SOPHIA, NC :: Lee Pulliam scored his 50th career Late Model Stock Car victory at Caraway Speedway on Sunday afternoon in a dominant performance, leading 71 of 100 laps. Pulliam’s victory was his second of the weekend.
Pulliam’s win, however, was not without adversity. Pulliam had an electrical problem late in the race which caused the motor to skip at times. Even when his car appeared to have a problem, he was adding to the deficit Campbell had to overcome to take advantage.
“We had some electrical issues,” Pulliam said in victory lane. “I don’t know if the alternator went out or what but I had the fan on all day just to keep the motor cool. I shut the fan off and after about 10 or 15 laps, I guess it built the battery back up enough to where the motor stopped skipping. It’s hard to beat Garrett Campbell when you have any type of issue. That was definitely in the back of my mind if it was going to get any worse or not.”
Pulliam took possession of the lead on lap 29 when he passed Garrett Campbell for the second position. Pulliam scored a victory in one of South Boston’s twin 100 lap races. Pulliam said he was simply biding his time in the race waiting for other drivers to use their tires up on Caraway’s abrasive track surface.
“You always have to save tires here at Caraway,” Pulliam stated. “It’s a tough place. We qualified fifth and drew fourth. I fell in to fifth and bid my time trying to pass each guy one at a time and waiting for them to use their stuff up. Those guys took off racing kind of hard so I just tried to pick them off one by one. I knew I needed to keep Garrett behind me because that guy’s tough to get around.”
Campbell, who competed in the race after running the UARA-STARS race at Southern National Motorsports Park, finished second in the Late Model race. Campbell used the same car to Caraway that he ran at Southern National, saying his crew was up until 5am working on the car to prepare for the race. Campbell ran a Ford Crate engine at the UARA race but had to change the engine because Caraway Speedway has outlawed the use of the Ford Crate motor at the track. Campbell ran with a built Chevrolet engine.
“It’s hard to beat Lee,” Campbell said. “It’s hard to come out here on Sunday with no sleep. I’m tired. I don’t even know how to say it.”
Ryan Wilson finished third, Dan Moore finished fourth and Mack Little finished fifth. Myatt Snider, Mike Darne, Kaz Grala, Kris Bowen and Robert Tyler rounded out the top-ten.
Tyler started on the pole after a random draw but faded quickly. Tyler was running a car that was different than what he normally drives. It was an old Brad Brinkley car. Tyler had just fixed the brakes on the car prior to Sunday’s race and the team did not know what adjustments they needed to make during the race.
Buddy Allred won the Late Model Super Truck race in more than a couple years. After the race, Allred reflected on some recent health complications. He has had heart problems but said he wanted to get back in the car and race. In victory lane, he announced he would retire from the sport, saying it would be good to go out with a win.
Carl Auman dominated the 30 lap Limited Late Model race en route to a win. Ryan Brown finished second, Paul Wark finished third, Boo Boo Dalton finished fourth and Taylor Branch rounded out the top five.
