(Press Release from Stafford Speedway)
Burt Myers
When the green flag is unfurled for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour on Friday, August 3 for the Starrett 150, it will mark the Stafford Speedway debut of 2-time Southern Whelen Modified Tour Champion and 8-time Bowman Gray Modified Track Champion Burt Myers.
Myers will be piloting the #1 Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair / Cirtusafe Chevrolet for car owner Eddie Harvey and while Myers is short on experience at a track that is known for favoring drivers with experience, his enthusiasm hasn’t dampened one bit.
“I’m really excited about the race,” said Myers. “Stafford is one of the main tracks on my list that I’ve always wanted to race at. Growing up in the South and racing at Bowman Gray weekly, the Southern Modified Tour, and other series, I’ve never had the opportunity to race at a lot of the northern tracks that I’ve heard about. This is a great opportunity for me to team up with Eddie [Harvey] and knock some of these northern tracks off of my bucket list.”
Despite having zero experience under his belt at Stafford, Myers is looking to take the Starrett 150 winner’s trophy with him back to his hometown of Walnut Cove, NC.
“We’re coming to win the race,” said Myers. “Eddie and I have talked about it. We finished 14th at Riverhead and a lot of people told us that keeping the car together and finishing 14th was a good run for our first time ever going there. We don’t go to races to have a good showing, we want to win races. I don’t mean to sound arrogant but God blessed me with the ability to drive race cars and I think I’m pretty good at it. Eddie has the equipment and knowledge for his cars to win races so the key will be adding up all the numbers and coming up with the equation that puts us where we need to be. Being realistic, if we can be competitive and run in the top-5 all night without any issues, that would be a big step forward for us. If we can learn some things that will help us for when we come back for the fall race I think we’d consider that a victory but our main goal is to bring a trophy home.”
In order to help bridge the gap to the front running teams at Stafford, Harvey and Myers have enlisted the assistance of LFR and Rob Fuller for a baseline setup to work with when they unload the #1 machine. The setup that LFR is putting in the #1 car is the same setup that Chase Dowling utilized in April for the NAPA Spring Sizzler when he qualified on pole with a new track record and finished second in the 200-lap race.
“We brought the car to LFR and Rob Fuller and his guys are setting the car up for us, so hopefully we’ll be very close when we show up,” said Myers. “We know there’s some adjustments that we’ll have to make but we’re going to dive right in. They told us it was the same setup that the 15 car [Chase Dowling] ran in the last race at Stafford. Everyone’s driving style is different so it won’t be like taking a magic pill to give us a setup that will win the race but we know we’ll at least be close. Knowing the car should be really close when we get there will give me more time to get used to the track and less time having to work on getting the car dialed in.”
For Myers, the two rounds of practice prior to group qualifying will be of ultra importance. With qualifying set for 6:35pm when the sun is still heating up the track and the race scheduled for an approximate starting time of 9:15pm when the sun has set, the trick for Myers and the #1 crew will be to figure out a car balance that will be fast for both qualifying and the race.
“What usually hurts us when we come up north is not being familiar with how the tracks change,” said Myers. “I’ve run several races at Thompson where you both practice and race during the day and we were pretty good. The last time we went to Thompson we were pretty good in practice and then we weren’t very good for the race because we weren’t sure what the track was going to do once the sun went down. It was the same thing for us at Riverhead and that’s what we’re looking to change by getting some help from the LFR guys with the car setup.”
Tickets for the August 3 Starrett 150 are available and on sale now at the Stafford Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seat tickets are $37.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission Tax. Stafford Motor Speedway offers plenty of free parking along with overnight parking available for self contained Recreational Vehicles. Stafford’s five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions will join the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour cars in feature action.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at 860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.
I think Dareal should set the car up. Fuller couldn’t drive so what makes you think he can set cars up. Maybe he can give us Ray Evernham stats to show that you have to be a great driver to know and understand race cars. I heard dareal’s name mentioned several times during the Loudon broadcast as well. Oh….. wait…………. maybe it wasn’t his name. Either way the guy knows what’s going on. He’s shown how sharp he is on this blog so I think someone should give him a shot. He would win a championship against all these dummies. If you don’t believe me just ask him yourself.
