Slate Myers won the 100-lap Modified feature at Bowman Gray Stadium over his father, Burt Myers, but the circumstances were a little controversial.
The track utilized transponders for this race as a trial run, but it was hand-scored as well in case something went awry. Most of the night saw no issues, but something interesting happened on a restart with seven laps to go.
Burt controlled the race late with his son Slate in second. The father-son duo lined up on the front row awaiting the green flag. Burt had a good restart, but Slate was able to get an even better one, and beat Burt back to the line by about the length of the front bumper bar. Burt retook the lead in turns one and two, then Jason Myers went spinning down the backstretch, drawing a caution before a lap was completed.
Normally in this scenario, since a lap was not completed, Burt would retain the lead, as he was the leader at the last completed green flag lap. But with the transponders being used, it had Slate pinged as the leader since he got to the line first. After some time under caution, officials placed Slate in the lead over his father.
Slate held off his father in a green white checkered finish to claim the win.
“Yeah, I mean, I hate it for dad,” Slate said. “If it was anybody else, I would have loved to go in front of them, but I was on the radio saying I don’t want to go in front of them. They said, ‘if you don’t go in front of them right now, you’re getting black flagged.’ So, I mean, you can’t argue with the tower when it comes to stuff like that.
“I just hate it for Dad because I kind of gave him the outside to go get around with [No.] 07, and he did, and I was hoping, because I knew I was faster than [the No.] 07. I knew we’d finished 1-2, and I was going to be okay with that. Good points night, good nothings tore up. And then on that last one, obviously, I was not expecting it.
“They come on the radio and they say [No.] 6 in front of the [No.] 1, and I’m confused. I was like, I didn’t hear that right. I didn’t even say anything back. They were like, ‘no, [No.] 6 in front of the [No.] 1. So I got in front of [No.] 1 and we never looked back. It’s awesome we got the win. I can’t thank everybody enough on the team, and my sponsors, but I feel like this is going to open up a can of worms.”
The circumstances did not take away from the winning feeling, however. Slate had a fast car all race, and this is first win in a 100 lap feature, meaning he has now won a 25, 50, and 100 lap feature at Bowman Gray, all this year as well.
“Yeah, we had a good car,” Slate said. “Actually, when we monster trucked the [No.] 14 down here in [turns] three and four, it bent the tie rod. It bent a lot of right front suspension, and I don’t know how we pulled it off, but we did. So, I’m super stoked.”
Burt was not upset over the situation, but was left confused.
“Well, by the explanation they gave me, they’re right,” Burt said after talking with officials about the situation. “But the explanation that they gave me, I’ve never seen or heard of in my life. So they’re saying that Slate beat me to the line on that start when we were side by side. And when the caution came out, the transponder, his pinged first, which he beat me. I guess he beat me to the line by a foot or something. It couldn’t have been much.
“So they went back to that lap. So when the caution came out and they go back and they look at the sheet, it’s got the [No.] 6 in front of the [No.] 1. So that was their explanation. But I asked, what’s the rule on can P2 beat P1 to the line? And they scratched their heads. And it’s like Jason said, that’s the reason that rule’s in place. If you’re going to have transponders and you’re going to go by that transponder ping at the line, then you cannot allow P2 to beat P1 to the line. Because in no world I’ve ever been involved with is what they did tonight the right way to do it. They’re locked in now. They’re locked in. So this is the way it’s going to be done from here on out in my mind.”
Burt was focused on getting a good entry into turn one on the restart, which is why he didn’t get as big of a jump as Slate did, to give himself the best opportunity to retain the lead through turns one and two. In that aspect, his plan worked perfectly, but if this becomes the precedent, he thinks he’ll have to change his approach now.
‘I tried to get a nice smooth roll because I knew I could roll the bottom in one and two, clear slate off two, and [be] long gone,” Burt said. “And that was my plan. Get a nice smooth roll. Hopefully he gets between me and Tim. But it wasn’t because it was Slate. It’s because I was wanting a car between me and Tim Brown. So the way I timed my start was that I was focused on getting through one and two.But I guess from now on, I better be focused on getting to the line first.”
Burt was not upset at what happened with Slate or the officials, and said even if someone like Tim Brown had benefited from it instead of his son, he wouldn’t have been upset at that either.
“I’m not mad at Slate,” Burt said. “And had it been Tim, I wouldn’t be mad at Tim. It’s just circumstances the way it played out. When that happened, I thought, I’ve never seen this before. We got out of the car and Tim Brown was back there and he agreed with me and said ‘I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. How did this just happen?’ But like I said, if this is the precedent that they set, and this is the way they’re going to do it from here on out, you better make sure you get that guy out of the line every time.”
The family also enjoyed the father-son one-two finish and celebrated. Time will tell now what precedents are set and if Bowman Gray makes any updates or clarifications on rules and regulations surrounding running order and transponders.
The full results can be viewed below.
Modified 100-lap feature Bowman Gray Stadium July 11, 2026
1. 6 Slate Myers 2. 1 Burt Myers 3. 83 Tim Brown 4. 64 Ethan Truell 5. 16 Chris Fleming 6. 69 Brian Loftin 7. 07 Riley Neal 8. 99 Jordan Fleming 9. 51 Junior Snow 10. 9 Kyle Southern 11. 13 Luke Fleming 12. 5 Randy Butner 13. 44 Daniel Beeson 14. 57 Danny Bohn 15. 00 Danny Propst 16. 55 Jeremy Gerstner 17. 71 John Smith 18. 82 Mason Lawson 19. 4 Jason Myers 20. 14 Trey Hutchens 21. 73 Frank Fleming 22. 10 Mike Speeney 23. 39 Gerald Robinson Jr. 24. 47 Jaxson Casper 25. 75 Lee Jeffreys 26. 17 Lonnie Oakley 27. 3 Andrew Harrah
Scotte is from North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, living just a few minutes from the historic North Wilkesboro Speedway. Scotte has raced at local dirt tracks for over six years, as well as covering NASCAR and short track races for over a year now, and has a firey passion for all motorsports, working to achieve a career as a driver.
