Mike Speeney, Kyle Southern win Modified races; Bryant Robertson wins featured Street Stock race

The 11,000 or so fans at Bowman Gray Stadium for the fourth week of racing were wondering what might happen between Mike Speeney and the Myers family after last Saturday's action.

Well, the answer was not much because Speeney dominated the first 25-lap Modified race to win for the sixth time in his career. Burt Myers wound up second, and Jason Myers, who was on the pole, watched Speeney go by him cleanly early in the race. Speeney never wavered.

"The car was really good," Speeney said. "I get to drive a race car and I'm in Victory Lane, so life is pretty good."

Jason Myers wound up third.

For Speeney, he was surprised Burt Myers didn't try to get into his bumper a little more.

"It's all about qualifying in these 25-lappers, and if you are in the top three you have a shot," said Speeney, who started on the front row right next to Jason Myers.

For the early part of the season, Speeney had a fast car, and it carried over to this week.

"I knew it was going to be hard to get this first one of the season," Speeney said. "It was awesome to have a good qualifying night, and we made it stand up."

In the second Modified race, which also was 25 laps, it was Kyle Southern winning his first career race in that division.

"It's a dream come true, we've been here a while and we took our lumps, but we are in victory lane now," Southern said about holding off Dean Ward and John Holleman.

In his post-race interview with Randy Pulliam, he dedicated the win to his uncle, who is fighting cancer. "He's fighting the good fight, so this is for him," said Southern, who is from Walnut Cove.

Ward was second with Holleman third, Jordan Fleming fourth and Slate Myers in fifth.

Southern is the 145th different driver to win in the Modified Division in the 77-year history of one of NASCAR's longest running racing series. He also did it on the night that one of his major sponsors, Steelman's Ace Hardware, was there sponsoring the Street Stock race.

In the featured Steelman's Ace Hardware 50-lap race in the Street Stock Division, it was Bryant Robertson who took the lead early in the race over Connor Keaten and never looked back.

Robertson, 54, won for the fifth time and he called it the biggest of his career.

"I've never won this 50-lapper before and we needed this as a team," said Robertson, whose spotter was his brother, Mike. "We hadn't had many good races yet, so this is pretty sweet."

Late in the race, Kyler Staley skidded to a halt near turn three in the infield and got out of the car and fell to the ground. An ambulance came out quickly, but he was able to get to his feet and went into the ambulance under his own power.

In a short interview after the race, Staley was out of the ambulance and said his car caught fire on the inside, so he had to pull over and get out of the car. "I'm all right," he said in the pits.

Zack Ore found himself in a familiar position early in the first 20-lap Sportsman race – in the lead.

After overtaking pole-sitter Kirk Sheets early in the race, Ore cruised to his 26th career win and did it in style.

"I knew if we could get up in front, we could win and Dylan Ward set this up and it's rolling," Ore said. "I knew if I could get past Kirk cleanly, we would have good position the rest of the way and that's what happened."

Billy Gregg and his son, Nate, were second and third as they continued their hot starts to the season. Bryan Sykes Jr., who is also part of Billy Gregg Racing, was fourth.

In the second 20 lap Sportsman race it was Tommy Neal winning with Billy Gregg second and Ore finishing third. Neal spun out Mitch Gales on the final lap to get the victory after Gales had led most of the way.

Gales ended up finishing 10th.

In the first Stadium Stock 15-lap race, it was Luke Smith once again dominating as he won his third straight race.

He gave credit to Isaac Harris who has been setting up his car this season.

"Isaac has it dialed in for us," Smith said. "It's been so fast so I'm just thankful to be in this position. We're excited so far on how our season has gone."

Chuck Wall was second and Jacob Smith finished third.

In the second 15-lap race in the Stadium Stock, AJ Sanders was the winner, followed by Stephen Sanders and Brad Mickalowski.

As Junior Miller looked around at the pits before Saturday's races, he "looked at home."

"It all looks familiar," he said with a smile.

Miller, 75, is third on the all-time Modified list and decided to drive Holleman's backup car for the first 25 lap race

Miller has 74 wins, which is third behind current stars Tim Brown and Burt Myers. He was worried before the races because his clutch was acting up.

"We'll see if we can get that worked out, but it's great to be back here," Miller said. "I know this track well."

He made his 756th in the first race but ran just three laps before he had to go back to the pit area. He did not start in the second race.

One of the more popular Saturday nights of racing comes next weekend with the Great Clips Crash Fest.

There will be two 25-lap races in the Modified Division and two 20-lap Sportsman races along with a Street Stock race and one or two Stadium Stock races.

The Crown Vic Outlaw Super Series also will make an appearance. The final events will be a 10-lap Skid race and a Demolition Derby.

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