Myers Wins Endurance Game at Bowman Gray
 

Burt Myers celebrating in Winner’s Circle after winning the Hayes Jewelers 200. photo by Eric Hylton Photography

(Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston-Salem, NC) Saturday night was a test of endurance for Modified drivers at Bowman Gray Stadium. And Burt Myers passed the test with flying colors.
            Myers qualified on the pole and then fought lap after lap through 13 cautions and 10 lead changes to take the checkered flag in the season-opening Hayes Jewelers 200 for the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series.
            The 200-lapper is the longest and most prestigious race of the season, pushing the patience and focus of the drivers as well as the stability of cars and tires. With 13 cautions and the double-file restart cone, there was rarely any moment when a driver could settle in.
            As the green flag waved, the #1 car of Myers claimed the lead by overpowering the outside pole-starter of Lee Jeffreys of Wallburg. But Myers’s dominance would be short-lived. During the first double-file restart, Jeffreys took to the outside and grabbed the lead away.
            A few laps later, another double-file restart allowed Myers to reclaim the lead. And then after a few more laps, Jeffreys grabbed the lead back yet again. The two ended up trading the lead back and forth eight times.
            “It was not a coincidence that everybody kept getting beat off of the inside tonight,” said Myers. “The grip on the inside on the restarts was absolutely terrible.” Lee Jeffreys agreed: “On the restarts, you were able to get a better run on the outside,” said Jeffreys.

One of the many times that Burt Myers (1) and Lee Jeffreys (77) traded the lead back and forth. photo by Eric Hylton Photography

            The back and forth battles forced Myers and Jeffreys to push their cars to the limit, a situation that wasn’t optimal during a lengthy 200-lap race. “I knew we had a really good car, but we were running a lot harder than I wanted to run,” said Myers. “Lee is notorious for really pushing his car, but he had a really good car. When Lee got in front of me, I figured that was actually a good thing for me.”
            As Myers tried once again to take the lead back, he gave a tap to the rear bumper of Lee Jeffreys on lap 161. Jeffreys spun out and was relegated to the rear.
            “It was just one of those racing deals,” said Myers, who feels that Jeffreys simply lost control. “Lee’s a good friend of mine. I’ve let him drive my racecar before – and there’s not many people I would let do that. When you spin a man out, he spins all the way around. I bumped Lee and he went sideways, corrected it, and then came back.”
            Jeffreys, however, feels that Myers was driving dirty. “If I was him, that’s what I’d say too,” said Jeffreys. “But I promise you next time he’s in front of me, he’ll probably ‘wiggle’ or he’ll probably ‘have a flat’ or something.”
            The front row then became a Myers sibling rivalry as Jason Myers of Walnut Cove moved to the outside to challenge his older brother. The #4 car of Jason took the lead with 30 laps to go.
            "We finally caught a break, got on the front row, and beat Burt off the start - and the car was great,” said Jason Myers. Unfortunately, the conditions of the inside groove crippled him on the next restart. “It was like it had a flat tire on it. We would go in the corner and turn the wheel as hard as it would go left - and it would just keep going straight,” said Jason Myers.
            Burt grabbed the lead back, while Jason slipped back through the field after being passed by Danny Bohn of Huntersville. “Danny gave me one little shot getting into turn three. That made the car drift up off the bottom - and he got by me,” said Jason Myers. “I had a shot to win it, and I feel like I gave one away.”
            Once he moved into second, Bohn had his sights set on passing Burt Myers. And although there were only 20 laps left in the race, Bohn did have one critical advantage: he had pitted earlier to put on fresh tires.
            “We knew it would be a survival game. We just kept our nose clean and picked cars off on restarts when we needed to,” said Bohn. “I was hoping for a caution, and I honestly thought I’d be able to wind Burt in. But he was able to ride up front and save his tires a little more than we were coming from the back.”
            But Bohn never received a chance to challenge Myers with a double-file restart. Myers held on to take the checkered flag, giving him a strong start to his bid for his third straight championship in a row. “When you can start out the year with a win in this race – and knowing that our car was as good as it was for 200 laps - that’s a real motivator for us for the rest of the year,” said Myers.
            In the Webb Heating & A/C Co. Sportsman Series, Gary Ledbetter of Lexington fought from 15th forward to take the checkered in a wild first race of the season. Derek Stoltz of Walkertown finished in second, with Bryant Robertson of Lexington taking third.
            Doug Wall of Pfafftown brought home the victory in the 20-lapper for the Q104.1 New Country Street Stock Series. John Holleman of Winston-Salem and David Sumner of Trinity finished second and third.
            In the Summer Shootout Stadium Stock Series, Wesley Thompson of Mocksville took the checkered in the first race. The second race was postponed due to curfew.

