Burt Myers scored both the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship and the Bowman-Gray Stadium Modified title in 2016. Photo by Chris Keane/Getty Images for NASCAR
After six years away from championship glory on the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour, Burt Myers returned to the top of the class in 2016.
In a season filled with accolades for the 40-year-old Walnut Cove, North Carolina driver, Myers captured three wins, nine top-fives and 11 top-10 finishes. He also scored two Coors Light Pole Awards over the course of the season, adding to his total (30) as the all-time pole award winner in the history of the Whelen Southern Modified Tour.
Myers took down the victory in the season-opening race at North Carolina’s Caraway Speedway in March, leading 58 laps en route to victory. Then, in the next five races — Myers won two times — including a second trophy at Caraway and a victory at his home track, Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, North Carolina.
He finished the final five races of the season with only one finish outside the top eight. A sixth at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s quarter-mile track clinched his second career championship — six years after his first crown in 2010.
“The consistency that we had was incredible,” Myers said. “I think our worst finish all year was a ninth and that’s probably what sticks out the most. Going into the race at Bowman Gray, we always feel like that’s our home turf. I knew I had a great car, I was sitting there running third and everything just kind of worked out in our favor. It was the pivotal point in our season where I realized the championship was ours to lose.”
Myers was also able to lock up his seventh career NASCAR Whelen All American Series modified division championship at Bowman Gray Stadium.
“Whenever I leave the shop my goal is to win the race but when you step back and see what you did and see that I won three championships this year, it’s special to me,” Myers added. “My name is that is on the championship plaque, but there is so many people behind me that make it possible. My family, my sponsors and everyone that puts everything they have into this. My guys are volunteers and they do it for the passion of the sport.”
“I can’t imagine a race being in my backyard and me sitting at home. We’ve just been so blessed this year to have had a great season.”
Myers believes that his last few years of focus on the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour has helped him as a driver, along with switching to chassis supplier Fury Race Cars, the same organization that supplied the cars for 2016 for Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby.
Myers made the switch to the car in the late stages of 2014 and since then, he has been successful.
“The combination away from Bowman Gray with the Fury Chassis and the new NASCAR spec engine, it just fit my driving style perfectly,” Myers said. “Last year, we had a lack of focus because we were racing so often and we were a little stagnant. The end of 2015 we got our priorities straight and apparently we did the right things this year. We stay going and stay busy all the time and we don’t have a lot of time to reflect on what we do or have done.
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The Fury Race Car has completed what Myers believes is a perfect storm.
“The cars I have driven in the past have been a lot tighter in the center of corner than I had liked,” Myers said. “But the Fury car just fits my style. That was the beginning of what we have come to now.”
As the final champion of the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour before the unification with the Whelen Modified Tour for the 2017 season, the title is bittersweet for the longtime veteran. His family, including brother Jason, has been involved in NASCAR modified racing for years and being the final champion before the merger means a lot to him.
“It’s tough and it’s bittersweet,” Myers said. “I’ve run every race they have ever had with the Southern Tour … unless I was hurt or suspended. The idea of being the last Southern Modified Tour champion has a nice ring to it but it’s also tough.”
Myers, who worked with crew chief Marty Edwards for the first time this season, feels as though Edwards has helped the team tremendously.
“Marty is a good leader, he is good at making sure everyone knows exactly what they are supposed to be doing,” Myers said.
For Edwards, the 2016 season saw a switch from one Myers brother to another. After many years working for Jason Myers, he made the move over to Burt’s team in 2016, and the combination was successful right off the bat.
“The team all came together and focused on winning and finishing races and it was a great team effort this year,” Edwards said. “The Fury Race Car runs good and handles good everywhere we take it. The only thing that falls off during the race is really the tires, it just does so well.”
At this point in the offseason, Myers is unsure of what he has on the horizon for next year, but one thing is for sure – he will be searching to win more races.
“What 2017 will be for us will be evaluating our team, our budget and our resources. Once we do that, we’ll make a decision on where we’re going to be. I can tell you this, though, wherever we end up … we’ll be racing for trophies, you can count on that.”
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