Southern Mod New & Notes: South Boston
More History For Myers Brothers
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Myers family has one of the most storied histories in all of motorsports and brothers, Burt and Jason, recently added to it.
Jason Myers opened the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour regular season with a victory on March 16 at Caraway Speedway near Asheboro, N.C., and Burt Myers followed that up with a win on March 23 at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C. It was the first time in tour history that the brothers posted back-to-back wins. The two have combined for 12 wins and have competed against one another in 94 of the 99 tour events, to date.
The win for Burt Myers (No. 1 CitruSafe/Adams Towing & Recovery Ford) snapped a 23-race winless streak that extended back to the 2010 season finale at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., at which his triumph secured the tour championship.
“It was great to win again,” said Burt, the elder of the brothers. “It’s been tough trying to get back to where we were.”
Over the two winless seasons in 2011 and 2012, he missed three races due to two separate injuries, but they didn’t keep him from the race track.
“We put other drivers in the car and I wanted to be a part of it, but it sure wasn’t easy,” he said. “It’s kind of like going to a dance and watching someone else dance with your wife. I definitely don’t want to go through that again.”
Kicking off the season with a win – as expected – was met with great pleasure by Jason Myers (No. 4 Myers Racing Ford), whose previous victory came on Sept. 1, 2012 at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Va.
“It is great to get that momentum and confidence at the start of the season even though we tanked (finished 12th) the next race,” he said. “The team morale is still very good and we’re excited to go to South Boston.”
South Boston hasn’t been particularly kind to either of the Myers over the years, but both enjoy racing the track despite the lack of expected results.
Burt has three top-10 finishes including a third-place showing in the 2009 tour debut at the .4-mile Virginia oval.
“I like racing there, but we always seem to miss on the car just a little bit,” he said. “That’s not going to happen this time. We have a new car this year and everything is a new start – a new beginning.”
Jason has a career tour-best finish of seventh (2011) in four tries at South Boston.
“I like the track a lot. We’ve just had bad luck there on the tour,” he said. “Tire management is the key there, so that’s the plan. We’ll take care of them the best we can in the first half and try to get set up to race for the win in the second half. I hope it’s that simple.”
RACE: South Boston 150
PLACE: South Boston (Va.) Speedway
DATE: Saturday, April 13
TIME: 8 p.m. ET
TRACK LAYOUT: .4-mile paved oval
2012 WINNER: Brandon Ward
2011 POLESITTER: L.W. Miller
EVENT SCHEDULE: Practice 1:30-1:55 p.m., 2:25-3 p.m.; Qualifying 4:45 p.m.; Autograph Session 6 p.m.
TRACK CONTACT: Tim Chandler, (434) 572-4947, info@southbostonspeedway.com
TWITTER: @SoBoSpeedway57
EVENT TWITTER HASHTAG: #SoBo150
NASCAR IMC CONTACT: Shon Sbarra, (704) 309-5493 or ssbarra@nascar.com, Twitter: @ShonSbarra
FAST FACTS
The Race: This is the third event of the 2013 season for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour. This is the tour’s fifth visit to South Boston.
The Procedure: The starting field is 26 cars, including provisionals. The first 23 cars will qualify through two-lap time trials while the remaining three spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps covering 60 miles with a 10-minute break at or around Lap 75.
The Track: South Boston (Va.) Speedway has as long a history as almost any in NASCAR. Opened in August 1957, SoBo hosted its first NASCAR Grand National (now known as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series) race in July 1960 with Junior Johnson collecting the win. The .4-mile oval has 12 degrees of banking in the corners and 10-degree banking on the straightaways. The track is 45 feet wide and the front and backstretches are 360 feet in length.
The Records: The one-lap qualifying record for the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is 14.466 seconds (99.5444 mph), set by L.W. Miller on April 14, 2012. The 150-lap race record is held by Andy Seuss at 49 minutes, 27 seconds was set on April 4, 2009 for an average speed of 72.801 mph.
SOUTH BOSTON RACE NOTES
Event Number 100: The South Boston 150 will be the 100th race in Whelen Southern Modified Tour history. The first event was held on March 26, 2005 at Caraway Speedway near Asheboro, N.C., and was won by Ted Christopher. Jason Myers leads all competitors with 98 career starts followed by the recently retired Frank Fleming with 96. George Brunnhoelzl III heads the tour’s all-time wins list with 17.
No Repeaters: No Southern Modified driver has won more than once at South Boston nor has any won the pole position more than one time. Andy Seuss – winner of the inaugural tour event in 2009 – is the only former South Boston winner among the entered drivers for this year’s event as of April 8. George Brunnhoelzl III (2009) is the only previous pole winner in the field, as well.
First Timers: David Calabrese, Luke Fleming, Jeremy Gerstner and Donnie Lacks are making their first Southern Modified Tour appearance at South Boston.
Pomp And Circumstance: Prior to the South Boston 150, the latest class of inductees to the Virginia Motorsports Hall of Fame will be honored. Also, the famous XL-1 (Experimental Lincoln Number One) will be on display. The 1937 Ford Coupe that dominated racing throughout the Northeast 50 years ago has been rescued from a salvage yard and restored by Ray Evernham.
HOMETRACKS UPDATE
Lee Pulliam has been the story in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series late model competition at South Boston this season with three wins in four outings against a star-studded field. Four-time Whelen All-American Series national champion Philip Morris finished as the runner-up in three of those outings while C.E. Falk – last year’s third-ranked driver in the country – was second in the other. Former national champion Peyton Sellers is also competing at the track. In the early going, Danny Willis Jr. leads the Limited Sportsman point standings while Joe Allred tops the charts in the Pure Stock classification and Hunter Slayton has jumped out to the lead in MAD Modifieds.
