Commentary by: Corey Latham ~ corey@RACE22.com

Thomasville, NC(October 22, 2010) -- I was just sitting back reflecting on the year, thinking about the things going on at the moment and just thought I would express some opinions and thoughts on those. Usually me thinking gets some people scared or pisses somebody off, so to keep up with tradition I will continue to see if I can accomplish both.

First up is the Philip Morris versus Lee Pulliam deal from South Boston's big race, the Danville Toyota 300. All sorts of people are mad at Morris and I honestly can't see why ... the two "big dogs" in racing right now were going for the win and made some contact, one person had to come across first and it happened to be Morris. Some say it was dirty, but he didn't wreck the guy, he moved him up the track, heaven forbid that racers rub each other, maybe we can get our local guys to pretend they are in the NFL(National Football League), where all the players are being told to be pansies. Now that sounds great.

People are also crying that he has more money than anyone. Maybe he does, what is he supposed to do, not spend it because it makes his equipment better than others? I'm not going to knock a man for doing things that way and buying the best equipment if he can afford to do so. It's pretty stupid to even bring up the "more money" thing if you think about it, if everything he is doing is within the NASCAR rules then it doesn't matter and he hasn't been thrown out, so I'll take that as he's doing it within the rules. He's not afraid to use his bumper either and this works well in racing when the time arises. People say that Dale Earnhardt, Sr. was a dirty driver, but there is a reason he won seven championships and Mark Martin, who they say is the cleanest driver out there, has been nothing more than a bridesmaid.

Now to Pulliam ... Lee is a breath of fresh air in the Late Model world, to me, he's the next big thing something that only comes around every ten years or so. He has taken the sport by storm this year and at his home track of South Boston he once again was on the pole for the big race and ran second to Morris the entire event and looked to be making a run before the last two cautions came out. It all came down to a green-white-checkered, for all the money and the trophy. Pulliam had to start on the outside, and knowing who he was racing against, he had to know that Morris was going to rough him up when it came down to it. He did just that and Pulliam was upset, as any racer would be.

But, Pulliam was more upset that Morris had recently been using the guidance from Sellers Racing and had some of the tricks in the #26 machine that he had in his as he more or less said Morris "bought his setup". Well, maybe he did, but who do you put at fault here? HC Sellers for helping Morris like he does with other drivers in the Sellers stables? Morris for seeing somebody with something working and going after it? It's a hard one to call and a tough situation to be in. I haven't agreed with some of the moves that Morris has made in the past outside of the actual raceday, but this one is a tough call and one that will be settled "in-house".

Pulliam will recover and become one of the greats as long as something drastic doesn't happen. He has the ability, the car and now he just has to show the "killer instinct" in situations like he was in at South Boston. I'm not saying that he doesn't have it by any means, but he now knows what he has to do the next time he and Morris are going for the win. He said he would turn him the next time they race, and while blatant wrecking of people is not accepted, we will be watching to see if he races Morris a little rougher the next time out. People have been saying they were going to get Morris back for 15 years and nobody has done it yet, Pulliam may be the first as they will be in a situation like at South Boston more times in the future, I'm willing to bet on that.

Looking back a race before that at Martinsville, we once again were treated to a great race and the kind of hospitality that only Martinsville provides. While other Cup tracks are all business and corporate big wigs all the time, Martinsville can do the same on the business end and still be personable, they are real people just like all of us. I think the biggest thing is that Clay Campbell is a racer himself, and they have made it known in the past that while all the notoriety comes from the Cup weekends, they look forward to the Late Model race more than anything. It is definitely our Daytona 500, and they treat the drivers and crews with the utmost respect, unlike other Cup tracks the Late Models have visited in the past.

The biggest thing to us is they treat the media like kings, they act like they really want us there and that is greatly appreciated, some tracks don't and that is reflected in articles that the various media outlets put out, if you don't like being at a track then usually that track doesn't get the best story about it. I have to personally say thanks to Mike Smith for letting me be there, as he threatened to make me spend my Sunday at Clarence's Steakhouse, I will never pick on you for watching "Grey's Anatomy" again......at least not where you can hear me. You da man Mike.

Now to the Ace Speedway and their big $5000 to win race, it seems to be business as usual. The purse has been set and the racers are showing some great interest in the event. Along with the regulars there, a few cars from the top 5 at Martinsville and others have signed on, including a few UARA drivers. Former track champion Frank Deiny Jr. will be making a return, along with track favorite Speedy Faucette who has not raced much this year.

A lot of younger superstars will be there as this race is not NASCAR sanctioned, so the Jesse Little's and Clint King's of the world can go race with the big dogs, most of them have been already though. This will be a learning process for the track also as Ace has not held a big event since the early 2000's, but they do have the luxury of having run every week and with the biggest turn around in racetrack history it looks to be a success in the making. With the closing of Southern National and their "Thanksgiving Classic", Ace looks to make the event an annual one and with the talent already coming I think it will leave It's mark.

