By James Stewart

Thanks to Chase Vaden for filling in for me last week while I was on vacation.
The gates opened at 6:00 and fans started filing in to find their seats on this steamy, June evening. The temps were in the high 80’s but the humidity was relentless. The Stadium Stocks, Modifieds, Street Stocks, Sportsman, Modifieds again, and Sportsman all practiced and by the time that was over fans sat drenched in sweat awaiting modified qualifying. Burt Myers was the first car out and ran a 13.3. Tim Brown was the 3rd car out and ran a 13.2 which held until Jason Myers ran a 13.1 to capture his 2nd pole of the season.

As this was the last race before the 4th of July break, a celebration of the birthday of the USA was celebrated by 3 parachute jumpers that jumped and landed in the infield. This has become an annual event at BG and is always exciting to watch.

After the tempers flared last week, it was time for the first race. The 20 lap Street Stock race was first on the night’s agenda and Brian Wall and Tommy Zachary shared the front row, followed by Jeremy Warren, Derrick Rice, and Taylor Robbins. In the past few weeks this division has resembled a rolling demolition derby, with the races being halted before the scheduled 20 laps by a 20 minute time limit. There were a few spins, but wreckers were never needed as Brian Wall led all 20 laps for his first win of the season. The race was done in 10 minutes for the quickest Street race this year! He was followed by Zachary, Rice, Robbins, and Warren,

The modifieds rolled off next in their first 25 lapper with Jason Myers leading the entire caution free event for his 2nd win of the season, tying him with Tim Brown, and John Smith for the most in the first half of the season. He drew #12 for the inverted start for the 2nd race.

The 60 lap Sportsman race lined up with Kevin Neal and Michael Adams on row 1 followed by Gary Ledbetter, DJ Moore, and Zack Ore. Neal jumped to the lead and in a just a few laps John Holleman IV and Robbie Brewer had worked their way thru the field with the cautions and cone to move into 3rd and 4th behind Neal and Adams. Zack Clifton had started last but by 20 laps had moved into the top 5. Adams, Holleman, Brewer, Clifton, and Michael Tilley all took turns trying to wrestle the lead from Neal on restarts, but Neal would outrace them and lead every lap for his 2nd win in a row, 2nd-5th were Holleman, Clifton, Brewer, and Billy Gregg.

A scary moment in the Sportsman race as Gregg spun about halfway thru the race and the cars of Mike Robertson and Dylan Ward crashed hard into each other to avoid Gregg. Both cars were severely damaged but both climbed out on their own and were OK.

It was 9:00 and the sun was fading behind the trees as the mods lined up for their 2nd 25 lap race of the night. Jason Myers #12 draw put Bobo Brown and Ronnie Clifton on the front row, followed by rookie Daniel Yates, Michael Clifton, and Junior Miller, who had returned with his famous orange and white 69 car. After 2 false starts, the green flew on the 3rd try. As the cars barrelled down the back stretch, Brown and Clifton went into turn 3 side by side. From my vantage point it appeared that Michael Clifton rammed the back of his brother Ronnie’s car and the 66 went into the wall. There was also possible contact with the 2 car. After the caution and the ensuing green, Brown led with M Clifton beating his bumper. Clifton obviously had the faster car but fast doesn’t always win at BG. On lap 19 the 50 of Clifton and the 2 of Brown made contact coming off turn 2 bringing out the caution. Randy Butner assumed the lead and drove to his first win since 2013 followed by Yates, Miller, Mike Speeny, and Lee Jeffreys. It was a popular win for Butner. Tim Brown finished 4th and 6th in the 2 races, points leader Burt Myers finished 2nd and 8th. Jason Myers finished 9th in the 2nd race.

Robert Strmiska won the first Stadium Stock race in a photo finish with Derek Sheets. The 2 cars came out of turn 4 side by side and the 90 beat the 06 by inches! Billy Cameron Jr won his 2nd straight race in the 2nd Stadium Stock race of the night, grabbing the lead on the first lap from the 2nd starting position and never looking back, leading every lap.

