The Madhouse is BACK!

SpeedPagan

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My brother and I will be at Bowman Gray Stadium this Saturday to watch the opening race for Bowman's season.

If you live in the area, or in North Carolina or Virgina, you really should come to this event, this will be my first Bowman Gray race, and I hope to have a blast!

:beerbang:
 
Look for those two on the front row, Tim Brown #83 and Burt Myers #1, to be the top of the class again this year. But Junior Miller is in new equipment and if you know him, he'll do anything for a win. Jonathan Brown is back in the #53 and is looking to become the top dog at the Madhouse. Cost to enter, ten bucks and parking is free. Bring your coolers full of non-alcoholic drinks and food but be there early. Last year the house was so full for the first race, people were turned away. I don't look for this to happen again because this year doesn't follow the popular Madhouse series on TV.

We're getting ready to head out tonight for qualifying for the top ten positions.
 
Great night for qualifying. Tim Brown won the pole. Brian Loftin was second and it was great to see him back behind the wheel of his car. He was working on his car just a couple of months ago when his wife was tragically killed in a car accident. Burt Myers took 4th and brother Jason was fifth. The Prince, Jon Boy Brown was third and I believe that Junior Miller was either 9th or 10th with just the top 10 locking in their times. Tomorrow looks to be another great night for racing. If you are coming, be sure and bring a jacket. Once the sun goes down, it can get chilly.
 
Is Chris Fleming still racing Modified? I remember that he likes to call himself "The Show Stopper", meanwhile he's the only one working on his car, and he uses mostly used parts.
 
Is Chris Fleming still racing Modified? I remember that he likes to call himself "The Show Stopper", meanwhile he's the only one working on his car, and he uses mostly used parts.
Yep, the show stopper is back and I do believe that he made the top ten. Was talking to a guy tonight that pretty much knows him and we both agree that Chris just might be bi-polar. You never know what you are going face when you meet up with him. BTW, you will be able to see his son Luke race in the #13 Sportsman car. Those guys also qualified for their 40 lapper tonight as well.
 
Yep, the show stopper is back and I do believe that he made the top ten. Was talking to a guy tonight that pretty much knows him and we both agree that Chris just might be bi-polar. You never know what you are going face when you meet up with him. BTW, you will be able to see his son Luke race in the #13 Sportsman car. Those guys also qualified for their 40 lapper tonight as well.

Awesome, well I may bring my camera tomorrow night and upload some videos. :)
 
So I just got back from Bowman, and to be honest, I saw more of a race with the Sportsman than I did with the Modified. I didn't really see any green flag passes that wasn't passing down a lapped car. The only thing that really allowed drivers to move up or down was the cone that they put in the middle of the track when it's one lap till green. Of the 200 lap race, 180 was either wrecks or follow the leader, It was only the last 10 laps that I saw anything resembling a race.

Maybe my expectations were too high, but I was a bit let down, mainly because I was expecting an event where drivers were racing each other every lap to gain position towards the front.

Maybe it's just that with a flat and short track, it's hard to do any real racing, or maybe what has infected Sprint Cup is now infecting other series like the Whelen Modified.
 
It wasnt a Whelen Modified tour race though, right? it was just local modifieds

Maybe, I thought it was Whelen Modified that raced at Bowman, maybe Buckaroo can clear that up whenever he gets online.
 
It wasnt a Whelen Modified tour race though, right? it was just local modifieds
Exactly, not the tour race. They do however race there in August I believe and the tires are wider on the tour cars.

Speedy, I'm sorry you didn't care for mod race. The cone has changed the longer races considerably. In the past, there wasn't a double file restart and the entire race could go single file with hardly any passing. Few of those guys will even attempt to pass on the outside unless the car in front is a whole lot slower. Also, it all depends on who is getting passed. Different guys have differing strategies too, some want to save their tires until late in the race and others like to run hard from the beginning. Burt is a tire saver as well as Junior Miller. Lee Jeffreys always goes all out as does Jon Boy Brown. Brian Loftin (I would have been thrilled had he won, it would have been so touching with his little boy out there with him in the winner's circle) pretty much runs hard the entire race too. John Smith #25 seem to be over driving his car, but he held on until someone hooked him and sent him spinning. I think that Lee Jeffreys with his bent up bumper, hooked Burt and got his left rear corner, but he didn't spin. As a Myers fan I was please, but the woman sitting right next to me, my wife, was kinda ticked. Her fav is Tim and when Jason spun taking Tim with him, it just sunk her heart.

You did get to see something that not even I had seen there before and that was during the Sportsman race, one of the cars went into the infield and knocked down a barrier protecting the corner workers. I've seen cars slide into the barrier, but never has it been knocked down. Also, the ride Brent Elliott took on the front straight fence was a new one for me. I've seen cars ride that fence before, but never all the way to the wall. BTW, that is the corner where Junior was stopped and Burt plowed his car into the side of Miller's car. Not just once, but he backed up and hit him again and maybe even a third time before the cops got there and stopped it.

