After a cold winter with not much going on, it’s that time of year again. Every April, as other tracks have already started, the longest running weekly track in America gets ready to open the gates for 15,000 screaming fans. And heading into its 67th year, it continues to live up to its name as “The Most Exciting of Them All”. Here is our annual preview.
So many characters, so many story-lines. It’s hard to know where to start but we’ll do the best we can as we jump into the 2015 season. People moving up, people retiring, people still mad, the range of emotions and actions is mind boggling. Here is the skinny on each division looking ahead.
Modifieds
Of course we start with the mighty mods. “By the grace of God and 600 horsepower”, Bowman Gray is the only track in the Southeast that run the Modifieds as their feature division. And they have all the main characters any track could ask for, and five times the drama to boot.
Last season, the stranglehold on the mod division was finally overcome by… a Northerner of all people. Danny Bohn, after moving down from Freehold, New Jersey nearly seven years ago and becoming one of the few rookie winners in history was finally able to put a name on the championship trophy that didn’t say “Brown”, “Myers” or “Miller” for the first time in nineteen years. Bohn has decided to step aside this season as a personal decision, so does that mean the streak starts over again?
There are a few drivers that would like to say otherwise, starting with the new driver of the ride Danny is getting out of. Veteran and two time winner of the prestigious “199”, John Smith will now be wheeling the famous Puddin Swisher owned #53 for the new season.
“We are just going to go out and try to get some wins, nothing would make me happier than to get a win for Puddin.”
While Smith is very modest in his intentions, there is no doubt the smooth styled driver will be a threat each week.
Two other threats for the championship that don’t yet have one of their own are Lee Jefferys and Jason Myers. Jeffreys, the son of 1994 and 1995 champion Robert Jeffreys, is the guy everyone has been talking about for the past few years as being the one to break the stranglehold of Burt Myers and Tim Brown. Starting each season strong, Jeffreys downfall is late season bad luck as last year was no different, coming up just six points short to Bohn for the title.
Myers also is due for his own title. While brother Burt has six titles, Jason is still searching for his first championship trophy. He hasn’t been far off at all, even last year he headed into the last race with a chance for the title but was hit with bad luck just after halfway.
“We know this season is our best chance yet,” Myers said. “We have great cars, motors, people, everything is in place for a title run. We just have to put it all together, have a little luck and be consistent.”
The dark horse this year that could rattle a few cages and is also one of the crowd favorites is BoBo Brown. The past two seasons have seen him struggle just to make it to the track with limited funding, although he was still able to grab the attention of the Myers brothers various times as he and his brother JonBoy have had a long time feud with the entire family. This season is the most prepared Brown has been, new parts, improved power, and for the first time in his life, some major sponsorship. The black deuce will run every event this year and see where things pan out… and there could be a JonBoy sighting later in the season as well.
Then of course we have Tim Brown and Burt Myers. These two have been the top dogs of the Modifieds for the past 19 years. The more you say that, the more it puts you in awe… 19 years. And these guys have always put on a show, never really having a run in really, until last season. It all came to a head the second week of July as the two tangled, and then it got rough, really rough. Penalties were handed down and points were taken away, ultimately killing each driver’s quest for another championship.
The two drivers will be back this year, and they “say” that all is well and everything is in the past. But I can tell you, even though they hadn’t really had a run in on track until last season, things have been going on in the pits for years, they hadn’t been going on dinner dates before that night to put it nicely. I can only see this year being the most competitive we have ever seen these two drivers be with each other since they started racing.
Above I said they had a stranglehold on the Modifieds for 19 years. Well that’s not entirely true. Three times during that span another driver came out the top dog… the winningest driver in Bowman Gray history, the legendary Junior Miller. Miller had dropped off competitively after his 2006 championship, mainly due to his breakup with longtime team Riggs Racing, but the last few seasons have seen flashes of old as Miller has gotten back into the win column. This season he has a brand new car for the first time in years and looks to be a force once more, it can only add to the drama already heading into the season.
Sportsman
By far, the most competitive and dramatic division at the stadium for the past three seasons. The evolution of these cars is amazing. For years the Sportsman cars were years behind their counterparts at other tracks (the Limited Late Model division). But now they are full-fledged Late Models, only problem is they are as rough as demo derby cars sometimes. But the actual racing is something to behold.
The man everyone is shooting for will of course be the 2014 champion, Taylor Branch. After winning the championship last year in one of the most controversial finishes that actually ended hours later in the tech shed, he looks to come back and go for title number two. Branch, with his brother Kenny as crew chief, have threaten for the past few years that they would not run the entire season. And as in years past, this off season they said it once again. I wish I had a dollar for every driver, especially at the stadium that has said that. They will be back and looking to defend their championship as the odds on favorite.
Of course we have Derek Stoltz as well. By far the most “electrifying” driver the past few seasons, the red #02 has been almost unstoppable. He said he wasn’t racing a full season this year but as we all know, like the Branch’s, racers say a lot of things. For sure he’ll be there, and according to him he is going to win every race and win the championship.
“We have a new motor in the car and have replaced a lot of parts, it was the fastest things there as it was, I can only imagine what it’s going to do now,” said Stoltz.
