TROY, NC :: To say Craig Stallard overcame a little adversity en route to his best career Late Model Stock car finish in the 2014 season opener at Southern National Motorsports Park would be an understatement. The six hour drive from his home in Jenkins, Kentucky would be enough to turn most people away, but not Stallard. Through an offseason plagued with family illness and Mother Nature’s wrath, he managed to dig out and head south as often as possible to meet up with his Lemons Motorsports team to practice for the upcoming season.
Once opening weekend finally arrived things seemed to be looking up for Stallard as he turned impressive lap times in pre-race practice. A strong 26 cars field lined up for the first of two 75 lap races and the green flag waved. Stallard managed to avoid the carnage of two quick wrecks inside the first five laps. Just as he seemed to be settling in, on lap 39, luck (or lack-there-of) would have its way and render Stallard’s No.42 Lemons Motorsports Chevrolet undrivable; forcing him to pit road before the halfway point of the race.
“The first race was just bad luck” Stallard said. “The second race was all JumpStart Motorsports [Lemons Motorsports Driver Development program]. The crew Lemons has put together is second to none. These guys would not give up and their hard work and dedication paid off.”
With repairs complete on Stallard’s car just minutes before the start of the second race, he would be forced to start shotgun on the field. With each lap that passed it was clear to see Stallard was a man on a mission. By lap 28, he had advanced from his 23rd starting position to inside the top 10. A caution come out on lap 30 and Stallard restarted in sixth. Stallard managed to pick off a few more competitors before the next caution fell two laps later. This time, he restarted fourth and remained inside the top five for what would be the longest green flag run of the day; going on to finish sixth in the race.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Stallard said after climbing out of his car following the second race. “Right now, after all we have been through, 6th place feel like a win!” Stallard’s previous best finish of ninth came in his last race of 2013; the Thanksgiving All-Star Classic at Southern National Motorsports Park.