The man, the myth, the legend, darealdagoodfella
I hope he wins. I met him at the icebreaker at Thompson. He could not have been any nicer. I chatted with him for a good 15 -20 minutes about racing and his former TV show. What an awesome guy!!
The guy finishes 14 the at Riverhead, a bullring like Bowman Gray, yet he thinks he’s gonna win on his first attempt at Stafford. Has he been smoking peyote or something. And the ego ” good blessed me to be able to drive a race car” Who says that ? Cocky to say the least. Wish him luck but don’t think he’ll even make the top 10. Doesn’t he realize the best modified drivers hail from the northeast? Besides dareal already picked Coby to win
Wow Rob, what is he supposed to say I want to come to Stafford to finish 20th, he is a quality shoe who has won multiple track and series titles down south, please don’t start with the NORTH guys are 100 times better than the South guys, yeah 14th at Riverhead on his first visit in a tour race with a few other quality teams, which IS NOTHING LIKE BOWMAN GRAY! Welcome Dirty South to Stafford
Play money you couldn’t have said it better,there’s nothing this guy doesn’t know,he even knows how to make a fool of himself quite regularly
Rob p., Burt Myers has run up north a few times and sucked. No worries.
you guys need to get a life….oh wait a min this is your life how sad. you guys bitch about car counts and here you have a guy coming a long way to race and all you do is bash him. you guys only see half the race when your at the track the other half of the time your at the beer truck. L
It’s a press release and designed to generate interest for an outsider and it has. Ultimately he said he wanted to run in the top 5 which is a realistic goal. Goodale won the Fall Final so it could happen.
But what about the sub plot? Our friends at LFR doing the setup. Chase, Stephen and Rob. Guys trying to win the race and championship. Being paid as sub contractors to help a specific competitor beat them using their own unique knowledge and resources. Information sharing in the extreme. Will be interesting to see what happens.Good luck!
Not to put too fine a point on it whomever is “Sick”. I don’t believe car counts have been a complaint at all this year compared to prior years. In fact great car counts and a resurgence in top tier competition has been all the rage. As for bashers there seem to be as many at-a-boys as naysayers. And finally really hitting below the belt. Beer. First of all it’s not a beer truck it’s a trailer or a stand. And second beer is as much a part of local circle track racing tradition as exhaust fumes.
Just remember to designate a sober driver, buckle up, drive safe and arrive alive. Way to go Matt Buckler for burning that little bit of advice into my brain.
I watched Burt race at the Bowl a few years ago right after the tv show – He drove a Jeffery Paul backup car/ he was coming from the back of the pack (they had full fields back then)but got caught up in a mess. I was impressed how well he ran. Put him in a good car and he will be just as good as any. With LFR help they should be top 10 car
“I don’t mean to sound arrogant but God blessed me with the ability to drive race cars and I think I’m pretty good at it.”
Well, because God blessed him with the ability to drive race cars, he must not be arrogant. LOL!!!
I’m sure God will help him with the setup for his first run at Stafford too. With God, who needs LFR?
This guy will put on a show given the opportunity. Look forward to seeing him in the field for the 150!
Riverhead is a tough place to race, 14th really not bad for the first try especially with a low caution flag count.
God blessed me with the ability to drive a race car too. Unfortunately life got in the way.
God blessed me with the ability to drive a race car too. Unfortunately life got in the way, and I had to settle with just building and working on them. Got 2 late model championships at Stafford though. Do I feel gifted…hell no. Burt Meyers comment shows his arrogance. By the way, if he’s ” god gifted” why is he only driving a modified. I’m sure Tony Stewart would give Harvick the boot to have a
” God gifted” driver in the seat LMFAO. Good luck Bert, your gonna need it.
God didn’t bless me with any ability to drive a race car and I thank him/her for only taking the better part of three seasons to make the point perfectly clear.
I love drivers with a little arrogance, makes racing a more interesting!
Well Doug, at least it only took you 3 seasons to figure it out. All over the country there are ” lifer’s” who never figured it out but show up every week, and end up Wreccking some good cars