Burt Myers' son Slate becomes first fourth-generation and youngest driver to win Modified race

Throughout the long, storied history of Bowman Gray Stadium, there have been popular wins. On Saturday night, in front of around 12,000 fans, something happened that was both popular and historic: 17-year-old Slate Myers won his first career race.

In the second 25-lap race in the Modified Division, it was Myers who drew the pole, and he looked like a true veteran in leading every lap to hold off Daniel Beeson.

"I'm speechless," Myers said after becoming the first fourth generation driver in the same family to win a Modified race in the 77-year history of the weekly series.

Myers, who will graduate high school this coming Friday at Triad Baptist Christian Academy in Kernersville, had been doing pretty well in his third full season following in the footsteps of his famous father, Burt. It's Burt who has 102 career wins, but it was his son who was the popular driver on this Saturday night.

Myers Family Modified Wins

Burt Myers 102

Jason Myers 43

Gary Myers 38

Billy Myers 22

Bobby Myers 16

Slate Myers 1

Total: 222

Myers' mom, Kim, was a nervous wreck watching from the stands and couldn't help but cry with about two laps to go and her son in firm command. She raced down from her seat to join the celebration in Victory Lane. Slate's grandmother, Pam, was also wiping away tears during the celebration that lasted just a little longer because of the significance of the win.

"I have to thank my family and my sponsors and just everybody who has supported me through this," said Slate, the youngest driver in stadium history to win a Modified race.

Throughout the race and the caution flags, Slate had good restarts and at one point had a seven-car length on Beeson.

"I can't thank God enough," Slate said. "I don't know what the key was, but drawing the pole was a big help, and this is just awesome."

Slate's great grandfather, the late Billy Myers, won at the Stadium, as did Slate's grandfather, Gary, who watched Slate win the race from the balcony at the fieldhouse.

And the winner of the other Modified race was Jason Myers, Slate's uncle.

"What a night for this family," Jason said. "He gets the pub tonight. He drove a helluva race. I'm so happy for that kid."

Jason Myers won his 43rd career race, and Slate became the 146th different driver to win in the Modified Division.

Burt said it was a special night for the family. "It's about him tonight," the proud father said.

The Myers family has had 222 wins in the history of the Stadium's featured division.

Jordan Atkins win first career race

Jordan Atkins also was a first-time winner as she held on to win the Street Stock race that went nine laps because of time constraints.

Atkins, a former basketball player at Mount Tabor, got a big hug from her former coach, Rick Andersen, in Victory Lane.

"I drove the wheels off that thing," Atkins said. "Thank you guys for everything, and this is awesome."

Zack Ore, Billy Gregg each pick up wins

In a wild 20-lap Sportsman race, it was Zack Ore overtaking Billy Gregg on the last lap to win for the second straight week. Billy's son, Nate, led early in the race, but on a single file restart he somehow was deemed to have jumped early and was black-flagged. He was also warned about jumping early on the previous restart, according to officials.

Nate continued in the race, however, and eventually was black-flagged again and reluctantly went to the pits.

Billy, however, continued to lead until Ore saw an opening.

"He got me late and stayed in front, but I wasn't going to let that happen again, so I knew I had the fastest car," said Ore, who started ninth but worked his way to third midway through the race behind both of the Gregg cars.

Tommy Neal wound up third in the first race of the Sportsman Division.

"I was going to run Billy clean there and I just saw the opening and I took it," Ore said.

In the second race, which was another 20-lapper, Billy Gregg held off Ore to win the race. On the final lap in Turn 2, Ore gave Gregg a healthy shove, but Gregg held it together and got his second win of the season.

"I earned that win. They took the first one from me, but they can take as many as they want, but we'll get them back," Gregg said in Victory Lane.

Luke Smith wins fourth straight

It's four straight wins for unstoppable Luke Smith in the Stadium Stock Division.

Smith isn't asking any questions or analyzing too much of how dominant he's been so far. In the first 15-lap race on Saturday, Smith overtook AJ Sanders early and cruised to his fourth straight victory.

There were no cautions and Smith ran a clean race.

"We're just racing," he said. "We've got something special with this car, so we are going to ride this as long as we can."

In Victory Lane, Smith told track announcer Chris Carter that Sanders actually helped him out.

"We had a little electrical problem, and AJ helped us, so I appreciated that," Smith said.

As for the Bowman Gray Stadium record for most wins in a row, Smith didn't know if he has the record or not. "I'm not sure," he said.

Smith's four wins to start a season are the most since Rick Newsom started the Street Stock season in 1996 with four straight wins.

The record for most wins to start a season is Tony Hulin, who won eight in a row in the Street Stock Division in 1978.

Next week's racing

The Sportsman Division will take the featured position for Saturday's sixth week of the 18-week season. The Sportsman will run a 100-lap race.

The Modified Division will have its traditional two 25-lap races, and the Street Stock will have a 20-lap race. The Stadium Stock will run either one or two 15 lap races if there are enough cars.

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