As we are talking about the younger kids racing, that's something that I have changed my stance on in the last year or so. About 4-5 years ago, we really had a explosion of young kids burst on to the scene, and my thoughts were that they were just way too young. Some were driving just because mom and dad had money, they didn't care that they didn't have talent and more times than not they ended up wrecked or most likely wrecked with someone else. But now it seems that the kids we have driving today are refined a lot more, they aren't thrown in situations where they are over their heads, they have the talent to back it up. Jesse Little is one that sticks out to me, after seeing him race a few times he is nothing but a wheelman and after running at Wilkesboro and then winning at Ace in the South East Limited tour, he has shown he can drive at the toughest tracks around.

Speaking of tough, what more can we say about Michael McGuire. He picked up his first Late Model win a few weeks ago at Orange County, and while the road to get the car right this year has been a little bumpy, it looks as if things are coming together. After dominating in Limiteds last year, the road to Late Model success has been a challenge, as they had to pull away from the UARA series earlier in the season after running very poorly and move back to Limiteds. It was making people talk and ultimately killing Michael's confidence, he was upset that he wasn't living up to what people thought he should be.

No fault of his own, he simply had too many people put expectations on him for this season, but things are turning around for him as we close the season out. Let me tell you, I have seen him, the kid is a beast behind the wheel, anybody that was at Franklin County this year during the big Late Model race saw that. There's not too many men alive that can have Jimmy Mullins jacking them up for 25 laps at Franklin County and keep him behind you, much less not wreck. That 14 year-old kid ... did.

With Clint King and Ronnie Bassett Jr. in the mix also, the youth movement is in fine shape. These two are already seasoned veterans on the track as they ran in the UARA this season, a series where mistakes don't let you stay around very long. By watching them you wouldn't know that they haven't been running for 15 years, kids just seem to be more disciplined these days and that's a good thing. We'll see how all these future stars do together in just a few weeks, as it looks like all four will be competing in the big race at Ace Speedway.

Well, I guess I'm done running my mouth, not a whole lot going on this week but just figured I'd jot something down. I'm really looking forward to the races coming up, but kinda bummed that I won't be at the North South Shootout this year, me and my pops have been to every one and always help sponsor the event, him taking me to Bowman Gray to see the mods every week since I was 4 is what got me into racing. My good friend Ricky Knapp is going to have his car there, and I was looking forward to helping him also as he looks to have Burt Myers in the seat for the SK race. Ricky is still looking for sponsorship, as his girlfriend is very sick in the hospital fighting cancer, her only wish for this year was to see Burt in their car for the Shootout and it will be nothing short of a miracle if they can get the cash to be there. It is a sad story, she is only 23 but she is a fighter, and Ricky is doing all he can to fulfill her wish, anyone wanting to help can contact me or Ricky, he needs all the help he can get.

That makes me think of a story about Ricky and I'll leave you with that, It's something that all racers can learn from. Ricky is a Yankee who just got transplanted a few years back, he's been a mod racer all his life and has raced with everyone from TC to Stefanik but now at the age of 27 the economy has hit him like everyone else, so now he helps people, and this fits right in. We were at the annual New Years Eve Polar Bear Bash a year ago, a party with a bunch of racers in the infield of Rockingham Speedway the day before the Frank Kimmel Street Stock race. Me and Ricky were the last two up out of about 50 there, and somehow the first two to rise, and let's just say we weren't feeling our best, bed at 4 and up at 7:30 wasn't the best idea of the weekend. I think Mike Herman Jr, Matt Dillner and the rest slept till noon.....just kidding guys.

Anyway, we get up and as they have European qualifying for the Street Stocks early that morning, one of the cars wrecks in front of us going into turn three tearing the front and rear up pretty good, we didn't think much of it and walk to the garage so Ricky can get some coffee. As we are strolling through the garage, we see the car that just crashed and people were just standing around it, nobody was even attempting repairs. Ricky asked them what was going on and they said they were from Michigan, and the car was too badly damaged to race, they were bummed. Ricky looked at them and said "Hell with that, you drove all the way from Michigan, your going to race today".

He then started barking orders and grabbing tools, got on the ground and busted his knuckles as he basically rebuilt the front and rear of the car himself. It was truly amazing to see, he was like a general taking his troop into battle, just instead of guns he had welders, zip ties and rivets. He didn't know these people from Adam and had his good clothes on that he was going to watch the race in, but thought it was more important that another racer fulfill his dream. And as badly damaged as the car was to start with, it started the race two hours later and the kid got to race at Rockingham.

The people with the team tried to give Ricky a little something, he shrugged it off and just told them to have fun and don't give up, advice that he has had to put to use in the past few months himself. I'll never ever forget seeing this, and all racers and crew members around need to keep this story in mind, in a world full of animosity and hatred, racers have always been the exception, helping others always comes back to you, but as time passes I see this less and less at the track. Ricky proved to me that it still can be done, and I'm betting that it comes back to him soon.