
Saturday’s racing at Bowman Gray Stadium was billed as the Great Clips Crash Fest, and all four divisions of racing showed why they call it the Madhouse.
There were twin 25-lap races in the Modified Series, and Tim Brown, who won his 12th championship last year, won his second race of the season in the first 25-lap race. And after Brown drew 12 in “Madhouse Scramble” to invert the field, Dan Speeney took the pole for the second 25-lap race and carried that to his first victory at Bowman Gray.
Speeney finished just ahead of his brother, Mike Speeney, making him the the 141st driver to win a featured event at Bowman Gray Stadium. That adds him to the list of legendary winners, such as Richard Petty, Glen Wood, Ralph Earnhardt, Bobby Allison, and Junior Johnson.
Brown won the pole for the first 25-lap Modified race at 13.084, the fastest qualifying lap of the season. And by holding off Chris Fleming for the win, Brown picked up his second win in three weeks after going 32 races without a win two weeks ago.
“Great race car all year,” Brown said. “We feel like we could’ve had four wins all year instead of two — you know, the 200 (season opener), I feel like we should’ve won that race, so that would’ve been three. And of course, running second to Jason (Myers) last week, I was better than him.
“And that’s all you can ask for is the team bringing cars like that every week.”
There were no cautions in the 25-lap race, Chris Fleming was runner-up, followed by Lee Jeffreys, John Holleman IV, and points-leader Burt Myers.
“The car’s really, really good,” Brown said. “We’re just super-excited too, we’ve got a fast race car this year. We’ve already won a couple races. We’ve just got to keep this run going.”
Brown also picked up his 96th career win, ahead of Burt Myers’ 89. But he doesn’t want to talk about the possibility of picking up win 100.
“Man, I don’t know. We’ll talk about it when it happens,” Brown said. “My focus is just keeping my head down and keep winning races, and keep taking this same race car to the race track and keeping our sponsors (happy). That’s all we can do. We’re definitely not changing what we’re doing right now because what we’re doing right now is working.”
But Dan Speeney’s excitement may have topped Brown’s because it was his first win at Bowman Gray.
Naturally, winning your first race at a storied track like Bowman Gray Stadium, Dan Speeney was very emotional. “Words can’t really describe it to be honest with you,” he said. “So, we’re just hoping, I’m hoping it’s not the last one.”
Speeney, who is originally from Pennsylvania, now lives in King.
“So, we’ve been racing a long time,” he said. “And we always haven’t had the best of luck. We figured being related to Ben Brown (Tim’s brother), Tim Brown, the Browns have been over here for so long, they’ve been convincing us to come over here. So, we gave it a shot. It’s really, really cool.”
“There’s a lot of people that work on this. My father-in-law, Ben Brown, he does most of the stuff. Jason Taylor. We’ve got a lot of good guys in the shop.” he said. “It just makes it easier to drive these things.”
Making it all the more special for Dan Speeney is finishing just ahead of his brother.
“When we saw the 1-2, he said, ‘How fast you want to roll?,’ and I said, ‘I’m freakin’ nervous. I want to get to the green flag as soon as possible. So, I know (Mike) was getting beat up pretty good. So, he did a phenomenal job just letting me get a straightaway there.”
Once Dan Speeney was able to take a commanding lead, he didn’t come close to relinquishing it.
“I was a little nervous because the guy on the outside, we haven’t had the best of luck a couple weeks ago,'” he said. “So, I didn’t know how he was racing me. But he raced me pretty clean there. So, kudos to him there on that one.”
Jason Myers finished third, Junior Snow was fourth, and Holleman was fifth.
“But up front, once we’re rolling, nerves kind of go away and instinct takes over,” Dan Speeney said. “Once we got going there it was kind of the same old deal.”
SPORTSMAN
Zack Ore picked up his first win of the season in the McDowell Heating & Air Sportsman Series.
Riley Neal sat on the pole for the first race, but Ore went underneath him on the second lap and cruised to the win despite three cautions, including one with three laps remaining.
“We’ve built a rocket ship at the right time,” Ore said. “We’re going straight to the front from here on out.”
Sterling Plemmons was third, Chase Robertson was fourth, and Kirk Sheets was fifth.
The second 20-lap Sportsman race encountered seven cautions, including four in the first five laps. And Tommy Neal won in his return to the Series after racing earlier this season in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series.
Neal, who won the Sportsman championship last year, was on the pole and was able to withstand all of the cautions.
