Myrtle Beach Speedway is a thinking man’s venue and Lee Pulliam is a thinking man’s racer as he proved once again on Saturday in the Late Model portion of the Performance Plus 300.
Pulliam spent a majority of the race outside of the top-5 and didn’t decide to pick up the pace until 30 laps to go. Myrtle Beach has a very abrasive track surface and it chews up tires quickly. While Pulliam was waiting a group that included Chad McCumbee, Sam Yarbrough and Justin Miliken were trading the lead multiple times a lap.
Pulliam was waiting and watching.
The three-time NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion then started to methodically pick off the top-5 by Lap 45. He was fourth by Lap 48, third by Lap 52 and second by Lap 56. He had 16 laps to chase down Yarbrough for the win.
He completed the race-winning pass with nine laps to go — but went earlier than he wanted to.
“Yeah, I did,” Pulliam said. “The 20 car was really starting to distance himself from the field. I didn’t want to go that early, but I felt like he was doing a smart job and we ran caution free. It worked out for me. I got to him in time and I guess passed with six to go.”
This is the second time in two straight races that Pulliam has played the unique track conditions at Myrtle Beach Speedway into a victory. He also won the Icebreaker last month. This race went caution free,making the decision of when to pick up the pace even more complicated.
So when does Pulliam know when to get up on the wheel?
“I think that’s just part of being a driver,” Pulliam said. “No race ever plays out the same with how hard you ride or when you decide to go. It changes every green flag run or every race. If you do the same thing every time, I guarantee you you’re not going to win a lot of races. ”
With that said, Pulliam wasn’t sure if he had enough rubber left to chase down Yarbrough. Even though he was racing hard with the other leaders, Pulliam believes Yarbrough ran a conservative line.
“I was a little bit worried about it,” Pulliam said. “I was riding in eighth and the guys up front was racing so hard and I was just trying to utilize the track with what my car was doing. (Sam) just started getting loose off the corner and otherwise he was really good. If he didn’t get loose off, I don’t think I would have caught him. “’
Pulliam won over Yarbrough, Vause and Milliken.
This post is a stub and will be updated after the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race tonight. The complete results can be found below.
- Lee Pulliam
- Sam Yarbrough
- Brian Vause
- Justin Milliken
- Jeremy McDowell
- Lucas Williams
- Jerry Miracle
- Matt Cox
- Haley Moody
- TJ Barron
- Tyler Hughes
- Luke Sarrow
- Thad Moffitt
- Tyler English
- Chris Throckmorton
- Robbie Mew
- Ed Williams
- Chad McCumbee
- Jamie Weatherford
- Jackie Ward
- Jason Calhoun
- David Roberts
- Bryant Barnhill