We just like his modesty.
The guy looking to spoil the party is the man who used to dominate years ago before moving to the Mods… “Tiger” Tommy Neal is back. After taking a short stint in the modified division he has a new car and a new desire, he wasn’t winning in modified and he didn’t like it, so the tiger is hungry. Look for him to mix it up from race #1.
The other guy looking to make a splash is the ever quiet Billy Gregg. Yes, that was sarcasm. Gregg is a character to say the least and his hard charging driving style is coming to the Sportsman division for 2015. And if the early practices are any indication, the famous #28 will be a contender right out of the box. Not only will he be racing the top cars above, but he’ll be back in the same class with his number one nemesis, John Holleman IV, whom he recently wished a happy 18th birthday to. The off season has been hard on Gregg, topped by the loss of the patriarch of the family, his dad Jimmy. But they are a racing family, the Gregg name has been around in racing for over 30 years now, and in 2015 it will continue. As in most racers lives, racing is the best medicine.
The rest of the field makes it honestly hard to call in this class, so many good cars this year. It looks to be the most competitive class in 20 years. Michael Adams, Zack Clifton, Chase Hunt moving up from Sportsman, Jeff Garrison back from injury, the possibilities for legitimate winners goes to about twelve or thirteen cars.
Oh, by the way, that famous #70 that dominated just a few years ago… will be back for a limited schedule. Stay tuned later in the week on that.
Street Stock
After a few years of total ridiculousness where some races were completed after only ten laps because of carnage, the Street Stock division returned to glory in 2014 with the great racing we remember from days gone by. The championship battle was a good one as it came down to crowd favorite Brian Wall seeing his first championship in his eyes off turn four of the last lap… only to have it end in a cloud of smoke looking the wrong direction 100 feet from the finish line.
Wall will be the top contender going into the 2015 season.
“We are going to go out and win this championship this season,” Wall commented. “We had it last season, it was in my sights, then I get turned off turn four … and it wasn’t even for the lead. I have something to prove this year, we have a good car and Lord willing, we are going to show what it can do.”
With two other drivers leaving the series and moving up to Sportsman, Billy Gregg and champion Chase Hunt, and another retiring in John McNeal, who will challenge Wall for the title is wide open. Long time veteran Doug Wall looks to get back into the form he had in 2013 when he won the title. The young guns of Derrick Rice and Aaron Hylton look to be bringing the youngster movement against the veterans, which will make for a nice mix in driving styles and attitudes. Throw in the likes of David Creed, KJ Stimpson, Jeremy Warren and others, and the whole division looks to be very competitive each week.
One name you won’t be seeing is 2009 champ David Sumner. Or so he says. David has cut back on his racing the past few years, but still a top contender each time on track, he will be giving the seat op to his son Jasper for his rookie season.
“I’ll be helping my son this year, I’ve been doing it long enough,” the elder Sumner remarked. “I still have the itch though.”
I know how these racers are, that ole dog isn’t ready to lie on the porch just yet.
Stadium Stock
The smallest motors but the biggest hearts. That’s what can be said about the ultra-competitive Stadium Stock division. These guys are usually last on the bill, but have the fiercest competition and biggest car counts. Anyone who leaves early without seeing them is a mediocre race fan if you ask me.
Like many years past, the field will be shooting for two drivers. Starting with defending champ Chuck Wall, everyone will have their hands full. Wall contemplated not running a full season this year but after talking with the team they decided to go for their third consecutive championship, a feat never been done. He says they are ready for bear, and in this class that’s what they will get.
The other top dog of course is AJ Sanders. Sanders is undoubtedly the winningest driver of our era in any division in the entire region, that goes for Late Models to Modifieds, no other driver has taken more trophies. While other drivers come to practice for the first time to shake the car down after a winter rebuild, Sanders came on track in race trim extremely fast and is sitting on go. This year he will be playing a major car owner in the series as well as three other cars of his are rented out for the season. The 2014 NASCAR division IV National Champion looks to break Wall’s championship streak.
The driver that could be spoiling the party for both is Daniel Yates. Yates was a top runner in 2014 but bad luck and a few bad draws kept him back in fourth when the final standing came out. He was also very fast in the first practice of the year and wants to sit atop the throne at the bullring. Throw Chris Allison in his famous “Pintang” in with him also as his driving style is different, smooth and not aggressive, but it yields results as he finished third in points after leading most of the season.
Some say it’s a novelty, some say it’s not racing. And sometimes it’s no. The drama outweighs the racing so to say on some occasions. But in reality, Bowman Gray is the epitome of what racing is, drivers giving their all every Saturday night, rubbing side by side, not for money, just for a trophy in front of 15,000 screaming people. There is a unique skill to it. There is a reason the same few drivers are the ones to watch. There is a reason that the names of Radford, Brinkley, Worley, Jimmy Johnson, Osborne, Hensley, Rush, Stimpson, Kimel and Ward have all been champions there. It’s because they were the greatest drivers, at the greatest track, with the greatest fans in the world. I’m proud to say that for 35 years of my life, I’ve been there every summer to see many of them. This year will be no different.
