Takeaways from ValleyStar Credit Union 300 Friday

Prior to Friday, the only track time Cody Kelley had enjoyed at Martinsville Speedway had come online over a computer, and now he’s scored fast time for the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 this weekend.

And it wasn’t just the fact that he posted fast time, he did it head-to-head against one of the all-time greats in Lee Pulliam too, securing pole for the first 25-lap heat by just 0.014.

“Man, this is awesome,” Kelley said. “I wasn’t really expecting that but I did know we had a really good AK Performance car as always. We mainly race at Florence and this is my first tip here.

“My twin brother (Casey) has raced here the past two years and had some good runs and I’ve gotten a lot of help from him to get up to speed quick. And shoutout to iRacing too because I have put in a ton of laps there with buddies.

“Martinsville Late Models would be one of our favorite races.”

And now team owner Kendall Sellers and crew chief Wes Burton gave him a car capable of winning this race in real life on Saturday night.

While Kelley posting the fastest time is absolutely a meaningful story, the most heartwarming one has to be the speed shown by Pulliam on Friday, and all you had to do was look at the four-time NASCAR Weekly Series national champion’s face to see how big of a deal this is.

Watching Pulliam qualifying, anyone could see the left front turn into the corner, and that was indeed the difference.

“I just over rotated just a smidge,” Pulliam said. “If I had just done a better job driving, it would have been fine but I just got to the bottom a little too quick and had to double step on throttle but if I didn’t, we would have run a zero. So, I did all I could do after what it started doing.

“Anyhow, I feel good about it. I think I could’ve done a little better job and I think the car could’ve been just a smidge better too but we are locked into a pole in a heat race so I can’t complain about that.”

Independent of the results

Pulliam, a two-time winner at Martinsville, is clearly just trying to enjoy this race for whatever it brings. This is only his third start in five years and second in the last calendar year dating back to this race last year.

Finding himself no longer capable of spending in the Late Model deep waters, Pulliam has lent his expertise to younger drivers as a car owner and crew chief that has launched careers like Corey Heim, Brenden Queen and Lanie Buice under his watch.

These moments to race are far and few between and he brought a paint scheme reflective of the cars he won dozens and dozens of races in across the Mid-Atlantic over a decade ago.

“It’s always a blessing and I couldn’t help but get a little emotional coming out of the car after going P1 in an event like this,” Pulliam said. “It’s not easy right? I love my job, what I do, because I love helping people but there’s nothing like driving race cars and I hope that everyone that drives these cars up and down this pit road never take it for granted because it’s a privilege and I don’t take any of my experiences for granted.

“And this rings right up there, right? A guy that drove his fourth race in six years … I ain’t even drove 50 laps this year, to be P1 at Martinsville is pretty crazy. It’s a testament to our team at the shop and their hard work. It’s never just one person.”

Pulliam still wants to race more regularly than this, and it just comes down to having the personal funding, and doing it in a way that doesn’t come at the expense of his clients. But so much of this weekend is about having fun but also validating the talent that once made him a top NASCAR prospect.

“When we drove this scheme, I had to win every week just to pay the bills and come back next week and race,” Pulliam said. “So this is kind of a throwback to those times where we were fighting and clawing.

“We had so many little decals on the car everywhere because every dollar meant something to get to the race track. So it’s going back to my roots and remembering the sacrifices that my family made, local businesses made, when they didn’t have the money to spare and this car is for them.

“A lot of good times in this one machine and I am blessed to drive a version of it this weekend. I’ll never forget those days.”

It wouldn’t be a Chad Bryant Racing, Ty Majeski Late Model Stock collaboration if there weren’t some challenges along the way.

Majeski and Bryant suffered three engine failures in their first three starts together, in back-to-back South Carolina 400 wins, and then practice at Martinsville two years ago. There were no engine changes but the car just didn’t have speed either.

“I guess it’s just like last time I was here we had an engine change and literally got no practice,” Majeski said of a race that was set to produce a top-five before a blown tire. “So I guess we’re ahead of that, hopefully.

“So I don’t know. Hopefully we pick up some speed tonight and get it in because it wouldn’t be good if we had to start the heat race from the back, we’d probably go home.”

They didn’t pick up speed, posting the 52nd quick time, and will indeed have to race their way into the show from the back.

But Bryant says they are going to race.

Parity and chaos

There were 58 cars separated by half a second.

The four 25 lap heat races will decide the 40-car field and those that don’t make the top-10 in each race go home. No one locked in through Friday qualifying.

By virtue of their qualifying laps, Kelley, Pulliam, Carson Loftin and Riley Gentry will start on the pole of their races and hopefully stay well ahead of the drama.

“I mean, it’s very fortunate,” Kelley said. “Hopefully we can stay out front ahead of all that.”

In recent years, crashes have even taken place up front amongst drivers both locked in, and Pulliam wishes he could tell them all to protect each other but …

“That’s probably unrealistic,” he said. “Of course, if it were a bunch of old guys like me and Looney, guys who take care of the stuff, we would but nowadays everyone runs so hard and it’s just a different racing style.

“Hopefully we have enough speed to keep this thing out front and drive away.”

Loftin had never run Martinsville either.

“Everyone says you just have to go as hard as you can.”

Jared Fryar feels like this isn’t something drivers should have to say but inevitably, it will be said by someone after the fact.

“The better your car, the easier it is to get away from the trouble,” Fryar said. “When you’re up front, you have a better quality of car and driver, and that will help. I have been in crashes up front in these races and in the back.

“But starting near the front of a heat race is a better feeling. I feel like we have a good car that should be able to get away from everyone on the restarts. That’s what I like to think anyway.”