BROWN WINS CHAMPIONSHIP IN WILD NIGHT AT BOWMAN GRAY

   With a full moon in the sky and the points championships on the line at Bowman Gray Stadium’s season finale, fans were reminded why the legendary track’s nickname is “The Madhouse.”
   Tim Brown of Cana, Va. entered Saturday with a 28-point lead in the Farm Bureau Insurance Modified Series. Brown had one goal in mind: winning his 7th championship – and to do that, he had one strategy: to stay out of trouble.
   That was easier said than done.
   Burt Myers of Walnut Cove qualified on the pole and claimed the lead as the green flag fell in the Carolina Farm Credit 150. Brown, who qualified in second, was happy to settle in behind his points rival Myers. In Brown’s mind, he’d rather play it safe and stay behind Myers rather than risk having a determined Myers at his rear bumper ready to spin him out.
   But although he was in front of the #83 car of Brown, Myers still had ways to make Brown sweat. Myers began to subtly slow down – not to the point where he was in danger of losing the lead, but enough so that the third place car of Lee Jeffreys of High Point was giving some nudges to the bumper of Brown in second place.
   “He sure had the pace backed up,” said Brown about Myers. “He’d slow down, I’d run up there and bump him - and he’d speed up, then slow down again.”
   The situation become especially worrisome for Brown after Junior Miller of Danbury climbed his way up to third place. With the lead car of Myers slowing and allowing Miller to deliver some good taps to Brown’s bumper, Tim Brown just thought it best to think about the big picture and let Miller pass by.
   “Our car was really good, but I’ll be honest – I was points-racing tonight; I wasn’t worried about winning the race. The pace was slowing up to where once Junior caught up to me, I let him go. I mean, I’m racing for the points. I wasn’t going to let him spin me with 10 laps to go,” said Brown. “I was racing for the championship. I knew that if Junior got by me, I’d still finish third and that wouldn’t be so bad.”
   With Tim Brown in third, coasting to the championship, Junior Miller then turned his sights towards Burt Myers. Miller was obviously determined to take the lead for himself and claim the win, delivering some hard hits to the rear bumper of Myers. Brown backed off in case the two decided to tangle.
   With just a few laps to go in the race, Miller delivered an especially stout tap to the #1 car of Myers, causing Myers to spin. Miller slowed to avoid a wreck, while Tim Brown claimed the lead. “I was right on Junior when he was trying to run Burt down,” said Brown. “I didn’t think he was going to be able to catch Burt, and I didn’t want anybody behind me to catch me and get me in trouble. Once he caught him and started to beat on him, I gave them plenty of room to where if anything did happen I could hopefully avoid it. That’s what happened, and I got by. It worked out for me tonight.”
   Miller took over second place with two green flag laps left in the race. Myers wanted revenge, slowing down and allowing the rest of the field to nearly lap him. As Miller went by, Myers rammed his car. The spinning car of Miller still took second place as he crossed the finish line – but Myers wasn’t done yet. After the race was over, Myers rammed the car of Miller, backed up, rammed him again, backed up, rammed him again – all before both drivers got out of their cars and shouted threats towards each other.
   Both drivers were escorted off of the premises. NASCAR Race Director John Horton said that the actions of Myers and Miller would be reviewed by NASCAR within the coming week to determine what penalties would be assessed.
   “I hate to see that - guys having issues like that. I’m just glad I wasn’t involved,” said Brown. “You kinda reap what you sow right there.”
   Meanwhile, Brown was celebrating his seventh win of the season and his seventh championship at Bowman Gray Stadium. Only in his mid-thirties, Brown is already quickly closing in on Ralph Brinkley’s record of 8 championships at the famed quarter-mile.
   Junior Miller claimed second in the race, with Jonathan Brown of Kernersville taking third.

Farm Bureau Insurance Modified Series Carolina Farm Credit 150:
153 laps (race extended due to caution)

      FINISH / CAR / DRIVER / HOMETOWN
  1. 83  Tim Brown  Cana, VA
  2. 69 Junior Miller  Danbury, NC
  3. 53 Jonathan Brown  Kernersville, NC
  4. 75 Robert Jeffreys  Winston-Salem, NC
  5. 40 Brad Robbins  Winston-Salem, NC
  6. 72 Brent Elliott  Denton, NC
  7. 44 Joseph Brown  Winston-Salem, NC
  8. 13 Chris Fleming  Mount Airy, NC
  9. 14 Bobby Hutchens  Lexington, NC
10.   4 Jason Myers  Walnut Cove, NC
11.   1 Burt Myers  Walnut Cove, NC
12. 92 Brody Jones  Statesville, NC
13. 70 Alfred Hill  Jonesville, NC
14.   5 Randy Butner  Pfafftown, NC
15. 47 Andrew Durham  Roaring River, NC
16. 77 Lee Jeffreys  High Point, NC
17. 50 Michael Clifton  Walkertown, NC
18. 45 Lee Stimpson  Lewisville, NC
19. 51 Stan Welborn  Germanton, NC
20. 99 Kevin Powell  Winston-Salem, NC

 THE END