Speedy, you'll have to come again when they have the Madhouse Scramble. That is two races that after the first race, the winner draws a ball with a number and that is the number of cars they invert for the second race. Naturally the better cars start up front for the first race and with no double file restarts on those 25 lap races, the strategy is formed during the first race. If you are back in the pack, you try to guess how many will invert and you try to find that spot. If you are right, you can sit on the pole for the next race, but if you are wrong, you could find yourself way back there. The 25 lap races can have a bit more passing because its go go go grom the git go and get all you can as quick as you can. Also, you can get to know what drivers to watch who just might spin someone out...someone like Junior Miller. I thought he would make more than one driver made tonight, but I think that wreck cooled his jets. I did hear that he said that this year he will either be going for the championship and if he falls too far out in points, he'll go for the wins and some extra fun, meaning doing dirty tricks on what he calls special people. But he was made an enemy over the last year that has added to those who owe him paybacks. So it isn't just the Myers he has to watch out for. You can add Jon Boy Brown to that bunch as well.

Luke Flemming race a good tough race in winning the Sportsman race. The #21, Tommy "Tiger" Neal won the pole position by a full 2 tenths but they drew for starting positions and Tommy was never able to get up there and work on Luke.

Maybe, I thought it was Whelen Modified that raced at Bowman, maybe Buckaroo can clear that up whenever he gets online.
The Whelen races are the touring races. The tour races at the stadium once a year, like in August. Most of the guys who race at the stadium also race on the tour but there are some differences in rules and equipment. The tires are wider, the crew all have to wear helmets when over the wall. I think you have to purchase a new fuel tank every couple of years and stuff like that. What you saw tonight was the weekly series, still a part of NASCAR. If you want to catch some of the tour races, check the schedule here...http://hometracks.nascar.com/races/NWSMT I believe you are in Charlotte and if so, you can catch them up in Concord at Charlotte Motor Speedway. They race that totally flat quarter mile right in front of the pits. For higher banking, Caraway Speedway is a nice track and always has a good race. You can see them run at Bristol and that is fun too. But even at Bristol, you will not see as many people as there were at the stadium. Hope you had a good seat.
 

I guess my expectation was too high. I've been hearing from people, and from the History Channel's Madhouse that racing at Bowman was legendary, that it wasn't like Sprint Cup at all, where they drive around until the last 20 laps. I was expecting the drivers to bump one another, to battle one another on every lap in order to gain position, etc. I was expecting a 200 lap battle to be honest, but I think that has to do more with my expectation than the event itself.

I have said this in the other forum and I will say it here. I'm tired of the driving around, if I wanted to watch driving around, I would go watch the traffic on my road. When I go to a race, I want to see a battle, I want to see drivers trading paint and fighting for position on every lap.

However, there has been some interesting wrecks, like the one on the front straight where one of the cars went flying, and there was another one where the radiator busted and spewed water everywhere.

I'll give the Mods at Bowman another chance though, maybe a shorter race will give me what I want.
 
I'll give the Mods at Bowman another chance though, maybe a shorter race will give me what I want.

i've never been to bowman gray stadium but my reccomendatioN would be to go when they have their k&n pro series east race. I have been to a lot of k&n events, they put on a great race. The track is too small for the k&n cars but it should still be a good show. I think they are running a modified race that day too. Im going to try to make it there for k&n.
 
i've never been to bowman gray stadium but my reccomendatioN would be to go when they have their k&n pro series east race. I have been to a lot of k&n events, they put on a great race. The track is too small for the k&n cars but it should still be a good show. I think they are running a modified race that day too. Im going to try to make it there for k&n.

When is the K&N series running at the stadium?
 
When is the K&N series running at the stadium?

They are running on june 4th. If you have never checked out the k&n pro series(east or west) speed usually airs their races on thursdays. The race at richmond was on live this past thursday. K&n uses the old nationwide series cars. Guys like logano and bayne ran rull time in that series very recently
 
I guess my expectation was too high. I've been hearing from people, and from the History Channel's Madhouse that racing at Bowman was legendary, that it wasn't like Sprint Cup at all, where they drive around until the last 20 laps. I was expecting the drivers to bump one another, to battle one another on every lap in order to gain position, etc. I was expecting a 200 lap battle to be honest, but I think that has to do more with my expectation than the event itself.

I have said this in the other forum and I will say it here. I'm tired of the driving around, if I wanted to watch driving around, I would go watch the traffic on my road. When I go to a race, I want to see a battle, I want to see drivers trading paint and fighting for position on every lap.

However, there has been some interesting wrecks, like the one on the front straight where one of the cars went flying, and there was another one where the radiator busted and spewed water everywhere.

I'll give the Mods at Bowman another chance though, maybe a shorter race will give me what I want.

Again, what you saw was a whole lot better than what it used to be. Look for a big Sportsman race with a Madhouse Scramble for the mods for your next experience. You liked the limited late models and the 25 lap mod races can be, "CAN BE" a bit more exciting on every lap, but remember, late in the season, these guys race for points.
 
Being a one groove track it is hard to have side by side racing at Bowman.
 
May 7 @ Bowman Gray

Couldn't make the races tonight as I worked to long and we just didn't want to mess with taking two cars and trying to hook up. We just didn't have a good plan that would have work so we will have to work up a plan for this. It looks as though Saturdays are going to be short handed at worked and the rest of us have to pick up the slack. If they move our starting time back to 8:30, that will move our end time to 5:00 and with our station being short handed, many routes have to be split four and five way for other carriers to do over and above their own route.

Anyway, the only thing I can tell you about tonights modified races is Tim Brown won the first 25 lap and drew 8 for the inverted start for the second race. All I know about that race is a rookie won the second race after only racing in one race at the track, the opening 200 lap race.

I'll give the rundown when I get the morning paper.
 
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