Over the years, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has given back a lot to the world of NASCAR, from the grassroots level to the National level. Many have benefited from his work in NASCAR, including Lee Pulliam, who gets to live his dream cause of the Hall of Famer.

Lee Pulliam has had a long road to reach the O’Reilly Martinsville opportunity

Pulliam, a legend in his own right, is a four-time NASCAR Weekly Series champion who is all set to make his first major start in the O’Reilly Series at Martinsville. Despite retiring, he returned to the track in Martinsville to share a heartfelt moment with his father in 2024.

“My dad got sick in ’24 and had surgery. Me and him raced together for so many years,” said Pulliam in a pre-race interview. “That was what we were the closest to. And I told him, I said, ‘If you fight hard and pull through this,’ I said, ‘I’ll find the funds to go run Martinsville in a late model.’ And everything worked out.”

Pulliam ended up in 13th place, but that showed him why he belonged on the track. It pushed him to race more in the last 12 months, with a notable moment being him coming short by 0.024 seconds of winning his third Martinsville Late Model Stock 300. Having seen him race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. reached out to him, supporting his dream.

“Dale reached out to me, and just kind of things started rolling. So, I was able to drive his car to second at the Thanksgiving Classic. And you know been driving my car a little bit just to prepare for this. I actually won at South Boston last week, so that was neat,” he claimed.

Pulliam clarified that he never wanted to ‘walk away’ from racing. The bitter reality was that he couldn’t afford the racing from a financial standpoint, hence his decision to stop racing.

For Pulliam, it has never been a question of talent or dedication; it was the finances. For instance, in 2014, a wreck at Bristol in the K&N Pro Series East race deeply damaged his dreams of racing in NASCAR. This is because the team only had limited resources, and after that, he was ‘just taking a knife to a gunfight.’

He also started the Lee Pulliam Performance despite his struggles. His team has given exciting talents like Corey Heim and Brenden Queen. After helping other drivers, the 37-year-old is all set to cherish and make the most of the experience as he is set to race in Martinsville once again for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team.

Pulliam delighted in racing for Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Martinsville

In November 2025, when Pulliam was announced by JR Motorsports, the short track veteran spoke about how much being involved with Dale Earnhardt Jr. meant to him.

“I grew up being a huge Earnhardt fan, going to the track and racing with a very low budget like the Earnhardt family started with back in the day. To now drive for someone that I looked up to as a role model and hero of mine, it’s pretty special,” Pulliam said. “To get the call from Dale and put it together with what I feel like is going to be one of the best combinations in racing, I’m really looking forward to and am excited about that.”

Earnhardt also claimed that having Pulliam driving for JRM is ‘special’ for him and his team due to the veteran’s contribution in NASCAR.

Pulliam will be hoping to secure a win to repay the faith Earnhardt Jr. has shown in him. It will be a tough field, but the veteran has done it before and could once again surprise fans with his racing exploits.