MARTINSVILLE, Va. — A full range of emotions had swept over Lee Pulliam all weekend at Martinsville Speedway. He choked up at moments when he considered the magnitude of this opportunity, a shot at his NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series debut with one of the circuit’s best teams. But he also absorbed some moments of self-criticism, frustrated with trouble on a series of late restarts that may have cost him a victory bid.
Over the in-car radio, Pulliam’s perfectionist streak came through as he expressed his frustration, but team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. reminded him of another emotion to hold close.
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“I love what you’re doing,” Earnhardt said. “Enjoy this.”
Pulliam, a Late Model legend with an overflowing wealth of short-track experience, drove the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet to fifth place in Saturday’s NFPA 250. He overcame an early pit-road penalty and led twice for 40 laps, holding the top spot in the late going until JRM teammate Justin Allgaier took command for his third victory in the last four races.
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For Pulliam, the result represented the journey back from a lengthy hiatus from racing, and a homecoming at a Martinsville track where he twice captured one of Late Model racing’s biggest prizes. One of the emotions that came through most was gratitude, as he offered his appreciation to the team and those who believed in him on the cool-down lap.
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“I had a hell of a lot of fun,” Pulliam said on the No. 9 radio. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. embraces Lee Pulliam on pit road post-race at Martinsville Speedway
The hunch that Pulliam’s debut might be a promising one came early. The resident of nearby Alton, Virginia, put the No. 9 Chevy atop the leaderboard in practice, and lined up 12th after qualifying was rained out. A pit-road penalty for an uncontrolled tire in the 107th of 250 laps knocked him back in the order, but a mix of a steady hand and an aggressive pit strategy elevated him to the lead by Lap 184, during the eighth of 14 caution flags.
Pulliam held tight with Allgaier in pursuit, but a pair of late-race restarts spelled trouble when his car failed to get up to speed at launch. On the most dramatic instance, his No. 9 Chevy balked right in front of JRM teammate Carson Kvapil, jamming up 18 other cars on the frontstretch and causing a prolonged red flag for clean-up.
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“I mean, it’s probably my inexperience, mostly,” Pulliam said post-race. “I think having older tires, and then a combination of me not ever doing this, man, I just hate it. I could have … I needed to do a better job. I was trying to clean (my tires) up hard, and I just could not get going from second to third (gear).”
Though Pulliam was remorseful both during and after the 250-lapper for initiating the contact, Earnhardt said he reminded him not to wallow in that space.
“I said you’re going to have about 10, 15 minutes to talk to the media and tell the rest of your story today, and you might not ever get to tell it again,” Earnhardt said. “Don’t spend 15 minutes apologizing for that mistake. I was like, tell everybody you made a mistake, you’re sorry and move on, and make sure you can thank all the people you want to thank because when it’s over, it’s over, and that might be the end, his last opportunity, right? Of course, I hope it isn’t. But if I wouldn’t have said anything to him, he would probably sit there and apologize for 15 minutes, and that would have been all he would have been able to say the rest of the day. You know, you need to put a period on the great result that he had and be proud of his work and thankful for the people to help him have this opportunity.”
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Allgaier completed the final pass shortly after one of those consequential restarts, working around Pulliam on the outside lane and going on to lead the final 26 laps. Pulliam faded slightly to the back end of the top five, but the performance made an impression on No. 9 crew chief Phillip Bell, who took special note of Pulliam’s work ethic, which included preparation with more than 1,000 laps of racing-simulator time.
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“It just shows the talent, the natural talent he has, right?” Bell told NASCAR.com. “I’m gonna disregard (the mistake). We’re not going to be mad about running fifth in his first O’Reilly race. I mean, he’s just so good. He picked up the heavier car like it was nothing. I mean, very, very proud of him. Hopefully we get some more races with him. I mean, he showed the talent he has.”
Earnhardt had plenty of his drivers to commend afterward, with Allgaier and third-place finisher Sammy Smith making it three JR Motorsports entries in the top five on the official rundown. But he took time to share a long embrace on pit road with Pulliam, who took his post-race words to heart.
“Just enjoy it,” Pulliam said. “He was so proud of me, and he said everybody makes mistakes. He said ‘I’ve done it, and don’t dwell on it. Just, you had a killer day, dude,’ and it meant a lot.”
