Speeney outlasts Myers; Southern gets emotional first win in Bowman Gray Twin-25s

The first twin-25 race night of the season at Bowman Gray Stadium saw Mike Speeney outduel Burt Myers to win the first twin and Kyle Southern get his first career Madhouse win after spinning Mason Lawson early in the second twin.

Jason Myers started on pole for the first 25-lapper with Speeney on the outside. Speeney was able to get a good jump and make the pass in turns one and two around the outside to take the lead, and Burt Myers follow Speeney on the outside to move up to the third spot. 

The only caution came five laps into the race when the No. 00 of Danny Probst spun on the backstretch. Speeney retained the lead on the restart, and Burt started putting the pressure on his brother Jason for the runner-up spot.

With ten laps to go, Burt made the pass for second place and started to run down Speeney. He was able to close to his back bumper, but ultimately ran out of time, and Speeney held on to win.

“Actually, I enjoyed it,” Speeney said on FloRacing in victory lane, in regards to battling Burt at the end. “I thought Burt was going to give me some more shots. I was really anticipating it, but, you know, it was a lot of fun racing hard like that.”

When told he would be starting alongside Burt after the invert, Speeney simply said, “Yeah, but we’ve got some cars in front of us.”

The second twin 25 saw the top 14 finishers from the first race inverted, putting Dean Ward and Mason Lawson on the front row. Once again, the outside was the place to be on the start as Lawson took the lead in the same fashion that Speeney did in the first race. Southern was able to move into second place on the start.

Five laps into the race, Lawson drifted up the track slightly in turns one and two, leaving a small gap to his inside, and Southern took it. The pair made contact and Lawson went spinning from the lead and others piled in trying to check up.

Southern restarted the race in the lead, and was able to build up a comfortable gap on Dean Ward to earn his first career Modified win at Bowman Gray.

“It’s good to put our name in the book, man,” Southern said after the win. “It’s been a long time coming. We took our lumps. I haven’t always had the best of luck over here, but I just never give up, man. I’m going to keep coming back. This team, these guys, the sponsors, who’s behind me; we’re greedy and we’re hungry, man. It just feels good, man.”

The win carries a lot of importance to Southern, as two years ago his house burned down.

“I mean, I came back from a lot. Had my house burned down. We got a car nine days before the 200 last year. And just tried to kind of make the best of a bad situation last year. And this year we got our ducks in a row. Got some good people behind us. And it shows, man.”

The full results to both races can be viewed below.

Twin-25 Race 1
Bowman Gray Stadium
May 9, 2026

1. 10 Mike Speeney
2. 1 Burt Myers
3. 4 Jason Myers
4. 07 Riley Neal
5. 51 Junior Snow
6. 16 Chris Fleming
7. 83 Tim Brown
8. 6 Slate Myers
9. 75 Lee Jeffreys
10. 99 Jordan Fleming
11. 9 Kyle Southern
12. 69 John Holleman IV
13. 82 Mason Lawson
14. 12 Dean Ward
15. 00 Danny Propst
16. 19  Andy Noto
17. 17 Lonnie Oakley
18. 5 Randy Butner
19. 64 Ethan Truell
20. 35 Brandon Butner
21. 68 Junior Miller
22. 77  Susan Harwell
23. 11 Cory Lovette
24. 3 Brandon Wood

Twin-25s Race 2
Bowman Gray Stadium
May 9, 2026

1. 9 Kyle Southern
2. 12 Dean Ward
3. 69 John Holleman IV
4. 99 Jordan Fleming
5. 6 Slate Myers
6. 16 Chris Fleming
7. 83 Tim Brown
8. 07 Riley Neal
9. 1 Burt Myers
10. 10 Mike Speeney
11. 4 Jason Myers
12. 75 Lee Jeffreys
13. 00 Danny Propst
14. 51 Junior Snow
15. 5 Randy Butner
16. 17 Lonnie Oakley
17. 82 Mason Lawson
18. 64 Ethan Truell
19. 77 Susan Harwell
20. 35 Brandon Butner
21. 11 Cory Lovette
22. 19 Andy Noto
23. 3 Brandon Wood