Return of a champion: Lee Pulliam is aiming for another grandfather clock at Martinsville in his Late Model

When Lee Pulliam stepped away from active Late Model Stock competition at the end of the 2010s, he knew a day would come when he would climb back in the driver’s seat to chase another ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory at Martinsville Speedway.

He just never envisioned the day would arrive so quickly.

With Pulliam’s primary driver Brenden “Butterbean” Queen racing at Kansas Speedway with the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series on the weekend of Sept. 28, the four-time NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series national champion will wheel his own No. 03 Toyota with one goal in mind: Win a grandfather clock.

Multiple factors are motivating Pulliam as Martinsville approaches. Not only does he have full confidence in his own Late Model Stock program, but he also looks forward to having his daughter cheer him on to victory.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been quite this excited to run a race,” Pulliam said. “For me, my daughter is old enough now to remember this. It’ll be really special to experience the whole thing with her and see what she thinks of everything post-race. Hopefully I can give her something to cheer for and make her proud.”

Pulliam hopes his daughter by the end of the weekend has a perspective into why he and so many others consider the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 the Daytona 500 of the Late Model Stock discipline. He has fond childhood memories of sitting on the backstretch at Martinsville, eager to see how the races played out. More than 100 cars typically showed up to compete, which only emphasized the prestige of the event to Pulliam.

As his own racing career began to take off, Pulliam was determined to join drivers like Mark Martin, Barry Beggarly, Curtis Markham, Tony McGuire and others as a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner. When he made his first attempt at Martinsville in 2008, he realized success was not going to be instantaneous.

“It took time and skill,” Pulliam said. “The first year I ran, I was in a Limited [Late Model] trying to jump up and run that race, but found out real quick how hard it was. The next year was kind of the same. It was my first year in a Late Model Stock, and we didn’t have any business going, but tried to anyway.

“The second year in a Late Model is when I really started putting things together.”

With more experience and resources at his disposal, Pulliam showed up to Martinsville in 2010 confident he had a race-winning car. That optimism was not unfounded; he went from missing his first two ValleyStar Credit Union 300 attempts to leading the 42-car field to the green flag from the pole.

Pulliam enjoyed 12 laps out front before settling for a fifth-place performance. Unsatisfied with the showing, he spent the following season refining his skills at short tracks around the southeast so he could return to Martinsville as the undisputed favorite.

Achieving immortality at Martinsville in 2011 required Pulliam to deal with Matt McCall, who now serves as Brad Keselowski’s crew chief in the NASCAR Cup Series. A talented racer himself, McCall led a race-high 112 laps that afternoon but had to fend off a hungry Pulliam over a green-white-checkered restart.

Victory appeared to be eluding Pulliam again when McCall successfully held the lead on the bottom line during the restart. Not ready to accept defeat, Pulliam got to McCall’s back bumper in Turn 3 and moved him up the track, which enabled Pulliam to drive away with his first Martinsville victory while McCall and others crashed behind him.

Despite having to deal with an angry McCall and a mixed crowd reaction after the race, a sense of euphoria overcame Pulliam. Martinsville had frustrated and humbled him several times over the preceding three years, which made that day in October feel like a significant milestone in his career.

“I remember jumping out of the car on the frontstretch, and 50 percent of the fans were going crazy, cheering,” Pulliam said. “The other 50 percent were chucking beer cans at me. I was one of those guys who had a ton of fire under me when I was young and had a refuse to lose attitude, so I was enjoying the boos and the cheers.

“It was a surreal moment to realize I had joined the list of names that won that race.”

Three years later, Pulliam relived the cathartic feeling of a Martinsville victory.

This time, it was Peyton Sellers standing in Pulliam’s way, another Late Model Stock veteran who was seeking his first ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory. Sellers had emerged as the car to beat during the final 50 laps, all while Pulliam was struggling to maintain track position with an ill-handling car.

Circumstances brought Pulliam to the front row alongside Sellers for the final overtime restart. A perfectly timed jump gave the advantage to Pulliam, who ended up winning the race under caution after Sellers crashed with others while trying to salvage second.

Pulliam admitted the final laps of the 2014 race at Martinsville perfectly encapsulated how unpredictable the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 can be. Although Pulliam believed he did not have a race-winning car, he capitalized on the opportunity in front of him to become part of a select group that has won the prestigious event more than once.

“There were several years where I felt like I had the best car but didn’t win,” Pulliam said. “That year, I felt like I had an average fifth to seventh place car, yet was able to bring the clock home. I was definitely far from dominant that year, and I was doing all I could to get to Victory Lane that night.”

No matter the strength of his car in a given year, Pulliam typically found his way to the front of the field when it came time to settle the ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Over the 10 years Pulliam successfully qualified for the event, he finished outside the top five just twice, both of which were the results of late accidents.

The intensity prevalent every year in the closing stages of the ValleyStar Credit Union is why maintaining that consistency was such an arduous task for Pulliam. Increased competitive depth in the Late Model Stock discipline has only made that goal tougher during his visits to Martinsville exclusively as a car owner.

Pulliam knows being out of the seat for almost five years puts him at a disadvantage compared to those who race Late Model Stocks full-time. Despite this, he believes years of success at Martinsville will enable him to prepare a race-winning car and claim a third victory, a feat that would tie him with long-time rival Philip Morris.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been [to Martinsville], but I still know what it takes to be successful there,” Pulliam said. “I’m sure I’ll be rusty the first couple of runs, but I should have it knocked off by the end of practice. We’ll be able to dial the car in really good and make the right changes at the right time.

“You can’t settle for just OK; you have to be excellent to win there.”

Excellence is expected to permeate the entry list for this year’s ValleyStar Credit Union 300. Past winners like Sellers, Mike Looney and Trevor Ward look to take home another grandfather clock alongside other talented Late Model Stock drivers searching for their first win such as Connor Hall, Carson Kvapil and more.

There are dozens of other drivers Pulliam thinks can win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 if they hit their setup correctly, which is why he does not plan to count anyone out. Such a mindset is a two-way street for Pulliam, who hopes to remind his competition of what made him so stellar at Martinsville during the prime of his career.

Pulliam appreciates simply having the opportunity to race at Martinsville again following a prolonged absence behind the wheel. Nothing will come easy throughout the last weekend of September, but Pulliam is embracing the challenge that comes with pursuing Late Model Stock racing’s most prestigious event.

“A win would be emotional for sure,” Pulliam said. “Both of my wins were super special, but if I was able to get it done after five years, I think this would trump any win I’ve had in my career. I’m going to lay it all on the line, give it everything I got and put on a show for the fans.”

Many aspects in Pulliam’s live have changed since the last time he won at Martinsville, yet the dedication he has for Late Model Stock competition is still rampant as he prepares to make one last run at a renowned grandfather clock.