With Neal out front on the restart after a caution on lap 16, Neal maintained his lead over Nate Gregg, but Michael Adams bumped Gregg on the backstretch, pushing Adams to second.
There was another caution on lap 18 while Neal was up front. Robertson, who was in second at the time, was passed by Adams on the backstretch. Adams held on for second the remaining two laps to finish runner-up behind Neal. Robertson was third, and Ore, who drew 14th after in the Madhouse Scramble after the first 20-lap race, finished fourth. Riley Neal, Tommy Neal’s great nephew, finished fifth.
STADIUM STOCK
In the 15-lap race in the Q104.1 Stadium Stock race, Chuck Wall took the lead in the first few laps and held on to win his third race of the season.
It’s also Wall’s 28th career win in the Stadium Stock Series.
Wall had a big lead with one lap remaining, but Kyler Staley’s car started smoking around turns 3 and 4. Staley safely got out of his car, but it was towed off the track. That set up a green-white finish, but Wall fended off Robert Strmiska for the win.
“Oh, Lord, no,” Wall said of the caution. “We were on cruise control and I saw who was back there. And I said, ‘We’ve got plenty of time.’ Then that caution came out and I was worried.”
A.J. Sanders finished third, followed by Isaac Harris and Brandon Brendle.
The final race of the night was in the Law Offices of John Barrow Street Stock Series, and Brad Lewis picked up his second win of the season.
“This car was junk this morning and these boys never quit working on it,” Brad Lewis said. “Dylan’s (Ward, crew chief) is the man. Let me tell you.
Cody Gum finished runner-up, followed by Donnie Martin, Kevin Gilbert, and Cale Martin.
Next week, there will double points in all four series, and the night will be highlighted by a 100-lap race in the McDowell Heating & Air Sportsman Series. The Sportsman cars will qualify for position and use the Traffic Control Safety Services Double-File Restart Cone, In addition, there will be the Thunder Road Grill 50, which is a 50-lap race in the Law Offices of John Barrow Street Stock Series, the longest race in that series this season. That 50-lap race was postponed from May 13.
MADHOUSE MODIFIED RESULTS
Race One: 25 laps
1 83 Tim Brown Tobaccoville, NC 970
2 16 Chris Fleming Mount Airy, NC 520
3 75 Lee Jeffreys Wallburg, NC 445
4 69 John Holleman IV Winston-Salem, NC 395
5 1 Burt Myers Walnut Cove, NC 370
6 91 Junior Snow King, NC 270
7 04 Brandon Ward Winston-Salem, NC 255
8 4 Jason Myers Walnut Cove, NC 240
9 5 Randy Butner Pfafftown, NC 225
10 37 Mike Speeney Tobaccoville, NC 215
11 44 Daniel Beeson Kernersville, NC 205
12 10 Dan Speeney King, NC 195
13 9 Brian Loftin Clemmons, NC 190
14 99 William Smith Mount Airy, NC 185
15 3 Danny Propst Monroe, NC 180
16 7 Susan Harwell Jonesville, NC 175
17 89 Eddie Collins Winston-Salem, NC 170
18 6 Greg Butcher Winston-Salem, NC 165
19 88 Brandon Butner Pfafftown, NC 160
20 14 Cory Lovette Winston-Salem, NC 155
Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series
Race Two: 25 laps
1 10 Dan Speeney King, NC 770
2 37 Mike Speeney Tobaccoville, NC 520
3 4 Jason Myers Walnut Cove, NC 445
4 91 Junior Snow King, NC 395
5 69 John Holleman IV Winston-Salem, NC 370
6 16 Chris Fleming Mount Airy, NC 270
7 1 Burt Myers Walnut Cove, NC 255
8 04 Brandon Ward Winston-Salem, NC 240
9 75 Lee Jeffreys Wallburg, NC 225
10 83 Tim Brown Tobaccoville, NC 215
11 9 Brian Loftin Clemmons, NC 205
12 5 Randy Butner Pfafftown, NC 195
13 3 Danny Propst Monroe, NC 190
14 44 Daniel Beeson Kernersville, NC 185
15 99 William Smith Mount Airy, NC 180
16 7 Susan Harwell Jonesville, NC 175
17 6 Greg Butcher Winston-Salem, NC 170
18 14 Cory Lovette Winston-Salem, NC 165
19 88 Brandon Butner Pfafftown, NC 160
20 89 Eddie Collins Winston-Salem, NC 155
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Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.


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