Jason Myers reached a career milestone at Bowman Gray Stadium on Saturday evening.
By holding off a late charge from his brother Burt Myers, Jason passed Billy Hensley to hold sole possession of tenth in all-time wins at the facility with 35.
Jason was poised through all 100 laps of Saturday’s feature, adding that he was more concerned with outlasting Burt rather than eclipsing a fellow Bowman Gray legend in wins.
“This is really a big deal when you put it into perspective,” Jason said. “I don’t think about those types of things when I’m racing and when I climbed out of the car, [the 35th victory] didn’t even cross my mind. I was focused on the win tonight.”
A battle between the Myers brothers is something that fans at Bowman Gray have been accustomed to during the last two decades. Jason gained an early advantage over Burt on Saturday following a re-draw that put him on pole.
With Jason controlling the bottom on every restart, Burt knew that getting the perfect jump would be crucial in deciding which of the two ended up celebrating in victory lane.
Burt’s timing proved exceptional on multiple occasions but he ultimately did not have enough to best his brother.
“[Jason] and I know each other pretty good,” Burt said. “We know what the other one likes and I knew if I let Jason do what he wanted, it would be really hard to beat him. The inside has such an advantage here and Jason had such a stout car tonight.”
Despite coming up short of a win, Burt considered Saturday to be a success since he erased two points on Tim Brown’s small advantage in the Bowman Gray Modified point standings.
While Burt is trying to chase history on his own in being the first driver to win 11 championships at Bowman Gray, he was more than happy to see Jason make a little history of his own.
“If I can’t win, I want [Jason’s car] to win,” Burt said. “The No. 4 is my family number. My grandpa, my dad and myself have all used that number during our careers, so I can go to sleep tonight knowing that everything is alright.”
Jason took pride in the fact that an important moment in his family’s history came with him doing everything possible to hold off numerous aggressive moves from his older brother.
Although Jason said the final laps were stressful, he never wants to see Burt hold back when it comes to racing for the win.
“If Burt ever takes it easy on me, then it’s time for him to quit,” Jason said. “I’m the one guy that he’s going to have to hear it from all week that he lost. When he beats me, that’s how it goes. I don’t see Tim Brown during the week but I see Burt.”
The next milestone for Jason will be even more significant, as three more victories will tie him with his father Gary for ninth on the all-time wins list.
1. Jason Myers
2. Burt Myers
3. Tim Brown
4. Brandon Ward
5. John Holleman IV
6. Jonathan Brown
7. Randy Butner
8. Bobby Labonte
9. James Civali
10. Brian Loftin
11. Danny Bohn
12. Darin Redmon
13. Danny Probst
14. Bobo Brown
15. Chris Fleming
16. Daniel Beeson
17. Chris Williams
18. Lee Jeffreys
19. Dylan Ward
20. Daniel Yates
21. Dennis Holdren
22. William Smith
23. Bussy Beavers
24. Brad Robbins
25. Jason Southern
26. Junior Miller
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