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MARTINSVILLE, VA :: Much like the NASCAR races at Daytona and Talladega, there’s no safe place to run or hide during the Valley Star Credit Union 300 at Martinsville Speedway.

For example, Todd Gilliland led the most laps in 2015 but lost the race when he was inverted to eighth with 50 laps to go. He later got shoved out of the way with less than 10 laps remaining while racing for second. He executed a flawless performance with the fastest car but ended up with nothing to show for it.

Thus is life at Martinsville Speedway in a Late Model Stock.

With that in mind, is it best to lead as many laps as possible or find some place inside the top-10 and ride it out until NASCAR inverts the lineup for the final 25-laps?

Pole winner Mike Looney wants to lead every lap he can on Sunday and then fight to get back to the front should it get taken from him. That includes on a late restart in the final laps which is always tricky given the pushing and shoving that takes place at the historic Virginia venue.

“I’d like to be the leader if it was someone behind me that I could trust to drive within their means,” Looney said. “I’m friends with a lot of these guys but friendship goes out the window. So everyone in this race knows what to expect.

“There’s no hard feelings here. It’s Martinsville so you know how it is. If you have fenders on your car it’s in the Lord’s hands.”

And then there’s Deac McCaskill who restarted third with 10 laps to go in the 2013 race and dove under leaders Lee Pulliam and Philip Morris. That decision triggered a six-car pile-up that took out all three contenders and left everyone feeling salty.
In that situation, the first, second and third-place cars were each torn up and sixth-place Tommy Lemons went on to win. In other words, this whole thing is really a crap shoot.

“Anyone can win the race,” Looney said. “It comes down to circumstances. The fastest car rarely wins and you don’t need the fastest car to win.”

With the Lap 175 competition caution and the crashes that are sure to follow, there’s simply no safe place on the paperclip-shaped track. The VSCU 300 brings out the most primal instincts in those who take the green flag and McCaskill says everyone will do things they’ll probably regret.

“What happened three years ago still bothers me,” McCaskill said. “That was out of character for me. It’s just the way this race is. It doesn’t matter if its a 10 lap to go caution or 25, its just game on. There’s no other way to put it. You have to go for it.”

So with that in mind, where do you want to be late in the race?

“I’d rather be leading,” McCaskill said. “That’s the best place to be.”

Josh Berry concurs.

“Ultimately, I’d like to be leading. I guess that’s the safest spot to be.”

Ditto RD Smith.

“I’d rather be leading,” he said. “I’ll take our chances. But with that restart with 25 to go, you’re probably going to need to be in those first two rows.

The only driver to provide a contrary answer? That would be two-time winner Lee Pulliam.

“Where do I want to be late in the race? Hah. I’ll show you on Sunday,” Pulliam said as he pulled away from the interview with a wry smile.

The game is afoot.

Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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