Wow, I've been waiting for this as you can imagine. This is where the wife and I go each and every Saturday night during the season. Let me just say right off the bat that I am a proud badge wearer of Red Neck.
Let me try and answer some of the questions and comments offered here and there. First off, Bowman Gray Sadium is just that, a football stadium so the track is a flat, totally flat 1/4 mile track. No banking what so ever.
So, is it staged? Well yes and no. Put a camera in front of anyone and see if they don't change. Is the feud real? Yes, but it isn't as though Burt and Junior are only out there to wreck each other. In the last 15 years, the champion has come from three of the drivers, Burt, Junior and Tim Brown. If Burt and Junior only came to wreck each other, they wouldn't win anything. Some of the action you saw was taken from the year before so keep in mind, this is a show that is trying to get ratings.
So what is next? Let me try and tell who is what and where. First off, there are two "real" racers in the modified series. I would guess that you can tell who they are. Yep, Burt and Junior. Those two guys do more actual racing than any of the others put together. For both of them, winning is the object of the game. Everything else is just secondary. So what about Tim? Tim is a points racer and doesn't take any chances unless it's the last race of the season and he has to finish ahead of someone. Burt and Junior will do what they can to pass, though Junior has the biggest reputation of taking out the guy in front of him rather than trying to pass him. Burt has the reputation of at least giving the outside a shot. But that is asking for trouble on this track. If your car isn't obviously faster than the guy in front of you, passing on the outside is totally out of the question. This is where the "chrome horn" comes in. That front bumper that you saw Burt and Jason changing is bent many times, and it isn't always from spinning another car out. Think about this, the track is 1/4 mile, with the straights being what, maybe 1/8 of a mile. If there is a problem, it's not like there is plenty of time to stop. These cars run bumper to bumper all the way around the track.
Why is this called the Madhouse? The "usual" night of racing is two 25 lap races with the second race lineup determined by a draw after the first race. The first race is lined up according to qualifying. The winner of the first race draws for the starting positions of the second race with the possible reversals anywhere from 8 to 16. This track only starts 24 cars and of late, the mods only have averaged about 20 cars so only those slowest of the slow ever get a real chance of starting from the pole.
So much for the racing as this series obviously isn't aimed at racing. Now for the charactors. Tim Brown...what you see is what you get...except in the winner's circle. Tim is one of those that have huge numbers of fans, but huge numbers of anti-fans. If he wasn't so arrogant in the winner's circle, he would probably have more fans than anyone, but he loves to tweak the crowd. Chris Fleming...what can I say about this guy...not much. He says he is known as the "Show Stopper". Wha? This is the first time anyone, including those in the pits have heard of this, so he has obviously tried to take on a new identity. Chris has been racing on and off for many years. His brother Frank though has had much more success both here and on the SMART tour. Also, Chris' son Luke is attempting to move up to the mods and is a lot more controversial than his old man. If you can remember Jason Myers comment about Chris, it's spot on. Example...my friend from work who owns two of these cars spots for one of his drivers. Once in a year where Chris wasn't driving, he was spotting for his son. Luke spouted off and developed his own reputation and as a young stud who could do anything. Andy (my friend not our esteemed forum pal) who was in the spotters stand quipped, "Chris, your boy's mouth is going to get him in trouble one of these days". Andy told me that Chris turned and threatened him. Later, Chris came to Andy and told him that "Man, I love you" as though nothing had happened. Showstopper? Chris is almost always a back marker so this moniker just won't stick.
Junior Miller. What can I say? This is the man that will always be compare to Dale Earnhardt of Bowman Gray Stadium. Junior has been around for many years and is a pure racer. Junior has paid his dues and is owed a debt of gratitude for what he has done. Junior has won more races at the stadium than anyone (in the featured series only), but that's not all. He has raced in the Winston Cup and Busch series as well when independent drivers had a chance. Junior could have been Richard Childress if he had been in the right places and they know each other well. Junior is the most loved and hated driver at Bowman Gray Stadium. Does this sound like DE or what?
Okay now the Myers boys. They come from a long line of drivers. Their grandfather and father as well as their father's uncle all raced at the stadium as champs. Billy and Bob have a NASCAR Award named for them. Both of them died on the track, Billy of a heart attack on the track at BGS and Bobby a year before at Darlington. Also, Danny "Chocolate" Myers is the uncle of Burt and Jason. Gary, Burt and Jason's father, son of Billy, continued the tradition of racing and is now retired from sitting behind the wheel, but is very much a part of the family racing. Burt began first in the modified series and Jason came up later after winning the championship in a lower series.
Let me just finish by saying that much of what you see in this series is exactly what you would see in person. The wild fans are there with or without the cameras. Fingers flying...yep and there are plenty of people who criticize this. I belong to a forum much like this one but for BGS and we've had plenty of discussions about this very subject. But the sport is emotional and nothing I've seen is any different than what I've witnessed at a big time track. The difference is that the fans are much close to the track...much closer. One thing that wasn't shown, but was obvious was that the stands were full...well over 12,000 fans. While this was just the first race of the season, it wasn't unusual to have the stands full. On a slow night, the stadium will have close to 10,000 thrilled fans. When they have a special night, the stands will be full and over crowed...probably close to 16,000 fans in the stands.
In closing, remember that there are four different series that race at the stadium. The mods, limited late models, limited, limited late models and four cylinder stockers. What you see is real, but of course heightened because of the cameras. You will find this everywhere at any short track around the country. Hell, you would see this at the top tracks if the NASCAR tops let things go. And, if you think this is wild, if only you could see the lower series!
