LUCAMA, NC :: Burt Myers picked up where he left off in NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour competition at Southern National Motorsports Park.

Myers, who won when the tour made its last visit to the .4-mile track in 2008, returned to Victory Lane on Saturday, winning the KOMA Unwind Relaxation Drink 150.

“I hadn’t felt this good about a win in a long, long time,” Myers said. “We’ve just been in such a slump.”The Walnut Cove, N.C., driver – who started third on the grid – charged into the lead just past the midway point of the 150-lap race and set sail from there in his No. 1 CitruSafe/Adams Towing & Recovery Ford. The victory marked the ninth career tour win for the 2010 Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion.

The race marks the second win in as many races for the Myers brothers on the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour season. Burt’s brother, Jason, won the season opener at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., last weekend.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour regular Ryan Preece, who won his first Whelen Southern Modified Tour Coors Light Pole Award in qualifying and led the first 80 laps, finished second. He was followed by Tim Brown, George Brunnhoelzl III and Andy Seuss. Brunnhoelzl, the defending tour champion, took the points lead by four over Jason Myers.

Burt Myers said seeing his brother in Victory Lane last weekend added a little extra motivation.

“I told him, I’m glad to see you winning races,” said Burt Myers. “He said, are you really? I said, yea, it makes me want to win more.”

Burt Myers finished 17th at Caraway when engine issues ended race after just 117 laps. It was his fourth finish outside the top 10 in the last seven tour points races. He narrowly avoided misfortune Saturday. With three to go, Burt Myers thought the motor went flat. He said closer inspection during post-race confirmed they lost a cylinder. He had enough of a lead at that point to hang on.

“We’ve worked really hard, we hadn’t quit and we stand on top of it,” Burt Myers said. “And it’s starting to pay off.”

Preece and Brown would have liked to see the race go a couple laps longer, and not just because of Myers’ possible motor issues. Preece lost second to Brunnhoelzl on a Lap 128 restart and wasn’t able to get by him until the white-flag lap. Brown spent most of the race running outside the top five before closing strong in the final laps. He followed Preece by Brunnhoelzl on that final lap.

“As soon as I got to George, every time I came out of a corner and had a run, there was a lapped car there,” Preece said. “I had to wait until the time was right. We got a good run on him. I really wish this race was another five or 10 laps.”

“I was really concerend after the first segment there that we weren’t going to be very good,” said Brown, who posted his fourth top three finish in four tour races at Southern National. “But the guys on this T&C/Hayes Jewelers Modified made the right call and the right changes for that second half run. And I’m not sure sure that if it wasn’t five or 10 more laps it might have been a different car up there. But Burt did a good job all day — they were fast and won the race.”

Ted Christopher, Kyle Ebersole, Danny Bohn, Brandon Ward and Woody Pitkat rounded out the top 10.

Luke Fleming was the top finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate in 13th.

The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour is back in action at South Boston (Va.) Speedway on Saturday, April 13.

RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH BURT MYERS | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH RYAN PREECE | AUDIO: POST-RACE INTERVIEW WITH TIM BROWN