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series (NWAAS) National Champion throughout the years, including the last three years. 2014 will be no different as Anthony Anders, who won the NWAAS National Championship as well as the Greenville-Pickens Speedway track championship, will compete in the MDCU 300 for the first time racing a car prepared by former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series crew chief Lee McCall.
“I wouldn’t miss Martinsville for anything in the world,” Anders said. “Greenville and Martinsville have similarities. Every time I’ve run a long race in a Hawk-McCall car, it’s been a good long pace race car. At Hickory, one of those races, we finished second. We ran a 100 lapper at Anderson and started 17th and finished second. The equipment that they give me for long races is good and stable. I’m excited; I think we’ll have a good racecar. Ben Rhodes has been in position to win races. The equipment is there. I can’t wait to get there.”
The main thing standing in Anders’ way could be what’s called the “National Champion’s Curse”. While the driver who has won the NWAAS National Championship has competed in the race, no driver has ever won the national championship and the MDCU 300 in the same year. In 2011, Philip Morris’ car broke while he was leading. In 2012, Lee Pulliam finished second to Morris. Last year, Pulliam was wrecked in the closing laps.
Philip Morris is another driver who could threaten for the win. Morris has won the MDCU 300 three times and is a four-time NWAAS National Champion. While Morris was absent from racing for a good part of the 2014 season, he always arrives at Martinsville in peak performance mode.
“I’ve logged a lot of laps here at Martinsville so it’s just like the old saying about riding a horse or riding a bike,” Morris stated. “You know, it’s always Martinsville. It’s the same surface. It’s the same banking, which is kind of refreshing. The only thing that’s changed is the cars and tires. I feel like we’ve got a pretty good handle on it. I’m looking forward to this race.”
Jamey Caudill won the MDCU 300 in 2003. Caudill also spent much of the season on the sideline but, when he came back, he came back with a vengeance by scoring victories in the final two races of the season at Southern National Motorsports Park.
“I’m looking forward to going back,” Caudill remarked. “We’ve always run pretty well there but not had good luck there. We won it in 2003 in Charlie Long’s car. We’re trying to get a win in our own car there and been really close but not able to pull it off. We’re excited about going. The car was good in Kenly. We’ll work on it and get it close and get it dialed in there.”
Dillon Bassett has only become better as a driver after finishing second in last year’s MDCU 300. Bassett has lit the Late Model Stock Car racing world on fire by scoring 14 wins at five different tracks. Bassett scored victories at Ace Speedway (NC), Caraway Speedway (NC), East Carolina Motor Speedway (NC), Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) and Motor Mile Speedway (VA) in 2014. He also challenged for the win in the Hampton Heat 200 – the $10,000-to-win mid-summer classic at Langley Speedway (VA).
Another driver who turned heads in 2013 was Matt Waltz. Prior to the race, Waltz had scored only two wins at Langley Speedway. Waltz was part of an epic three-way battle for the lead with Pulliam and Bassett in the closing laps but a late race tire problem proved to be his undoing. In 2014, Waltz proved his Martinsville performance was no fluke. He clicked off 12 wins at Langley Speedway and finished second to Matt Bowling in the Denny Hamlin Short Track Showdown at South Boston Speedway (VA).
Other notables competing in the race include 2005 NWAAS National Champion and 2014 South Boston track champion Peyton Sellers, two-time LMSC Martinsville winner Dennis Setzer, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Timothy Peters, JR Motorsports development driver Josh Berry, Deac McCaskill, Matt Bowling, Dennis Setzer and CE Falk III, among others.
While the main prize in Sunday’s race is the iconic grandfather clock and the $25,000 check, many drivers are hoping just to make the race – a task that can upset some of racing’s very best, such as Josh Berry. Berry failed to make the feature last year, as did 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Champion Ben Rhodes.
Roanoke’s Kyle Dudley has won three track championships at Franklin County Speedway (VA) which sets just 40 miles north of Martinsville Speedway. He is also a frequent competitor at Motor Mile Speedway and has made starts at Caraway Speedway (NC) and South Boston Speedway (VA). For Dudley, it would be a dream come true to make it in to the race for the first time ever – and with the times he laid down during testing, he might do just that.
Annabeth Barnes, a graduate of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, failed to make the race last year by only three positions. If she were to make the field, she would be the first female competitor to ever start in the MDCU 300.
Making the race is one of the most challenging parts of the MDCU 300 race weekend. If a driver can make it in to the feature and survive whatever happens in the first 190 laps, they could be in position to pull off an upset or score a top-10 finish that will catch the attention of the entire Late Model world. Just ask Blake Stallings or Ryan Stiltner about how they surprised everyone and put their names on the map with their top-five finishes in last year’s race.
Martinsville’s victory lane is a destination reserved for dreamers. For the racers in the southeast, it’s a place where dreamers race and racers dream, a place that can be unlocked by determination – like the determination Tommy Lemons, Jr. had in 2013 when he used the outside lane, as he so often does, to get the lead and score the victory.
For the Late Model Stock Car racing community, their biggest day is right around the corner and, with it, another chance to win the MDCU 300.
Qualifying for the MDCU 300 will take place on Saturday, October 4th at 4pm EST and the green flag will wave on the first heat race to set the field for the MDCU 300 at 12pm EST on Sunday, October 5th. The qualifying races will be followed by pre-race ceremonies and the 200-lap, $25,000-to-win feature event.
For more information about the MDCU 300 or for ticket information, check out Martinsville Speedway’s website at MartinsvilleSpeedway.com or call the track’s ticket office at (877)-RACE-TIX.
