On what would be a beautiful clear blue sky Saturday evening, drivers would return to the track for week seven. It was a doubleheader of main events once again with the Twin 50s as well as the Thunder Road Grill Street Stock 50 in the Law Offices of John Barrow Street Stock Series.
The night would kick off with the Stadium Stock, as Brandon Brendle and AJ Sanders would start on the front row. Brendle would lead all 15 laps to win the race, A.J. Sanders who started second, would try to get by Brendle early on, but but Brendle pulled away from him and didn’t look back. It would be Brendle’s second win of the season.
Sanders would finish second. Chuck Wall initially finished third but was later disqualified after failing post-race technical inspection.
Next on the docket would be the first of two Sportsman races. Rookie Chris Massie made his Bowman Gray debut on the pole with Connor Branch rolling off P2. Sterling Plemmons would get by to take the lead for the time being, until Michael Adams took control. Adams would have to get around Chris Massie, who was in his first race at Bowman Gray. Adams would have to go off roading into the infield around turn 1 to get around Massie.
“I didn’t know which way he was going to go,” Adams said of Massie. “He’d been staying up high. I went to the bottom, and I saw him coming down. And I tried to go through the grass. I bottomed out. Luckily, we didn’t have anybody to the outside of us, or nobody to get in the back of us. We got lucky on that one.”
Adams went on to pick up his 4th win of the year, 27th win of his career. Also it is the 50th father son combo win.
Sterling Plemmons was runner-up, followed by Chase Robertson, Riley Neal, and Zack Ore.
The first of two Thunder Road Grill Twin 50s would be next. A familiar face made his season debut as Jonathan “Jon Boy” Brown would run in Tommy Neal’s modified. Back to the action, Lee Jeffreys won the pole, but after the redraw Brandon Ward would be rewarded the pole. Ward would lead till lap 33 until Tim Brown would get by to take the lead on a restart. Brown would go on to win for the third time this season, 97th of his career.
“It’s a good night,” Brown said. “You know, I’m still battling this illness, racing with a heavy heart after losing (long-time crew member) Ronnie (Clifton) this week. You know, a first and fourth in twin 50s — it’s a good night. Just winning is good. Having a top-five in the second race is good. So, it’s a good night.”
With all that’s happened to Brown recently, it’s hard to concentrate on winning races.
“You just have to stay focused for this race team, for my family, for all my fans and all my sponsors. You’ve just got to keep your head down and stay focused and do the job at hand,” he said. “I’ve got a great race team. I’ve got great family support. I’ve got great support from all of our sponsors. You just have to stay focused and do the best you can under the circumstances.”
Ward was second, followed by Chris Fleming and Junior Snow.
Brown drew 8 in the “Madhouse Scramble” following the first race, which inverted the field there for the start of the second 50-lap race.
The second of two twice 20s for the Sportsman series was full of fireworks, as the Tiger Tommy Neal survived to win his second race of the season.
Neal would spin Amber Lynn, who had taken the lead away from Neal, as the cars of Riley Neal, and Sterling Plemmons would get together. Tommy Neal then returned the favor on the restart and spun Lynn out.
“We had a pretty rough race the first race, and we had to hold the radiator,” Tommy Neal said. “…We started 17th in the back, and it’s hard to come out of here unscathed when you get in the back.”
It was a green-white checkered finish, Tommy Neal, Nate Gregg, and Michael Adams would all battle it out coming around turn 4, but Tommy Neal would hold on for his second win of the season, and his 56th win of his career.
Gregg, who wasn’t even planning to race at the stadium Saturday night, would bring it home second, Adams was third, and Plemmons was fourth.
“I’d like to thank Billy Gregg for letting me borrow a radiator and for Nate driving me clean,” Tommy Neal said. “…I’m getting tired every time I get up under somebody, they always chop me off. So that time I decided I’m going to stay in there. I’m not backing off anymore.”
The final Twin 50 would follow as Randy Butner sat on the pole with Jason Myers next to him.
Butner lead for majority of the race until lap 34 when he and Jason Myers were side-by-side on going into turn 4. The two would tangle and slid into the guard rail. Lee Jeffreys then would capitalized on the situation and was able to slide by for the lead. In repeat fashion of what happened last Saturday when Jeffreys won the 100-lap race, Burt Myers would move up to Lee Jeffreys rear bumper. Jeffreys held off Myers strong nudges for numerous laps. Unlike the previous week where Jeffreys won, this time Burt got the best of Jeffreys. With eight laps remaining, a hard shot from Myers sent Jeffreys spinning.
“I just had to be more aggressive,” Burt Myers said. “The last thing I was trying to do was dump him. But I don’t know what people expect when they’re parking on you in the middle of the corner, and you’re trying to move him and trying to move them. I can’t move you, but you’ve got it locked down not getting in the gas or brake-checking me.”
“Lee knows I didn’t mean to dump him. I bumped off the corner and then backed off him, and he went into the infield. I don’t know what people expect out of me.”
Burt Myers started 15th in the second race, so the climb to the lead was quite a feat.
“We started chucking through the field. We drove through the field. I moved everybody in front of me without them spinning out, and Lee spun out,” Burt Myers said. “If he thinks that I did it on purpose I hate it for Lee because I think deep-down he knows better than that.”
Needless to say, Jeffreys had a different take for Burt Myers, the points leader.
“You know, I did slow the pace down a little bit, but we were still getting away from everybody out there,” he said. “And when he first started hitting tonight, I knew that he was going to take me out. But that’s OK.
“You be sure to put this in the print, you can’t win the points in one night, but you sure can lose them. He’s running for the big picture, but that’s what he’s got.”
Burt Myers held off Jr Snow, as well as Jonathan Brown, who has won 25 races at Bowman Gray, but was making his season debut on Saturday. Tim Brown was fourth.
“(Snow) fired. He actually fired first, and I don’t know if he spun or slipped or what happened, but he fired first,” Burt Myers said. “So, it’s not like I jumped him.”
As for picking up his 90th career win, it’s just another number for Burt Myers.
“I’ll be happier when I’ve got 91,” he said.
Finally after multiple rainout and reschedules the Thunder Road Grill Street Stock 50 in the Law Offices of John Barrow Series was ran on Saturday.
Bryan Sykes Jr started on the pole, Christian Joyce would find his way to the front to hold off Austin Jones on the final lap of the race for his second win of the season.
“When we qualified for the race, we had the best car then, and I tried my best to save it for this race,” Joyce said. “And coming off last week I knocked the whole right-front off it, and sure enough Dylan (Ward) made it even faster.”
Donnie Martin was third, and Bryan Sykes, Jr. was fourth.
The final lap of the race was a green-white checkered finish, and just after Joyce scooted across the finish line, Wes Glasoe and Justin Cummings bumped and collided hard with the guardrail. Both drivers were able to get out of the car without injury.
Next week is the final week before the annual Fourth of July break. Racing will be highlighted by the Market USA Sportsman 100, which is one of the longest races of the season in the McDowell Heating & Air Sportsman Series. There will be a double-file restart with a cone for each restart in the 100-lap race.
There will also be double points in each of the four series next week. The Modifieds will race in twin 25s, the Street Stock races in a 20-lapper, and the Stadium Stock has one or two 15-lap races.
The Midway Mobile Storage Skid Race will take place at the end of the night.
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