LAST TIME OUT: SOUTHERN NATIONAL
Speed Demon: Ryan Preece (No. 41 East West Marine/NAPA Chevrolet) picked up his first Coors Light Pole Award in Whelen Southern Modified Tour action, but it’s not an uncommon position in which to find Preece. He has 12 career poles in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour including a series-best six last season.
Rolling Along: Three-time tour champion George Brunnhoelzl III (No. 28 Epoxz/Oval Speed Chevrolet) continued his streak of top-10 finishes. With a fourth-place effort at Southern National, he now has 27 consecutive top 10s dating back to the beginning of the 2011 season.
He Likes It: Tim Brown (No. 02 Hayes Jewelers/T&C Motorsports Ford) is fairly synonymous with Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C., but he might want to start claiming Southern National Motorsports Park as his home track. In four tour starts at the .4-mile oval, he has a win, two second-place finishes and a most recent finish of third.
Running: Last season’s Sunoco Rookie of the Year and championship runner-up for the Southern tour Danny Bohn (No. 65 Cedar Peaks Enterprises/Rustoleum Chevrolet) undoubtedly was pleased to cross the finish line after accidents cut short his effort at the UNOH Battle At The Beach and at Caraway. He notched an eighth-place finish at SNMP.
NEXT TIME OUT: CARAWAY
The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour returns to the .455-mile oval at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., on Saturday, April 20. The SoMod Tour opened the 2013 season at Caraway with Jason Myers collecting the victory. It will be the 45th tour race hosted by the North Carolina oval.
Sources: Shon Sbarra/NASCAR WSMT PR
NWSMT South Boston 4/13/13 Schedule
Time Series Event
9 a.m. NWSMT Haulers Enter
10 a.m. NWSMT Garage Opens
11:30 a.m. NWAAS LM Haulers Enter
1-1:20 NWAAS LM Practice
1:30-1:55 p.m. NWSMT Practice
2-2:20 p.m. NWAAS LM Final Practice
2:25-3 p.m. NWSMT Final Practice
2:45 p.m. NWAAS LM Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
4:45 p.m. NWSMT Qualifying
5:30 p.m. NWSMT Driver/Crew Chief Meeting
6 p.m. NWSMT & NWAAS LM Driver Autograph Session
7 p.m. NWAAS LM Feature #1 (75 Laps, 30 Miles)
8 p.m. NWSMT Race (150 Laps, 60 Miles)
Following NWAAS LM Feature #2 (75 Laps, 30 Miles)
All times ET and subject to change
LM = Late Model division
NWSMT South Boston 4/13/13 Entry List
PRINT VERSION (PDF)
CAR DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM OWNER CREW CHIEF
1 Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C. CitruSafe/Adams Towing & Recovery Ford Kim Myers Ronnie Holbrook
02 Tim Brown, Rural Hall, N.C. Hayes Jewelers/T&C Motorsports Chevrolet Tommy Lythgoe Mark Ruhmann
2 J.R. Bertuccio Jr., Centereach, N.Y. Gershow Recycling Chevrolet Joe Bertuccio, Sr. Joe Bertuccio, Sr.
04 David Calabrese, Toms River, N.J. * Diamond Back Towing Chevrolet Michael Calabrese TBA
4 Jason Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C. Myers Racing Ford Gary Myers Mike Queen
5 Kyle Ebersole, Hummelstown, Pa. Ebersole Excavating Ford Bob Ebersole Bob Ebersole
11 Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H. Ideal Racing Chevrolet Eddie Harvey Eddie Harvey
12 Mike Norman, Lewisville, N.C. McDonald’s of South Boston/DMC Chevrolet Mike Norman T.J. Moran
23 Brian Loftin, Lexington, N.C. L&R Trans./QMF Metal & Electronic Chevrolet Bobby Loftin Doug Chouinard
24 Donnie Lacks, Forrest, Va. * Lacks Auto Service Chevrolet William Lacks William Lacks
25 John Smith, Mount Airy, N.C. G-Oil/Shady Grady Racing Chevrolet Grady Jeffreys Grady Jeffreys
28 George Brunnhoelzl III, West Babylon, N.Y. Epox-Z/Oval Speed Chevrolet George Brunnhoelzl Jr. George Brunnhoelzl Jr.
40 Luke Fleming, Mt. Airy, N.C. * KOMA Unwind/AutosByNelson.com Chevrolet Gina Fleming Frank Fleming
59 Renee Dupuis, Glastonbury, Conn. Space Fitters/Ed Bennett Prop. Chevrolet Ed Bennett III Ed Bennett III
65 Danny Bohn, Freehold, N.J. Cedar Peaks/Rustoleum Chevrolet Eddie Bohn Eddie Bohn
70 Jeremy Gerstner, Wesley Chapel, Fla. * GMR Complete Lawn Care Chevrolet Dawn Gerstner Derek Silver
77 Gary Putnam, Concord, N.C. Stock Car Steel Chevrolet Marcy Putnam TBA
80 Michael Speeney, Newtown, Pa. Presto Painters Tape/MRI Graphics Chevrolet Michael Speeney Michael Kanupp
97 Bryan Dauzat, Alexandria, La. O.B. Builders Chevrolet Bryan Dauzat Todd Cooper
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
As of April 3, 2013
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