ALTON, VA :: To say the past week has been a roller coaster for Lee Pulliam would be an understatement.  Tuesday morning saw Pulliam out of a NASCAR K&N Pro Series ride after Hattori Racing Enterprises refocused their operations to emphasize their NASCAR Nationwide Series efforts.  Later that day, Pulliam had another ride lined up with Rusty Skewes.

On Saturday, it was back to business for Pulliam as he went on to sweep twin races at Southern National for his seventh and eighth victories of the 2014 racing season.

“It was just race day for me,” Pulliam said when he was asked if the K&N Series business was on the back of his mind on Saturday.  “I was excited to run Late Models and blessed to run them and anything in the K&N car.  The opportunity I had was a lot of fun.  We were very competitive and could’ve won at New Smyrna before a flat tire and at Daytona and Bristol.  We had good runs but no luck really.  You can’t do anything about it.  All you do is go to the track and do everything you can to win and go forward.”

Pulliam will now run select races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series for Rusty Skewes and Top Gun Motorsports.  The unplanned changes in Pulliam’s season plans will free the two-time defending NASCAR Whelen All American Series (NWAAS ) National Champion up to run more Late Model Stock Car races and continue to rack up points in the NWAAS National Championship.

“I’ve never said I was running for a National Championship,” Pulliam remarked.  “I just go out to win races.  I’d love to win another one but I think it will be July or August before you can say I have a chance at this thing.  We win races and the points fall where they are…  We just do what we can week in and week out and try to win races.”

Pulliam said that teaming up with Rusty Skewes was destiny at play and meant to be.  Last year, Pulliam raced for Skewes in the CARS X-1R Pro Cup Series where he scored a victory in the series’ 2013 season finale race at Southern National Motorsports Park last November.  Pulliam and Skewes had a deal lined up for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series but the deal fell apart before it could be finalized.  Now, Pulliam will race for Skewes on a part-time basis with H.C. Sellers as his crew-chief.

“I’m an extremely blessed guy because there aren’t a lot of rides out there without bringing a boatload of money.  That’s the tough part about this sport.  It’s hard to compete with guys that can bring it to the table.  I’m extremely grateful that guys believe in me enough to give me that opportunity.  Moving forward, I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.  I get to work with my guys, Travis and Eddie Kiker (in Late Models) as well as Rusty Skewes and H.C. Sellers. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

As of now, a NASCAR Nationwide Series or NASCAR Camping World Truck Series ride is not in the cards for the 26-year-old driver but it could be somewhere in the bigger deck of cards.  Pulliam feels optimistic that he can win races with Skewes on the K&N side and hopes he can move up from there.