For his return to Martinsville Speedway in a Late Model Stock, Lee Pulliam is enlisting the help of a fellow ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner.
Driving Pulliam’s No. 55 Mobil 1 Toyota in Saturday’s crown-jewel event will be 19-year-old Landon Pembelton, who is fresh off a track championship at Dominion Raceway in Virginia. Pembelton surprised many in 2021, when he took home a grandfather clock in his maiden ValleyStar Credit Union 300 appearance.
The opportunity to drive for a Late Model Stock competitor like Pulliam is one Pembelton does not intend to waste. He considers himself fortunate to be considered by both Pulliam and Toyota for the No. 55 seat, which is why he is ready to get to work on securing another Martinsville checkered flag.
“When we were at North Wilkesboro in August, [Pulliam] approached me and my dad and gave us an offer Toyota had offered him,” Pembelton said. “Lee had been watching me for a couple of years, but I‘ve known Lee for all my life. He threw my name out there to them, and Toyota was all good with it.”
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Looking back on his triumph from 2021, Pembelton is still in disbelief over how he pulled off the victory, as his initial plan was to just make the race and fight for a top 10. A second-place finish in his heat race put Pembelton eighth on the starting grid for the 40-car field. He managed to keep solid track position for most of the opening laps, but a decision to take tires sooner than most of his competition on Lap 75 proved to be a crucial turning point.
With everyone else putting on fresh rubber at Lap 150, Pembelton cycled to the front of the field and fended off a charge from 2016 ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winner Mike Looney for the most prestigious victory of his career.
Some of the notables Pembelton bested for a grandfather clock that evening included Layne Riggs, Corey Heim, Connor Hall, Brenden Queen, Kaden Honeycutt and Bubba Pollard, among others.
One of the only regrets Pembelton has from his first Martinsville victory is not fully appreciating the context and significance of being the youngest winner in ValleyStar Credit Union 300 history at 16 years old. Now that he is older and wiser, Pembelton intends to cherish a second Martinsville win if everything lines up in his favor.
“I honestly still don‘t remember much of what happened that night just from being phased out from not really understanding the moment,” Pembelton said. “I really want to secure another clock and redefine that first one, just to understand what it feels like to have that big accomplishment under my hat.”
Among those who witnessed Pembelton pull his No. 0 Solid Rock Carriers Toyota into Victory Lane at Martinsville in 2021 was Pulliam, who had fully transitioned into being an owner in Late Model Stocks after previously winning the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 twice.
Unlike many others in attendance, Pulliam expected Pembelton to be a contender.
“I had seen [Pembelton] race in person at South Boston and knew he had fast cars,” Pulliam said. “He always seemed to find his way to the front in races, so it wasn‘t a complete shock for me. He raced at one of the toughest tracks in the southeast.
“Anybody that can run up front at South Boston is very capable of going to Victory Lane at Martinsville.”
The victory at Martinsville gave Pembelton an opportunity to showcase his natural driving ability on a national level. He joined Venturini Motorsports‘ ARCA Menards Series program as a Toyota development driver for the 2022 season, competing sporadically at different short tracks across the United States.
Pembelton never recorded a finish outside the top 10 with Venturini and believed he could have improved the following year if the proper funding materialized. Despite this, Pembelton enjoyed his time in the ARCA Menards Series and hopes to race on the platform again one day.
“It was a blast with those guys,” Pembelton said. “When we‘d show up to the track, we‘d do some [simulator] stuff, but we only got 30 minutes of practice and then went straight into qualifying. I feel like if I went back and did it all over again, we‘d be so much better, because I feel like I‘m a better race car driver today than I was two years ago, for sure.”
Nearly two years after his last ARCA Menards Series race with Venturini, Pembelton is back in a Toyota-funded seat for the Late Model Stock equivalent to the Daytona 500. With Pulliam‘s experience at Martinsville also at his disposal, Pembelton is confident he will have one of the best cars for this year‘s ValleyStar Credit Union 300.
The track record Pulliam has amassed at Martinsville includes two victories, in 2011 and 2014, both of which came on passes within the last two laps. In 10 total ValleyStar Credit Union 300 appearances, Pulliam finished outside the top five on just two occasions.
Pembelton is grateful to have been mentored by both Pulliam and Philip Morris, a three-time ValleyStar Credit Union 300 champion. He plans to put the advice of the two Late Model Stock legends to good use in his pursuit of a stellar Martinsville weekend for Lee Pulliam Performance.
“[Pulliam] is really looking forward to having a solid run,” Pembelton said. “We want to have a one-two finish of course, and it‘s not going to matter if I‘m first or if he‘s first. I feel like he‘s going to bring the race car to do this for sure.
“He‘s a very hands-on, active worker, and it shows on the track how much effort he puts into bringing great cars to the track every week.”
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While Pulliam would love to obtain his third ValleyStar Credit Union 300 victory this year, his primary focus is working closely with Pembelton so he can listen to feedback and provide everything necessary to make him comfortable inside the car.
Pulliam believes Pembelton gives him a great chance to win the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 as an owner for the first time. The turnaround to get everything ready is a quick one, but Pulliam knows everyone on the team is going to come together to ensure Pembelton can compete for another grandfather clock.
“We‘ve come close as an owner with Corey Heim,” Pulliam said. “If Landon crosses the finish line first, there aren‘t going to be many people there happier than me, for sure. His dad might be one of the few, but it would be a cool experience. I‘ve got a lot of faith he can get the job done, because he‘s one of the more talented young drivers out there.
“I wouldn‘t bet against him if I was a betting man.”
A lot has changed in Pembelton‘s life since the last time he visited Victory Lane at Martinsville. Instead of being a relative unknown, Pembelton now finds himself as a ValleyStar Credit Union 300 favorite with backing from a major manufacturer.
Despite the momentum on his side, Pembelton is going into Martinsville with the same mindset he possessed in 2021: Just make the show and complete all the laps.
“I‘d be very ecstatic if we could come away with a top 10 or a top five,” Pembelton said. “The opportunity itself all together [is amazing], so I want to make the most of it by making sure we don‘t tear anything up and we‘re very consistent. We want to have a good run and chase a clock at the same time while doing it.”
A conservative-but-methodical strategy helped Pembelton add his name to a prestigious list of ValleyStar Credit Union 300 winners before the age of 18. Only a handful have won the crown jewel race more than once, but Pembelton is in a perfect position to add onto his own Martinsville legacy and Pulliam‘s once Sept. 28 arrives.
Source Agencies
