DAYTONA BEACH, Florida — No stranger to success at Bowman Gray Stadium, even Burt Myers is surprised by how fast he’s come out of the gate at the longest running track in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
The three-time track champion from Walnut Cove, N.C., finished second in 2009 in the Modified division points despite recording the most wins (seven) at the .25-mile asphalt flat oval. He won six of the final 14 events, including the season finale.
That momentum has carried over to 2010. Myers has rolled off three wins and a second in his last four starts after opening the season with a sixth-place run.
“We were excited about coming back this year with the same package, and we’ve started out better than I could have expected,” said Myers, who won championships at Bowman Gray in 1999, 2001 and ’07. “We’re off to a real strong start and we just want to keep it going.”
Myers’ 203 points ranks him 39th in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series.
His points-per-race average of 40.6, however, is the best of any drivers.
Keith Rocco of Wallingford, Conn., is the overall points leader with 642 points in 16 races. He owns the second best average at 40.1, out of a maximum 45.
Rocco, of Wallingford, Conn., maintained his series lead with a pair of wins in three starts in Connecticut this past weekend in his asphalt Modified. He scored victories on Thursday at Thompson International Speedway and Friday at Stafford Motor Speedway. He also finished sixth Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.
Craig Preble, of Yutan, Neb., also won twice in his dirt crate Late Model at I-80 Speedway in Omaha, Neb., and Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., and moved into second with 498 points in 13 races. Justin Johnson of Roxboro, N.C., won the second of two asphalt Late Model races at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and is third with 451 points in 12 races. Rocco and Preble each have a series-leading 10 wins and 13 top fives.
A driver’s best 18 results are counted toward their state and national points totals, and the champions are decided on overall points total.
Bill Leighton Jr. and Matt Buller, who race against Preble on a weekly basis, are fourth and fifth in the national standings, respectively.
Marty Ward and Toby Porter, of Greenville Pickens (S.C.) Speedway, are sixth and seventh, respectively. Travis Swain, of Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., is eighth, followed by Duane Ward of Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, Pa., and two-time defending national champion Philip Morris of Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va.
For Myers, his focus is on championship No. 4 at The Stadium.
It’s a goal that very nearly got derailed before it got started when a mechanical issue led to a wreck in practice for the first race of the year and resulted in a destroyed race car. Myers and Co. went back to the shop and took the car they had run in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Thompson, changed it over in two hours, and drove it to a top 10.
Since then, Myers has been nearly unstoppable.
“The thing about Bowman Gray is there are so many things that can play into a championship,” Myers said. “You’re got to stay out of trouble.”
Myers said the bottom line, though, is “you’ve got to be good enough to take advantage of the good luck when it comes around.”
While he changed motors last year, the car has stayed the same. In fact, while they’ve clipped both ends and updated it, the center cage is the same one his father, Gary, drove to 24 wins at Bowman Gray and that he has recorded all 42 wins in.
“That’s old faithful, I guess you can say,” said Myers, who has a busy weekend ahead. He will take part in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour qualifying at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Saturday afternoon, head back to Bowman Gray for the night’s event, and then return to Martinsville Sunday for the Tour race.
Under the points structure for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series, the race winner received two points for every car in the event up to 20. Second place received two fewer points, and so-on through the field. Race winners received an additional five bonus points. For example, if there are 20 cars, the winner received 45 points, second gets 38 and third 36. If there are 15 cars, the winner received 35 points, second gets 28 and third 26.
Track, state and provincial champions and the top three finishers in the national standings earn invitations to the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Awards Banquet. The winner of the national championship will also earn a secure spot in the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.
FEATURE DIVISION
National Top 500 NASCAR Points Leaders
Pos Driver Track Starts Wins T-5 T-10 Points
1 Keith Rocco Waterford Speedbowl 16 10 13 16 642
2 Craig Preble I-80 Speedway 13 10 13 13 498
3 Justin T Johnson South Boston Speedway 12 7 10 12 451
4 Bill Leighton, Jr I-80 Speedway 14 0 12 14 428
5 Matt Buller I-80 Speedway 13 2 10 13 396
6 Marty Ward Greenville-Pickens Speedway 11 5 11 11 333
7 Toby Porter Greenville-Pickens Speedway 11 4 10 10 320
8 Travis Swaim Caraway Speedway 12 4 10 12 320
9 Duane Howard Grandview Speedway 8 1 7 8 285
10 Philip Morris Motor Mile Speedway 9 3 6 7 277
11 Adam Royle Raceway Park 13 5 10 12 275
12 Tommy Lemons, Jr Motor Mile Speedway 10 1 3 7 265
13 C E Falk, Iii Langley Speedway 8 2 5 7 264
14 Ted Christopher Thompson Intl Speedway 9 2 5 7 258
15 Jeremy Burns Greenville-Pickens Speedway 12 0 7 11 250
16 Woody Pitkat Stafford Motor Speedway 9 1 3 8 249
17 Andrew Kosiski I-80 Speedway 11 0 4 8 246
18 Nick Smith South Boston Speedway 9 1 6 7 243
19 Jonathan Mawhinney All American Speedway 10 1 7 9 243
20 Ron Yuhas, Jr Waterford Speedbowl 7 0 6 7 242
21 Stacy Puryear South Boston Speedway 9 1 6 8 241
22 Micah Veleba Junction Motor Speedway 13 0 2 8 240
23 Deac Mccaskill South Boston Speedway 9 0 6 8 240
24 Les Siebert Junction Motor Speedway 11 0 4 9 238
25 Mark Bakaj Waterford Speedbowl 12 0 3 5 238
