Morris Finds Redemption At Martinsville
"Wins second Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 after 10 year waitMARTINSVILLE, Va. -- It took Philip Morris 10 years to get back to Victory Lane at Martinsville Speedway, but it was worth the wait.
Morris drove the No. 26 Clarence's Steakhouse Chevrolet to the win in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 300 Sunday afternoon. It is Morris' second win in the prestigious NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Late Model race, with his previous win coming in 2000.
In between, Morris won track championships at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va., multiple NASCAR Virginia state championships and three NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national championships. This season, however, while he won seven races and finished seventh in the nation is was a down year for the Ruckersville, Va., driver.
"Usually we come in to this race and we have something to celebrate," Morris said. "We came in here just really humbled."
Matt McCall was credited with a second-place finish after Davin Scites, who got by him on the final lap, was disqualified following post-race technical inspection for an altered intake manifold.
"We just got beat on the outside and pretty much that was the story for the rest of the race," McCall said. "Philip's car was really strong, so congratulations to him. ... We'll have to take the finish and come back and try again next year.
Alex Yontz, the 2006 race winner, finished third, followed by Jamey Caudill (2003 winner) and pole sitter Lee Pulliam. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Timothy Peters (2005 winner) was sixth, followed by Brandon Butler, Wayne Ramsey, Robert Johnson and Mike Looney.
Morris took the lead from McCall on Lap 138 and withstood a number of late race cautions, including one on Lap 196 that set up a green-white-checkered finish that pushed the race to 201 laps.
"There's a lot of history here, and this is a very, very important place," said Morris. "This topped off our year right here."
Morris said it carried extra significance to get the win for Clarence Pickurel. Pickurel owns a nearby restaurant and has sponsored various Late Model drivers over the years, including 2005 national champion Peyton Sellers and Morris in recent years.
"I'm just thankful God let me be the one to win this race," said Morris, "and take the clock over to Clarence's"
Morris took the lead from Pulliam on Lap 12. The two races side-by-side for 12 laps before Morris pulled back into the lead on Lap 70. A missed shift on a restart just prior to the halfway break dropped Morris to seventh and caused him concerns about possible transmission issues.
"Usually when you get started out and you're running good, and things start going wrong, they keep going south," said Morris. "I thought one more like that and we were going to be in the back of the field and I was going to take home a pile of parts. But it just turned around. My crew chief Marcus Richmond made some great adjustments and whatever he did - I don't have a clue what it was - but it just set sail."
The race featured a number of NASCAR track champions, including Justin Johnson from South Boston (13th), Andy Mercer from Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway (14th), Brandon Dean from Motor Mile (16th) and CE Falk III of Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va. (18th). NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Dennis Setzer finished 29th after cutting a tire while battling for a top five spot.