Junior Miller Wins After Wild Night at Bowman Gray

Junior Miller Wins After Wild Night at Bowman Gray
Miller takes hard won-victory in Farm Bureau Insurance 100.

As the summer sun cranked up the
temperature around the Carolinas, the tempers flared up just as hot at
Bowman Gray Stadium on Saturday.
Junior Miller, the “King of the Southern Modifieds,” has earned a
reputation as an aggressive driver – and on Saturday, Miller showed why that
reputation is well deserved. In the Farm Bureau Insurance Modified Series,
it was the perfect recipe for racing action: the Farm Bureau Insurance 100
(with a random draw for starting position and the infamous double-file
restart rule) plus a Double Points Night.
Burt Myers of Walnut Cove drew the pole as his starting position with
Robert Jeffreys of Winston-Salem next to him on the outside front row. After
encountering mechanical problems, Robert Jeffreys thought it best to elect
to start in the rear – which sent Junior Miller of Danbury to the second
place spot beside Myers.
Myers was second in the points rankings entering Saturday; Miller’s 17th
place ranking effectively meant that his 2008 championship hopes are over.
So Miller had nothing to lose, and everyone knew it.
Not surprisingly, Miller fought hard with Myers for the lead as the green
flag waved. Miller wasn’t afraid to rub fenders with Myers, knowing that
Myers’ sensibility towards the points race would make him think twice about
a confrontation.
But Myers was not one to shy away. Although he was bumped out of the way by
Miller at first, Myers filed in behind Miller and quickly returned the favor
by knocking aside the #69 of Miller. Miller spun and fell back to the rear.
“On the very first lap, Junior bonzais me and knocks me out of shape,” said
Myers. “I get in behind him, come back there, and knock him wide - and he
spins out.”
Miller, on the other hand, claims that Myers was “racing dirty” by spinning
him out. But Miller still had a race to win. He had his hands full climbing
to the front, but he was aided by the double-file choice restart rule which
allowed him to repeatedly pull to the outside to take his chances at gaining
position.
Burt Myers continued to lead the pack. Tim Brown of Cana, Va. worked his
way up from 13th to fourth, and Brown took advantage of a caution restart to
jump to the outside front row on lap 39. As the green fell for the restart,
Brown pushed hard to get past Myers but was unable to take away the lead.
Myers stayed in front with Brown falling back to second.
Brown begin delivering some hard taps to the bumper of Myers – and Brown
looked like he would have another chance to try the outside row when a
caution came out about 30 laps later.
Instead, Brown stayed to the inside and Junior Miller jumped up to the
outside beside Myers. When the green waved, Miller tried again to bang his
way into the lead against Myers – and he was again unsuccessful. But on lap
82, Miller got the deed done with a strong tap the rear of Myers that sent
Myers spinning.
Miller took the lead and went on to claim the win: his 69th victory at the
Stadium.
Myers claims that the tap from Miller was not simply a racing move, but was
meant to intentionally spin him out. “It was dirty. He never lifted off the
gas until he hit me,” said Myers.
“It was payback,” said Miller. “On the first lap, I got in line over there
and bumped Burt a little and didn’t spin him out. Then he came back and spun
me out,” said Miller, referring to the exchange the two had had earlier in
the race.
Myers was livid. “The thing with Junior is that you expect that kind of
stuff from him all the time. It’s like the old saying goes - you can’t mess
with manure without getting it all over you,” said Myers.
Tim Brown ended up finishing second, Lee Jeffreys of High Point took third,
and Jeremy Stoltz of Walkertown finished in fourth. Myers finished in
seventh.
The Modified finish was not without some controversy over a call made by
NASCAR officials. During a caution when Junior Miller was leading, some
miscommunication between track personnel led to Miller being sent to the
pits. NASCAR Officials immediately realized the mistake and corrected it by
having Junior return to the lead. “Inadvertently, he was sent to the pits –
which was our mistake. We gave him his position back where he rightfully
belonged,” said NASCAR Race Director John Horton. At the request of Horton,
the call is being reviewed by NASCAR. Until that review is formally made,
the results of the race are being declared unofficial.
In the Webb Heating & A/C Co. Sportsman Series, Scott Hall of Walkertown
won the first 20-lapper. Tommy Neal of Walkertown took second, with Mitch
Gales of Lexington finishing in third. After a wild race in the second
Sportsman 20-lapper, Jim Shoaf of Lexington took the checkered. Gene Pack of
Walkertown and Taylor Branch of Lewisville finished in second and third
respectively.
The 20-lap race for the 104.1 WTQR Street Stock Series was just as wild as
every other race on Saturday. During the final laps, Joseph “Bobo” Brown of
Winston-Salem, Ethan Stoltz of Walkertown, and Doug Wall of Pfafftown all
wrecked as the three fought for the lead. John McNeal of Winston-Salem flew
from fifth the to the lead to claim the victory. David Sumner of Trinity was
second and Johnny Arnder of Mount Airy finished in third.
In the Time Warner Cable Stadium Stock Series, A.J. Sanders of Mocksville
won the first 15-lap race, with Chuck Wall of Clemmons taking checkered in
the second 15-lapper.
At the conclusion of the Street Stock race, Adam Snow and Kevin Gilbert
exited their cars and tussled with each other on the track. As part of the
Stadium’s efforts to dissuade violence, the two men were taken off the track
and, according to Lieutenant Bill Riggs of the Winston-Salem Police
Department, were charged with affray. Also, NASCAR Race Director John Horton
said that disciplinary action, such as suspensions, will follow.

Loren Pinilis