Pulliam Takes Weekend Victory At SBS
Published 9:38 am Wednesday, May 27, 2015
SOUTH BOSTON — It was Lee Pulliam’s night at South Boston Speedway.
The Alton resident started on the pole and led every lap enroute to winning Saturday night’s NASCAR Whelen Late Model 100 at South Boston Speedway.
Saturday night’s win in the 100-lap NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car Division race was the fourth of the season for Pulliam who is chasing a third NASCAR Whelen All American Series national championship.
Matt Bowling, of Ridgeway, finished second, 2.226 seconds behind Pulliam with Tyler Ankrum, of Colton, California finishing third, Austin Thaxton, of South Boston, finishing fourth and G.R. Waldrop, of Moseley, rounding out the top five finishers.
The only times Pulliam was seriously challenged was at the start of the race when Thaxton, the outside pole starter, and Bowling gave him a run for a few laps and right after caution flags on laps 13 and 68 for debris on the track when Bowling made brief threats.
Pulliam was able to pull away on all three occasions and speed to his eighth win overall this season.
Pulliam averaged 76.923 mph in the race that took 31 minutes and 12 seconds to complete. There were two caution periods that consumed a total of eight laps.
Willis, Crews Split Wins In
Limited Sportsman Division
Defending South Boston Speedway Limited Sportsman Division champion Danny Willis Jr., of Cluster Springs, and Trey Crews, of Halifax, each earned a win in Saturday night’s twin 25-lap Limited Sportsman Division race. Willis’ win was his fourth of the season, and Crews’ victory was his first of the season. Willis started on the pole and led the entire distance in winning the first race. With no cautions to slow the pace, Willis finished 2.030 seconds ahead of Crews with Barry Beggarly Jr., of Providence, North Carolina finishing third, Joey Throckmorton, of South Boston, finishing fourth and former track division champion Billy Myers, of Hurt, completing the top five finishers.
With a drawing for an inverted start among the top finishers of the first race, Willis started fourth in the nightcap with Crews starting third. Crews darted past pole starter Throckmorton and outside pole starter Beggarly on the first lap to grab the lead and held it the rest of the way to take the win.
Willis finished second, 1.069 seconds behind Crews with Throckmorton finishing third, Myers finishing fourth and Bob Davis, of Thaxton, rounding out the top five finishers.
Autry Wins Pure Stock
Division Race
Greg Autry, of South Boston, inherited the lead when race leaders Nathan Crews and Stuart Crews were involved in a crash with another car on the backstretch on lap 18 and held on to win the 30-lap Budweiser Pure Stock Division race. Saturday night’s win was Autry’s second of the season.
Autry edged runner-up D.J. Moser, of South Boston, in a two-lap sprint to the finish following the last of the race’s five caution periods. His margin of victory was .543-second.
Johnny Layne, of Nathalie, finished third with Harrison Walker, of Buffalo Junction, and Scott Phillips, of Halifax, completing the top five finishers.
Mills Takes Win In
Hornets Division Race
Kenny Mills Jr., of Alton, took the lead with two laps to go when a tire on the car of race leader Eric Winslow suddenly went flat and Winslow smacked the fourth turn wall and held on to win the 15-lap race for the Budweiser Hornets Division.
Mills and Winslow were side-by-side battling for the lead when the tire on Winslow’s car went flat.
The win was Mills’ first of the season, and it snapped the three-race win streak Winslow had compiled in the division. Todd Garnett, of Drakes Branch, Kevin Currin, of Chase City, Kirstin Simmons, of LaCrosse, and her sister, Kaitlinn Simmons, also of LaCrosse, rounded out the top five finishers.
Next Race At
South Boston Speedway
Racing action will return to South Boston Speedway Saturday night, June 6, when the stars and the Super Late Model cars of the Pro All Stars Series make their first visit of the season at America’s Hometown Track for the 7 p.m. running of the PASS Super Late Model 150 racing program.
The action will be fast and furious as the stars of the PASS Super Late Model circuit battle it out in a 150-lap race. In addition, the competitors of the NASCAR Whelen All American Series Late Model Stock Car Division will go at it in twin 75-lap races.
Adding to the action-packed five-race card are 25-lap races for both Legends Cars and Midgets.
The race day schedule calls for registration to begin and pit gates to open at noon, with practice to run from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. Grandstand gates will open and ticket sales will start at 4:30 p.m.
Qualifying time trials will start at 4:45 p.m. A Fan Appreciation event will be held trackside from 6 p.m. until 6:45 p.m. Pre-race ceremonies will start at 6:45 p.m., with the first race of the night starting at 7 p.m.