
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Tommy Lemons, Jr. fired the opening salvo of the 2016 Late Model Stock Car season, dominating the Icebreaker 200 at Myrtle Beach Speedway.
Lemons never ran worse than second in the 125-lap feature, taking the lead from Justin Johnson for the final time on a lap 76 restart.
“You wouldn’t want to start a year off any other way than in victory lane,” Lemons said after the win. “Just thankful to be here.”
The lap 76 caution proved to be the only yellow-flag period of the event, creating two long green flag runs on a track known for eating away at tires. Lemons was able to stretch out a lead over the final 50 laps of the race, while the rest of the field battled the competition and fading tires.
Lemons’ victory came against a star-studded field, which included the likes of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion Lee Pulliam, defending UNOH Battle at the Beach winner Myatt Snider, four-time Myrtle Beach track champion Sam Yarbrough, and many other strong Late Model Stock contenders.
“[This field] is basically the 400,” Lemons said of the strength of the field, comparing it Myrtle Beach’s fall classic. “It’s a pretty stout field. That’s what we want, to run against the best. If you’re not running against the best, you can’t be the best, you can’t beat the best. That’s what we’re here for.”
Justin Johnson, Lemons’ closest competition, felt he needed at least one caution to fall in the last 50 laps to give himself a shot at knocking off Lemons.
“I was kinda hoping for a caution there at the end,” Johnson said after a second-place finish. “I didn’t expect it to go that long under green. I waited a little too late. I thought Tommy was running too hard, and by the time he was too far away for me to speed up and go catch him.”
The long green flag run also led to some attrition for drivers in contention for strong finishes. Pulliam’s machine pulled onto pit road 13 laps shy of the finish due to overheating. Chad McCumbee, teammate to Sam Yarbrough and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular-turned-sports car champion, retired from the race on lap 117. Both Pulliam and McCumbee had been among the top ten throughout the race.
The victory serves as redemption of sorts for Lemons, a two-time Martinsville 300 winner. Lemons was extremely disappointed after finishing second to Myatt Snider in the UNOH Battle at the Beach at the South Carolina half-mile last November, but had no issues sealing the deal in today’s marquee season-opening event.
“Last fall, I really felt like I had let my team down,” Lemons said about the UNOH Battle at the Beach. “It was pretty heartbreaking. I took it pretty hard. I’ve never had that dominant of a car and couldn’t win the race. Not taking anything away from Myatt, he deserved to win and drove a better race that night.”
“I just felt like we had an awesome race car,” Lemons added. “We brought it back and put it in victory lane. That makes it a little bit sweeter.”
Snider claimed the pole for the race, leading the first 23 laps before Lemons claimed the top spot. That lead was short-lived for Lemons, as Johnson moved to the point on lap 29. Johnson remained the leader until the lap 76 caution set up Lemons’ winning restart.
Yarbrough finished third, with Dylan Hall and Myatt Snider rounding out the top five.
The complete unofficial results for the Icebreaker 200 can be seen below:
1. Tommy Lemons, Jr.
2. Justin Johnson
3. Sam Yarbrough
4. Dylan Hall
5. Myatt Snider
6. Chase Purdy
7. Deac McCaskill
8. Jeremy Burns
9. Lucas Williams
10. Justin Crider
11. Bryant Barnhill
12. Brenden Queen
13. Jerry Miracle
14. Hayden Humphrey
15. Tyler English
16. Chad McCumbee
17. Lee Pulliam
18. Will Burns
19. Melvin Langley
20. Anthony Alfredo
21. Justin Milliken
22. T.J. Barron
Zach Evans is in his second season covering short track racing, A 2012 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Evans is a proud alumnus of The Daily Tar Heel, the school's award-winning independent student newspaper.


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