Lee Pulliam is looking forward to making his debut in the CARS Late Model Stock Tour in the series’ season opener at Tri-County Motor Speedway on March 10th – while also looking forward to having fun throughout the season.
The race will be Pulliam’s first race in 2018 as the four-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion plans to run a reduced schedule this season. Entering the CARS Tour race is a change of pace for Pulliam who has typically only competed in NASCAR sanctioned events in recent years as he’s chased points during national championship runs.
“Look forward to the CARS Tour deal,” Pulliam told Race22.com. “Really excited to be back behind the wheel. The car’s been really good everywhere we’ve taken it. Look forward to a new track, racing with new people and just see how it goes. I’m pretty excited about it.”
For many fans and observers of the CARS Tour, Pulliam’s absence from the series in its first three seasons has been noteworthy of its own. Pulliam is arguably the greatest Late Model Stock Car driver of this decade and fans have, since the inception of the CARS Tour, had great desire to see Pulliam compete against names like Deac McCaskill, Josh Berry, and Tommy Lemons, Jr. on a more frequent basis.
“I think it adds an element to the tour,” Pulliam commented. “Hopefully, you know, it will be a big crowd of fans. I’m just really looking forward to racing with those guys. I grew up racing against Tommy Lemons, Jr. and Deac McCaskill the majority of my career. It will be good racing with those guys at one time at a track I’ve never been to.”
For Pulliam, this season is about having fun behind the wheel instead of enduring the pressure of chasing a national championship or chasing track championships. Pulliam has not set a schedule of races he will compete in and is instead just taking it one week at a time.
“Right now we’re just taking it week by week,” Pulliam remarked. “Just trying to go different places and have fun every once in a while. Maybe race once or twice a month or something like that. Just looking to have fun.”
While Pulliam has scaled back the amount of racing he will do from behind the wheel, he will still be at the track every week. Pulliam will work with Garrett Bunch, R.D. Smith, Jason Barnes, Brandon Jones and Jessica Dana each week throughout the season and hopes to see each of his Lee Pulliam Performance drivers in victory lane.
“It’s good to have Garrett back,” Pulliam stated. “It’s been a while. The last time we ran together, we won both races at Orange County. Jessica’s been impressive too. Real excited to have Garrett back in the shop this year. I feel like we’ve got a lot of wins coming with both of these drivers. R.D. Smith’s really strong. Got Jason Barnes and Brandon Jones. Hopefully, we can visit victory lane with all those guys this year.”
Next weekend, Pulliam will work with Bunch at Southern National, then set his sights on victory in the CARS Tour season opener at Tri-County Motor Speedway. When asked where a win in the CARS Tour would rank, Pulliam just noted, as many of fans know, every win is important to him.
“You know, every win’s great,” Pulliam said. “It’s hard to place a number where wins rank these days. Every win for me, the next win’s always the biggest so we’re always looking forward to putting 110 percent into it and I really feel like we’re going to have a good piece.”
While Pulliam frequents victory lane more than almost any other driver in the sport, he still celebrates every win like it could be his last.
“That’s how you have to treat everything in life,” Pulliam explained. “You never know when it’s your last dance, last win, last time in a car, last time you see your family. You just never know and you never take anything granted in life. Just got to learn and enjoy each and every moment.”
No driver in the Late Model Stock Car discipline has been covered as much as Pulliam in the past decade and throughout the decade, Pulliam’s personal life has evolved just as much as his professional life. He’s a married man with a daughter, a love for life, and a love for God and family.
“Behind God, family’s number one. You know, a lot of times, we get so busy in this racing stuff, it gets put on the back burner but in all reality, that’s what it’s all about. I wouldn’t take anything for my family and faith in God. I really love and enjoy doing this. This is a big, big part of my life but God and family are the two things that come first.”