 

Race Results

Brad's Golf Cars Modified Series
Hayes Jewelers 200 : 200 laps

FINISH	CAR	DRIVER	HOMETOWN
1	1	Burt Myers	Walnut Cove, NC
2	65	Danny Bohn	Huntersville, NC
3	83	Tim Brown	Rural Hall, NC
4	4	Jason Myers	Walnut Cove, NC
5	22	Jonathan Brown	Winston-Salem, NC
6	69	Junior Miller	Danbury, NC
7	5	Randy Butner	Pfafftown, NC
8	77	Lee Jeffreys	Wallburg, NC
9	50	Michael Clifton	Walkertown, NC
10	05	Tony Black	Lexington, NC
11	66	Ronnie Clifton	Walkertown, NC
12	12	Mike Norman	Lewisville, NC
13	40	Chris Fleming	Mount Airy, NC
14	81	Austin Pack	Walkertown, NC
15	72	Brent Elliott	Denton, NC
16	48	Brad Robbins	Winston-Salem, NC
17	28	Mike Adams	Winston-Salem, NC
18	37	Thomas Ferrando	Rians, France
19	21	Tommy Neal	Walkertown, NC
20	53	Brian Loftin	Lexington, NC
21	75	Robert Jeffreys	Winston-Salem, NC
22	04	Kevin Powell	Winston-Salem, NC
23	09	George Brunnhoezl III	West Babylon, NY
24	70	Noah Triplett	Lexington, NC
25	2	Joseph Brown	Winston-Salem, NC
26	20	Jeremy Stoltz	Walkertown, NC
27	25	John Smith	Mount Airy, NC

 

Webb Heating and A/C Co. Sportsman Series:
Sportsman race: 22 of 40 laps completed (time limit expired)

FINISH	CAR	DRIVER	HOMETOWN
1	70	Gary Ledbetter	Lexington, NC
2	02	Derek Stoltz	Walkertown, NC
3	72	Bryant Robertson	Lexington, NC
4	86	Taylor Branch	Lewisville, NC
5	3	Jeff Garrison	Clemmons, NC
6	8	Bobby Reed	Clemmons, NC
7	9	David Adams	Yadkinville, NC
8	07	Danny Cornwell	Clemmons, NC
9	81	Zack Clifton	Walkertown, NC
10	20	Jacob Creed	Ararat, NC
11	50	Barry Edwards	Pinnacle, NC
12	14	Rudy Ruddock	High Point, NC
13	18	Kenny Bost	Lexington, NC
14	55	Zack Ore	Winston-Salem, NC
15	52	David Sell	Winston-Salem, NC
16	22	Stacey Miller	Kernersville, NC
17	03	Jordan Fleming	Mount Airy, NC
18	0	Rick Hunter	Winston-Salem, NC
19	19	Michael Adams	Yadkinville, NC
20	92	Kyle Southern	King, NC
21	26	Michael Tilley	Winston-Salem, NC
22	7	Ronnie Barron	Lexington, NC
23	5	Billy Lester	Hickory, NC
24	13	Luke Fleming	Mount Airy, NC
25	79	John Lain	Kernersville, NC
26	31	Ryan Nelson	Kernersville, NC

Q104.1 New Country Street Stock Series
Street Stock race – 20 laps

FINISH	CAR	DRIVER	HOMETOWN
1	12	Doug Wall	Pfafftown, NC
2	4	John Holleman	Winston-Salem, NC
3	1	David Sumner	Trinity, NC
4	98	Billy Gregg	Winston-Salem, NC
5	66	Whitney Clifton	Walkertown, NC
6	00	Donnie Martin	Winston-Salem, NC
7	9	Darren Cotner	King, NC
8	44	Daniel Fishel	Greensboro, NC
9	05	Spencer Martin	Winston-Salem, NC
10	22	Brian Wall	Winston-Salem, NC
11	55	Stephen Baker	Kernersville, NC
12	02	Bobby Whiteman	Pelham, NC
13	88	Nick Brill	Lewisville, NC
14	16	Allen Henkel	Trinity, NC
15	39	Craig West	Walkertown, NC
16	21	Justin Taylor	King, NC
17	96	Terry Sink	Winston-Salem, NC
18	8	K.J. Stimpson	Lewisville, NC
19	15	Jerry Helms	Winston-Salem, NC
20	94	Jeffery Wood	Southmont, NC
21	33	David Thomas	Walkertown, NC
22	23	Kris Hoots	Mocksville, NC
23	25	Johnny Arnder	Mount Airy, NC

 

Summer Shootout Stadium Stock Series
1st Stadium Stock race – 15 laps

FINISH	CAR	DRIVER	HOMETOWN
1	02	Wesley Thompson	Mocksville, NC
2	26	Derek Taylor	Yadkinville, NC
3	07	Buddy East	Winston-Salem, NC
4	81	Chuck Wall	Clemmons, NC
5	24	A.J. Sanders	Mocksville, NC
6	17	Andy Southern	Winston-Salem, NC
7	13	Chase Hunt	Lexington, NC
8	54	Jeremy Smith	Rural Hall, NC
9	14	Ken Bridges	King, NC
10	89	Joseph Swanson	Rural Hall, NC
11	16	Stephen Sanders	Winston-Salem, NC
12	76	Billy Cameron, Jr.	Salisbury, NC
13	64	Ricky Wall	East Bend, NC
14	04	Blaine Willard	Winston-Salem, NC
15	72	Roger Vogler	Winston-Salem, NC
16	44	Perry Hanes	Advance, NC
17	92	Zack Bralley	Asheboro, NC
18	60	Ted Mickalowski	Mocksville, NC
19	96	Casey Kirkman	Winston-Salem, NC
20	55	Tyler Burke	Winston-Salem, NC

 

2nd Stadium Stock race – postponed until next event