In a series of social media posts over the past two months, Lee Pulliam has posted pictures of his Late Model Stock heyday with captions that tend to read something like ‘I never did get over you.’
It’s actually kind of silly to think about a heyday taking place a decade ago for a race car driver that is still only 37-years-old. In a just universe, this would be the peak of that heyday and not simply a shooting star that flashed very brightly and very quickly before dissipating over the horizon.
His story is one about a tremendously talented racer, who like so many of his peers, ran into a financial brick wall when it came to reaching the national touring level. He is a four-time NASCAR national champion and was the man to beat for a decade.
Pulliam is a borderline Hall of Famer literally right now.
In 2014, it looked like Pulliam had a pathway to the highest levels, when Shige Hattori signed him to chase the K&N Pro Series East championship. There were competitive runs at the Daytona Battleground and New Smyrna Speedway but that campaign effectively ended with a crash at Bristol when a lapped car spun in front of him.
“I hit him a ton and it just killed the race car,” Pulliam told Motorsport.com. “And all we had was that backup and it was a steel body car, and everybody else was in composite stuff, so we were just taking a knife to a gunfight at the end.
“It was tough because there were big plans there. We planned for me to get in the Nationwide car because they had just bought some cars from Kyle Busch or Joe Gibbs, and Ross Chastain ended up driving it later that year.”
That was one of Chastain’s biggest breakthroughs, a race at Michigan International Speedway where he finished 12th, in a substitute role for Johnny Sauter, so Pulliam can’t help but wonder if that could have been him.
“A lot of people don’t know that part of the story but I’ve had a lot of sleepless nights over it,” Pulliam said. “We had one good car for that K&N deal and it got crashed at Bristol, and that was the end of it.
“It was tough because I know I was good enough to do it. It was a great time my career to have been picked up by someone else 12 years ago, and somebody would have gotten a badass race car driver if it worked out. I feel like I would have won some big championship by now on the national stage but don’t shut the book on me yet because I feel like I am sharper than ever. I’m hungrier than ever. The best is yet to come.”
Pulliam continued to rack up Late Model Stock wins for the five years that followed, and even chased a CARS Tour championship to the wire in 2019 but faced a fork in the road. He was good enough and smart enough to coach and crew chief younger drivers and it was either that or find a real job.
Thus, Lee Pulliam Performance was born and launched careers for the likes of Corey Heim and Brenden Queen. Where the first 10 years of his legacy was about his personal accolades, the next five became about the journeys he successfully pointed to a place he always felt he also belonged.
Over the past year, Pulliam has started to have more and more opportunities to race again, mostly because he has found what he didn’t have back in the day — partners to support his personal driving ambitions.
He came up just 0.024 short of winning his third Martinsville Late Model Stock 300 in September in just his second start in two years and third start over the last four years. That’s the Daytona 500 for that community.
He cried during his pit road interview. That night ignited something in him, that he still so desperately wants to win races as a driver behind the wheel, and still wanted something denied of him way back in 2014.
He’s racing Martinsville in the O’Reilly Series this weekend, and he’s doing it with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to boot. In the process, Pulliam has gotten into the best shape of his life and even won his first race in almost seven years over the weekend at South Boston Speedway in Virginia.
Pulliam has lost a good deal of weight but also added muscle working out with Lindsay Carver at Bullpen Fitness. He literally looks more fit and prepared than at any point during his career.
“I’m going hard because I know nothing else,” he said. “Lindsay is phenomenal. She has pushed me really hard and is just a great person too. It’s been fun, because once you start, then you want to find out how far you can get. It’s addicitive.
“I told her, listen, I’m 37 years old, but once we’re done I want the kids to be like, ‘that is one bad dude’ and that has been the plan. I don’t want to go out there and just make circles. I want to go out there and be the badass I used to be.”
And yes, he expects to contend for the win in the No. 9 car, and crew chief Phillip Bell does too. Over the weekend, Bell told Motorsport that Pulliam has gone above and beyond in everything asked of him in simulation and in preparation.
Like Pulliam, Bell is a short tracker and the cousin to renowned Super Late Model ace Bubba Pollard. They speak the same language and have really grown to admire each other.
They have high expectations after the No. 9 car has won with Shane Van Gisbergen and contended for wins with Ross Chastain and Carson Kvapil.
“I mean, when I look back on this deal, 10 to 20 years from now, I want to know that I put literally everything I had physically, mentally and emotionally into it,” Pulliam said. “It’s something I have wanted to do my entire life. There may never one of these races.
“So for me, no matter if I win that clock or if I run 35th that day, I’m going to know that I was all-in and that I gave everything. I can leave with my head held high. That’s the biggest thing. I am appreciative to Dale, Kelley, LW and Mr. Hendrick for letting me do this and the least I can do is give 110 percent effort. That is what they are going to get. I am good enough to win races at this level.”
He always has been.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
