Marty Gordon
Saturday nights are back to normal in the New River Valley as racing is back at Motor Mile Speedway. A modest crowd of nearly 2,000 watched as the track “re-opened” after taking almost a year and a half off from the sport. Promoters hope to have as many as 12 more dates on the schedule before it is over this year.
If you have not ever experienced NASCAR racing, this a great opportunity to do so, and it offers some great family entertainment here in our area.
More fans need to come out and support this form of entertainment. Shelor Automotive bought the facility in 2004, and their hand in the track’s development can be seen everywhere.
Of course, the .416-mile paved oval’s history dates back much further opening in 1952 and has continued under several names—Radford Speedway, Pulaski County Speedway and now Motor Mile.
The night was also a first of sorts for a hand-picked Dale Earnhardt Jr. driver. Adam Lemke has been named as a driver for JR Motorsports’ championship-winning Late Model program for 2019. The 16-year-old native of Hollister, Calif. will drive the team’s second Chevrolet for the season and will compete alongside 2017 CARS Late Model Stock Car Series champion Josh Berry.
Lemke, who won both the Pavement and overall championships in the USAC Western Midget Series this past season as well as Rookie of the Year honors in the RPM Pro Late Model Series at California’s Madera Speedway, had a stellar 2018 season. Beginning in the USAC Midgets, Lemke won eight of 12 races and finished no worse than third in the others, winning 11 of 12 heat races along the way. He also finished second in the Dirt portion of the championship. In the Late Models, the young driver earned three top-five and five top-10 finishes on the way to rookie honors.
Lemke has won championships and set records in Quarter Midgets and Mini Cup competition, starting his career at the tender age of eight. In 2017, he graduated to the USAC Western Midget Series and finished second in overall points and clinched the Rookie of the Year award.
He stayed in the middle of the pack in Twin-50s Saturday night but pushed many of the regulars. He should be a young driver to watch as the season progressed. Expect him to split time between several tracks in the southeast.
But the night was not without controversy even before the first flag dropped. Phillip Morris has won six MM titles and is the defending champ. His biggest name to fame is winning five Whelen national racing trophies.
The last race at Motor Miles was September 9, 2017, and Morris was the winner. He failed to take the checkered in Saturday’s first Twin-50s but claimed the second race and grand finale of the evening. He was without his regular crew chief because of an incident that took place two weeks ago at South Boston Raceway.
Morris apparently took offense to a bump from fellow racer Lee Pulliam. On a red flag stop because of the incident, Morris’ crew chief Forrest Reynolds decided to have a little conversation with Pulliam. Witnesses say he jumped into the car before being ejected.
This came after Reynolds jumped over the pit wall and threw a radio at Pulliam’s windshield.
Pulliam was fined $1,500 but the Morris team received the heaviest hand. Morris was only fined $1,000, while Reynolds was stripped of his NASCAR license through the end of the year and forbidden from being at the track or in the competition area.
Witnesses say he was at Motor Mile on Friday during practices, but outlawed on race night. In addition, Pulliam and Morris were placed on probation through the end of the year.