The Stadium will be off this weekend in reference to the July 4th holiday, but will return July 9th with a $2 ladies night and the 3rd 100 lap race for the modifieds this year. The Fans Challenge pot is up to $9000 for any mod driver qualifying in the top 4 and choosing to start in the rear and race their way back into the top 4 for the $$. So far this year Dean Ward has been the only driver to accept the challenge, but failed in his try. It’s also double points night….will Burt Myers risk his points lead for the $$? How about Jason Myers? Tim Brown? Reports are that Danny Bohn will be back at BG for the first time since opening night….he took the challenge last year and won some big bucks!! Also rumors that Andy Seuss, James Civali, and Ryan Preece may come for the challenge. Preece is running a full Xfinity schedule this year, but Cup cars are running Kentucky Speedway at night on the 9th and the Xfinity race is the night before on the 8th! We shall see!!

Hoping everyone has a safe 4th holiday…enjoys the beaches, mountains, fireworks, races at other tracks!! Just come back July 9th ready for some hot action at the Madhouse!! Happy birthday to the greatest country in the world, the United States of America! God bless!!
Race One
FINISH CAR DRIVER
1 4 Jason Myers
2 1 Burt Myers
3 04 Brandon Ward
4 83 Tim Brown
5 77 Lee Jeffreys
6 87 Mike Speeney
7 5 Randy Butner
8 69 Junior Miller
9 50 Michael Clifton
10 18 Daniel Yates
11 66 Ronnie Clifton
12 2 Joseph Brown
13 14 Bobby Measmer Jr.
14 76 Scott Gordon
15 15 Jeremy Gerstner
16 01 Jimmy Wallace
17 75 Al Hill
18 74 Marty Edwards
19 53 John Smith

Race Two
FINISH CAR DRIVER
1 5 Randy Butner
2 18 Daniel Yates
3 69 Junior Miller
4 87 Mike Speeney
5 77 Lee Jeffreys
6 83 Tim Brown
7 04 Brandon Ward
8 1 Burt Myers
9 4 Jason Myers
10 14 Bobby Measmer Jr.
11 53 John Smith
12 66 Ronnie Clifton
13 2 Joseph Brown
14 76 Scott Gordon
15 15 Jeremy Gerstner
16 50 Michael Clifton
17 01 Jimmy Wallace
18 74 Marty Edwards
19 75 Al Hill

Sportsman Results from June 25

60-lap Race
FINISH CAR DRIVER
1 07 Kevin Neal
2 4 John Holleman
3 81 Zack Clifton
4 68 Robbie Brewer
5 28 Billy Gregg
6 0 Michael Adams
7 21 Tommy Neal
8 3 Jeff Garrison
9 55 Zack Ore
10 26 Michael Tilley
11 12 Justin Taylor
12 22 Taylor Branch
13 71 D.J. Moore
14 19 Dylan Ward
15 31 Mike Robertson
16 70 Gary Lettbetter
17 7 Rob Dixon
18 41 Terry Thompson

Street Stock Results from June 25

FINISH CAR DRIVER
1 22 Brian Wall
2 19 Tommy Zachary
3 20 Derrick Rice
4 40 Taylor Robbins
5 97 Jeremy Warren
6 50 Austin Edwards
7 14 Aaron Hylton
8 30 Blake Shupe
9 13 Kevin Gilbert
10 12 Doug Wall
11 69 Gerald Robinson Jr
12 17 Jeremiah Simonis
13 1 Jasper Sumner
14 10 Zach Linville
15 16 Brad Lewis
16 0 Kirk Sheets
17 52 Fletcher Whaley
18 7 Jamie Byrd
Stadium Stock Results from June 25

Race A
FINISH CAR DRIVER
1 76 Billy Cameron Jr
2 02 Wesley Thompson
3 40 Brandon Brendle
4 8 Shane Southard
5 24 A.J. Sanders
6 81 Chuck Wall
7 16 Stephen Sanders
8 97 Bryan Sykes
9 62 Kevin Hedgecock
10 77 Randy McElveen
11 38 Christian Joyce
12 10 David Hopkins
13 71 Auston McElveen

Race Two
FINISH CAR DRIVER
1 90 Robert Strmiska
2 06 Derek Sheets
3 83 Shane Tuttle
4 14 Ken Bridges
5 78 Robert Mabe
6 68 Tyler Bush
7 88 Ronnie Cranfill
8 22 Adam Thomas
9 6 Dale Patterson
10 48 Junior Smith
11 17 Andy Southern
12 27 Austin Cates
13 09 Tim Evans
14 54 Justin Owens