| New Tire Not An Issue in Myers Victory | 
Exiting the track with the trophy from the Tucson 200, Burt Myers had a grin from ear to ear.
Only a few weeks ago, Myers contemplated not running for the championship at the weekly track Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem. Winning the season opener may have changed his mind.
"You know, over here you kind of have to take what this place gives you" he says.
" Right now this gives a head start on everything. We came over here to win the race and the points follows it, so that's how we look at it. The ultimate goal now is to win the championship, however to do that you have to win races" he said.
Myers picked up his 29th career victory at the historic 1/4 mile flat track.
Tim Brown, the pole sitter, dogged Myers much of the race and came home second. Veteran Robert Jeffries came home third followed by visiting Brian Loftin and Jeremy Stoltz.
The main issue of concern, never happened. Many drivers feared that a new softer tire issued by Hoosier, would not last the whole 200 laps.
Some drivers said after the race that all it did was have a rubber buildup on the outside. Driver Tim Brown said that with no rubber buildup on the inside, from the previous practice session, cost him the race as Myers beat him to the first turn on the first lap.
Seventh place finisher Bobby Hutchens put the tire issue in perspective.
"There a little softer than what we had. Everybody pretty much rode around until lap 100 and then it was time to go. But everybody pretty much said forget it lets race and thats what we did."
"I'm sure everybody will be working on the chassis setup this week. There was probably too much rubber on the track at the end. We will get it figured out" he said.
It was expected that passing would be better on the outside. However, about the only passing on the outside was Jr. Miller trying to get around Hutchens which brought the fans to their feet.
While the modified wasn't what officials thought it might be, there was plenty of excitement in the other divisions.
Derek Stoltz won a 40 lap race for the Sportsman division. Gary Brewer and Glenn Hamilton won the Stadium stock features. Tim Vaden won the Street stock race which saw a wild crash that also involved a crewman being escorted out of the track.
This weekend will find a 100 lap race for the featured modified division. The new double file restart will be brought out for the first time and has drivers scratching their head. Burt Myers, who speaks his mind, just shakes his head and grins again, "I don't even want to talk about that."
Have an opinion on
this story? Post a message on
The Southern Motor Racing Forum OR Send the Editor an E-mail!
|
