Ward takes advantage of Myers' misfortune to win at Bowman Gray

WINSTON-SALEM — It looked for much of the race that Brandon Ward was going to finish runner-up in the Market 100 Saturday night at Bowman Gray Stadium, but he was able to withstand all the challenges to pick up the win.

Ward started fourth in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series 100-lap race, but he slowly inched his way to the top two with both Burt Myers and Danny Bohn. Myers, who sat on the pole after the full-field redraw had his brand-new transmission break on lap 74. Ward passed Myers, but he still had to fight off a late charge from Bohn.

“There at the beginning (I) was just trying to save all we could, maintain track position to try to have some rear tire left for late in the race,” Ward said. “And I’m glad I did because Danny was really good there at the end. I needed about three laps to get going. My car just kept getting better and better the longer we’d go.”

There were also nine cautions the drivers had to face.

“Those cautions were killing me,” Ward said. “I didn’t want to see ‘em. But you never do when you’re the leader. But tonight, like I said, my car was really good on the long runs.”

With 10 laps remaining, just after a double-file restart, Ward remained in the lead, but Bohn slipped past him on turn 2 of lap 90. However, Ward regained the lead on turn 3 and remained in the lead the rest of the way.

“I’ll tell you, that’s what Danny and I were just talking about. That’s as hard as you can race each other without just running over each other around a football field, man,” Ward said. “He gave me a shot getting into 3, when I got him cleared on that restart, which he’s supposed to do late in the race. He got me knocked up in the race track. He drove under me. I was able to cross back over and behind him and get back to him in the exact same spot the next lap.”

It was a cat-and-mouse game between Ward and Bohn.

“It looked like we were about equal,” Bohn said. “I go up far enough where I thought I could’ve got him. Then he ran me way up the race track, then in 3 pushed him up, passed him, and then he returned the favor. So, I mean it’s hard racing.”

“If I had a little bit of a better car there at the end, I probably could’ve beat him, but we just missed it a little bit tonight,” Bohn said. “We don’t run every week, so it’s tough to chase the track. The track was hot, and anytime you come out here in the top three you had a good night.”

Myers, who started the race as the points leader, qualified second behind Tim Brown, but Myers started on the pole after the full-field redraw. Myers dominated for the first 74 laps, including the double-file restarts. However, his car stalled shortly after one pivotal restart.

“We’re out there making laps and I felt something hit my forearm,” Myers said. “And my shifter was flopping. But I was in high gear. So, I thought, well I’ve got control of the race. I’ll just take off in high gear, we’ll be fine. Never had this happen. It popped out of high into low on that one restart.

“And that’s when I slowed down. So, we came in, jacked it up, knocked it back to neutral up under the car, bumped it back into high. I go out, missed a wreck, get the Lucky Dog (pass) and then it popped into neutral. So, like we said, you ride the train as long as you can because it derails eventually.”

He finished 15th.

“We were really good,” he said. “We were making laps. We weren’t pushing hard. We were just making laps, and I knew Brandon was content to try to race for restarts because he was just trying to get in line behind us.”

Ward was side-by-side with Myers on the restart before Myers’ transmission broke.

“I’ll be honest with you, man, you never want to see anybody break,” Ward said. “I never want to see people have bad luck. I want us to race hard to the very end. But I know what that’s like. I had bad luck last week. So, definitely didn’t want to see it for him. It would’ve been cool to come down and it be a three-car race for the end between Burt, myself, and Danny. And I think that’s what we would’ve had.”

One other fan-favorite aspect of the race was the $6,000 Fans’ Challenge, which meant that the top four qualifiers — Brown, Myers, Mike Speeney, and Jason Myers — had the option to go to the back of the field before the full-field redraw was finalized. If any or all of the drivers who elected to go to the rear had finished in the top four, they would’ve won the $6,000 prize pool.

Speeney and Jason Myers were the only two drivers who elected to take the Challenge, but although both pushed for a chance at the end, Jason Myers finished fifth and Speeney finished 10th.

After Ward and Bohn, Chris Fleming was third, and John Holleman IV was fourth.

“All in all, just awesome night. Another win on the season. That’s three this year, so to come off a championship season and have three wins, I’m real proud of this team and their effort and all their hard work,” said Ward.

Nate Gregg picked up his first win of the season and the second of his Law Offices of John Barrow Sportsman Series career Saturday night with a victory in the first 20-lap race.

Gregg passed Brandon Brendle for first with four laps to go and carried that to the win.

Zack Ore, who passed Brendle on the final lap, finished runner-up, Brendle was third, Chase Robertson was fourth, and Dylan Ward was fifth.

In the second 20-lap Sportsman race, Tommy Neal won and picked up his 58th career win. Michael Adams was second, Connor Branch was third, Sterling Plemmons was fourth, and Ward was fifth.

Andy Southern withstood seven caution flags to win the QRC HVAC & Refrigeration Street Stock Series race, picking up his second consecutive victory.

The race was scheduled for 20 laps, but it was shortened to 18 because of time.

Southern, who was running second, took the lead on lap 14 after bumping leader Brad Lewis. It was Southern’s third win of the season.

“That deal with Brad, I got into him and I don’t know if he locked the brakes. That was not intentional,” Southern said.

Austin Jones finished runner-up, followed by Christian Joyce. Zack Staley was fourth, and Craig Hartless was fifth.

Tyler McDonald won the 15-lap race in the Q104.1 Stadium Stock Series.

It was his second win of the season and sixth of his career.

The race had its fair share of cautions. It all started with a caution on lap 1 when Victor Flores landed on the hood of Chuck Wall’s car.

“That was a good race right there,” McDonald said.

It also helped McDonald in the points race. McDonald started the race in second place behind leader A.J Sanders. “We’ve just got to keep hacking away at it and see if we can stay up here,” McDonald said.

Grayson Keaton finished runner-up, followed by Sanders, Wall, and Brad Mickalowski.

Next week is the final week before the annual Fourth of July break. The featured race next week is the Peanut Patch Sportsman 100, which is a 100-lap race in the Law Offices of John Barrow Sportsman Series. The double-file restart cone will be in place.

In addition to the 100-lap Sportsman race, there will be twin 25-lap races in the Brad’s Golf Cars Modified Series, a 20-lap race in the QRC HVAC & Refrigeration Street Stock Series, and one or two 15-lap races in the Q104.1 Stadium Stock Series.

Plus there will be a Fire in the Sky nighttime pyrotechnic parachute jump to kick off the Fourth of July holiday. The night will conclude with the wild and crazy Midway Mobile Storage race.