Burt Myers Wins AgSouth Farm Credit 150 Brandon Ward Crowned 2023 Champion
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Bowman Gray Stadium, Winston Salem, N.C.
Saturday August 19, 2023
Event #14 The 1094th event since the first race in 1949
17000 plus fans packed the stadium to witness the season ending Bowman Gray Stadium finale. The highlight of the night was the AgSouth Farm Credit 150 in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modifieds. The event could have been called the AgSouth Farm Credit Madhouse demo derby 150 as only 9 of the original 25 cars completed the 150 lap marathon.
When the checkered flag flew, Burt Myers streaked to the win, his 3rd victory of the season and his 91st win at the stadium.
“They were telling me what was going on behind me but like I said earlier the team told me anything can happen tonight. We knew if we could get into the lead the car was really good , it has been all year. I ran really hard on restarts just to get going and do everything not to make a mistake cause it was our race to lose. I wasn’t interested about the championship. Our goal was to come out here and win this race and that’s what we did.” Myers said. “Racers and drivers are so funny, people talk about motors and carburetors and traction control but you just watch that car how it accelerates off the corners, it has nothing to do with any of that stuff, it has to do with this PSR car and the adjustments we make on it and I’ve been working with my crew chief Jamie, we can partner enough to get what I need out of it and tonight we did better than everyone else.”
By virtue of his quick qualifying time of 13.139 Lee Jefferys started on the pole with Burt Myers beside him. Jefferys took the initial lead but Myers overpowered Jefferys on lap 6 and led the remainder of the race. Thirteen yellow flags constantly slowed the pace but Myers was able to gain command each restart while chaos behind him kept the fans on their feet.
Dan Speeney had a night he’ll always remember but would probably like to forget. On lap 34 a spin by 14 year old Slate Myers in turn one was initiated off Speeney’s front bumper and eight laps later Speeney tangled with points leader Chris Fleming and Fleming found himself parked on Speeney’s hood off turn four. Fleming was unable to return to action and was out of the running for the championship. Speeney continued on only to make contact with Slate Myers a second time, this time climbing Myers left rear tire and getting launched over the retaining wall against the stadium seating. Myers’s damage was extensive and his race was done for the night. Again Speeney returned to action.
Another contender for the track championship, Tim Brown also had a rough night first with James Civali on lap 117. The two made contact and Civali retaliated on the caution lap by side swiping Brown under yellow.
Pole sitter Lee Jefferys ran consistently within striking distance of the lead but on lap 129 he tangled with Brandon Ward and found himself against the back straightaway wall then showed his displeasure with Ward before retiring from the race. Ward was now able to take over second place between the race leader Burt Myers and third place Jason Myers.
Junior Snow, who worked his way forward from his 14th starting position was 4th by lap 146 got taken out in turn two off of Brown’s front bumper also retaliated by driving the wrong way and dive bombed into Brown on the front stretch. As Brown continued under caution Snow drove across the infield and drove across Brown’s front end. Snow was disqualified as Brown was towed to his pit stall.
Because of Snow’s spin on lap 146 the 150 lap event had to go green, white, checkers. Burt Myers pulled away easily to claim the victory, his 3rd win of the season and 91st win at the stadium.
Behind Burt Myers, Brandon Ward and Jason Myers, Danny Bohn nipped Kyle Southern on the last lap to finish 4th. Rookie Kyle Southern had an outstanding run to finish 5th. The top three finishers were all Ford powered.
Track champion Brandon Ward said “I knew we had a shot at it before the race even started. All of us running for the championship got beat up pretty bad, we got it early too. I never gave up because these guys never gave up on me. I knew we were in a little trouble when the right front got beat up and the car would never roll the center again. We just kept fighting and fought our way back to second. I knew it was going to be close, I didn’t know it at the time. I just wanted to run the race and try to win it . We fought all the adversities early on. All these guys at New Day Motorsports work really hard, it was a great season and I’m proud for them.”
Summary:
Fastest qualifier-Lee Jefferys-13.139sec.
Race leaders-(2)-#75-Lee Jefferys-lap1-5, #1-Burt Myers laps 6-152
Caution Flags-(13) Laps 1-7-28-34-42-61-86-91-104-112-117-129-146
61 laps were run under yellow
Unofficial Finish
1 #1-Burt Myers
2 04-Brandon Ward
3 4-Jason Myers
4 57-Danny Bohn
5 9-Kyle Southern
6 79-James Civali
7 69-John Holleman IV
8 44-Daniel Beeson
9 99-William Smith
10 83-Tim Brown
11 3-Danny Propst
12 91-Junior Snow
13 75-Lee Jefferys
14 10-Dan Speeney
15 77-Susan Harwell
16 37-Mike Speeney
17 39-Gerald Robinson Jr.
18 68-D. Matthews
19 6-Slate Myers
20 16-Chris Fleming
21 45-Lee Stimpson
22 35-Brandon Butner
23 89-Eddie Collins
24 5-Randy Butner
25 88-Ethan Stoltz
26 14-Cory Lovette
Story by James Snape
Photos by Crystal Snape
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