Pulliam Made History, Crowned Champion at Motor Mile after Total Domination

Story by: Mike Neff ~ [email protected]

Radford, VA(January 4, 2011) — Lee Pulliam started racing five years ago. 2011 was the first time he competed full-time at Motor Mile Speedway. By the time the checkered flag dropped on the final race of the season, Pulliam had won 16 of the 20 races competed during the season. That was the most victories by a driver in a singles season in the history of the storied Radford, Virginia track. His 80% winning percentage was also a first for a track that produced previous national champion Philip Morris.

Pulliam started the season by taking the season opening ATK Energetics Systems 150 after starting in the third spot. It took Pulliam 24 laps to get around pole sitter Michael McGuire, but once he did he set sail and dominated the last 126 laps and beat Davin Scites to the checkers by half of a second. Three weeks later Pulliam dominated the Cintas 150 from the pole position to once again take the checkered flag ahead of Scites. The following week, the first of twin Aqua Pros 100s had Pulliam starting in sixth position by virtue of winning back-to-back races. As Pulliam moved through the field he had the left front quarter panel ripped off of his car. His team fought valiantly through multiple pit stops to get him back to a fifth place finish. In the second twin Aqua Pros 100 Pulliam showed just what his team was made of, leading every lap en route to his third win in four races, again beating Scites to the finish line.

As the calendar turned to May, Pulliam put his name in the record book of Motor Mile Speedway by winning his fourth race in the first five of the season. Morris is the only other driver in Motor Mile history to accomplish such a feat. Pulliam had to work hard to secure the win, besting Tommy Lemons Jr. in a 20 lap battle for the lead that finally ended when Pulliam secured the lead on lap 107 of the 150 lap Kesler Contracting and Property Management race. When the racing returned to Motor Mile two weeks later Pulliam was once again forced to start sixth because of the two-race-in-a-row rule and the challenge was even greater because Philip Morris was making his first start of the season at the .416 mile track. Pulliam overcame the deficit not once but twice during the nights twin Shelor.com 100s to take the win in both races and write his name in the record books alone as the only driver to win six of the first seven races of the season.

June rolled around on the calendar and Pulliam once again found himself in victory lane after the first Star Country/Motor Mile Dodge Twin 100. Pulliam dominated the first race of the night and was looking to make it a clean sweep and win a sixth race in a row, but the cruel hands of fate had other plans. On the fourth lap of the second twin Pulliam’s rear end failed on his car and he had to settle for his first DNF of the season. He still had seven victories in the first nine races of the season under his belt and his confidence was continuing to grow. Two weeks later Pulliam returned to action with a car that truly dominated the WSLS 10 150. Pulliam bested second place finisher Frank Deiny Jr. by more than two seconds to notch his eighth victory of the season in 10 races. The last races of June were Star Country twin 100s that once again brought Morris back to Motor Mile. Pulliam, for the second time in 2011, was able to best the four time national champion in both races to score his ninth and tenth wins in 12 races. Reaching double digits in wins put Pulliam two wins away from Morris’s track record of 12 wins in a season.

The first race of July once again saw Pulliam pull into victory lane, but his car certainly showed the scars of a hard fought win. Pulliam and Deiny had a heated battle over the last 59 laps of the WSLS 10 150 which included bump and run maneuvers by both drivers and some heated words exchanged after the contestants exited their cars post race. The following week the two drivers once again found themselves embroiled in some heated driving and even more heated work exchanges. In the first twin 100 Pulliam was leading Deiny coming to a restart and the two drivers made contact coming through turn four and the front of Deiny’s car was smashed in. Deiny maintained Pulliam brake checked him while they were approaching the restart. In the second twin 100 Deiny was leading Pulliam for several laps when the two cars approached the start/finish line. Deiny’s car suddenly decelerated and Pulliam ran into his rear end, ultimately preventing him from winning the second race. The win in the first race tied Pulliam with Morris for the all-time season wins list with 12 but the bad blood between him and Deiny was far from over.

The calendar turned to August and the Valvoline 150 saw Pulliam etch his name on the top line of the record books when it comes to wins in a single season. Pulliam had vowed to return to the Radford race track with his best car of the year and it certainly looked like he made good on that promise when he led every lap of the 150 lap event. He took the checkered flag over four seconds ahead of second place Deiny. The next thing on Pulliam’s to-do list was the track championship and he managed to secure that when the green flag flew two weeks later on the A-1 Heating and Cooling/GMC Supply twin 100s. Pulliam swept a twin bill for the third time in 2011 and for the second and third race in a row he beat Frank Deiny Jr. to the checkered flag. The wins kept Pulliam in contention for the State and National championships, chasing Morris and Keith Rocco as the season wound down.

The final month of the season started with the most depressing race of the season for Pulliam. Having secured the track championship, he set his eyes on the national title with Morris and 31 other cars on the track for the Linkous Paving/Star Country 150. He started in the sixth position and worked his way to the side of Morris for a restart on lap 68 which looked to be his opportunity to make a statement. Unfortunately for Pulliam, his transmission gave up the ghost just two laps later and he watched his title hopes drive away as Morris grabbed the win and he had to settle for a third place finish. With the national title out of reach, Pulliam started the final race of the season on the pole and landed his 16th victory of the season, holding off Josh Berry for the final checkered flag of the season.

For his fifth season of racing the 2011 season was certainly record setting. Pulliam ended his Motor Mile season with 16 victories and the track championship. Overall, Pulliam ran 32 races during the 2011 Whelen All-American season and scored 18 wins, 28 top 5s and 30 top 10s. His season was highlighted by winning the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 with a last lap pass of Matt McCall. The season lowlight was an on-track altercation with Morris after the season ending South Boston race which resulted in a fine and suspension from NASCAR after he ran his car head-on into Morris’s after the checkered flag had flown.