Burt and Jason Meyers
He’s one of the most aggressive and also is one of the winningest drivers at the popular 1/4 mile asphalt track.
Once he gets behind the wheel, the Walnut Cove native doesn’t particularly care about any of the other modified drivers trying as hard as they can to beat him.
With one exception – his younger brother Jason.
Rarely have the two drivers actually ever run into each other at Bowman Gray, but despite having different race teams, the Myers do keep up with each other on the track.
“I’m constantly asking them on the radio ‘How’s Jason doing?’ and ‘Where’s he at?’” Burt Myers said. “He’s the only one I really care to keep tabs on. Everybody else to me is just another number.”
Jason Myers added: “When you are racing you are not really that worried about it, but under caution you are like, ‘Where’s Burt,’ or ‘How’s he running?’ You are always keeping the eye on the other one.”
The Myers brothers, along with drivers Tim Brown, Chris Fleming and Junior Miller, have been in the glare of the spotlight since January.
All have been profiled in “Madhouse,” a reality show airing on the History Channel that follows the lives of drivers and the racing experience at Bowman Gray.
It’s been a rare glimpse for die-hard fans into the personal lives of the best local racers in the area.
According to Myers, who went to work to run a race car at age 16, it’s been an accurate depiction as well.
“There has been lots of anticipation since the television show,” Burt Myers said. “What you see with Madhouse is what you get. It’s been right on the money. The fans, the drivers and the passion.
“With the TV show, it’s kind of opened the doors to our personal lives along with our racing lives. Jason and myself both are real people. We are not fake. We don’t try and put on a show. We basically tell it like it is.”
Jason Myers said a lot of people who disliked the Myers have since changed their perspective since the show.
“The way they portray the characters on the show is pretty much on the money,” Jason Myers said. “I hope they pick up a Season 2. It’s fun to watch.”
The 2010 season gets under way at Bowman Gray April 24. According to the track’s Web site, it’s the longest running weekly track in all of NASCAR.
Racing has run deep in the Myers’ blood for years.
Jason and Burt learned from their dad, Gary Myers, one of the most successful modified drivers ever to run at the stadium.
“I’ve got pictures of myself when I was 5 years old running barefoot around the race shop,” Burt Myers said. “I never said, if I race, I always said when I race.
“It’s what has kept our family together. Our wives support us. Everybody is behind us 100 percent. We take it very seriously, but we also try to have a good time, too.”
Burt Myers is regularly at or near the top of the points standings. He’s already won three modified championships at Bowman Gray. Myers won four of the last six races in 2009.
Brown, of Cana, Va., is also one of the guys to beat.
Then there’s the much-talked about “rivalry” with the veteran Miller, who is known as “The King of the Modifieds” at Bowman Gray.
The racing war between the two has been shown during the Madhouse series.
Myers downplayed talk of the two being big rivals.
“It’s funny because anymore with Junior we are dodging his bullets more than we are trying to beat him,” Burt Myers said.
“It’s Junior against the Myers family pretty much,” Jason Myers said.
Jason Myers said he expects more than 17,000 fans to pack the stands for the season opener and he added that a great driver, fast car and a little bit of luck are key to being successful at the stadium.
“To win at Bowman Gray, all the stars have to line up,” Jason Myers said.
“Everybody is right there on top of the racetrack. Even when you are racing you can tell what the fans are doing, especially under caution. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been racing and Burt and Junior get into it and you can actually hear the crowd getting louder over the engine running.”
Jason Myers had a minor spinout in Atlanta and crashed at South Boston Speedway during the Whelen Southern Modified Tour last month, but he expects to be ready to go at the end of April.
He and Burt haven’t had any incidents with each other on the racetrack in a while.
“We had a little mishap years ago his rookie season at Caraway Speedway down in Asheboro but so far at Bowman Gray everything has been pretty clean,” Burt Myers said. “We’ve been doing some beating and banging with other people but not with each other yet.”
“We had a couple minor things,” Jason Myers said. “I don’t know but maybe once or twice at other race tracks have we ever been fighting for the win neck and neck. Usually one of us is having bad luck when the other one is running good.”
The two drivers have very different racing styles.
“I think it’s easy to say I’m probably more aggressive that Jason is,” Burt Myers said. “Jason is a really smooth driver. Jason’s setup doesn’t particularly work for me and mine doesn’t work for him. If one of us is struggling and the other one is doing something that seems to be working, we’ll share ideas.”
Burt Myers had lots of momentum at the end of last season and is gunning for a championship in 2010.
Burt began racing modifieds in 1996 and Jason in 2003. Both have different race teams but run out of the same shop in Walnut Cove.
The two brothers do look out for each other.
“Like Jason has said in the past, the only friends you have with you at Bowman Gray are the friends that ride with you,” Burt Myers said. “It just so happens that we all ride over together. When we were growing up, I felt like I could pick on Jason, but if somebody else did they were in for it.”
Jason Myers said his older brother is often misunderstood.
“He’s probably a whole lot nicer guy than people give him credit for,” he said.
“Burt has kind of had a bad reputation over the years for spinning some cars out and getting into it with some cars. I guess you can say I’m a Burt Myers fan. I don’t think Burt has ever spun somebody out that he wasn’t faster than and needed to get around them.”
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