With two races remaining in the SMART Modified Tour season to determine the 2024 series champion, Burt Myers is facing a “must win” situation entering the 99-lap SMART Modified Tour race that headlines the Hitachi Energy Power Up Race Day event on Saturday afternoon, October 12 at South Boston Speedway.
The tour champion will be determined from among the top five drivers in the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic point standings entering the October 12 event at South Boston Speedway. That event will determine the SMART 3 (drivers) who will compete for the championship in the season finale at North Wilkesboro Speedway in North Carolina, on Saturday, October 19.
The two playoff drivers with the least amount of points after South Boston Speedway’s October 12 Hitachi Energy Power Up Race Day event will be eliminated, unless that driver happens to be the winner of either race, who would automatically qualify as one of the SMART 3 in the season finale at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Should the winner of either event happen to have the lowest point total of the playoff contenders, the next lowest drivers in points would be eliminated.
Myers stands fifth in the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic point standings, 64 points behind tour leader Carson Loftin, and 36 points behind third-place driver Danny Bohn. The only way Myers can advance in the playoffs is to win the 99-lap race for the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic on October 12 at South Boston Speedway.
“On paper it’s a “must win” race, but we’re not putting any extra pressure on ourselves because our plan is to come and try to win the race at South Boston Speedway anyway,” Myers pointed out. “It really doesn’t change anything as far as pressure or anything like that. We put enough pressure on ourselves to try to go win to start with.”
Myers has had a good 2024 season, having won his 11th career NASCAR Modified Division championship at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Walnut Cove, North Carolina resident has been among the frontrunners on the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic all season and has recorded five Top-5 finishes and seven Top-10 finishes in his 12 starts.
Among the five drivers that will battle it out for the series championship Myers has the most laps and most experience at South Boston Speedway, something that gives him confidence entering the event.
“I feel like I’ve probably got as many laps there as most of the people that are coming,” Myers pointed out.
“We have plenty of confidence. It’s just about going up there, executing and doing everything we can to try to win the race.”
Myers will be searching for his first career South Boston Speedway victory in the 99-lap SMART Modified Tour race on Saturday afternoon, October 12.
“It would mean a lot to win there as long as we’ve been coming there and my family has been going there,” Myers remarked. “My dad’s won a race there. To win at South Boston is always something that is pretty special.”
Not only is the October 12 Hitachi Energy Power Up Race Day event a big one for Myers in his attempt to win the series championship, it will also be a big family day. Myers’ 15-year-old son, Slate Myers, will be competing in the race, as is his brother, Jason Myers, a veteran driver on the SMART Modified Tour.
“Slate is going to make his first start at South Boston Speedway on the SMART Tour when we come up there,” Myers said. “I raced with him all year at Bowman Gray Stadium, and he raced at Caraway Speedway a few weeks back in his SMART Tour debut. I grew up racing with my dad and racing with my brother. It is cool to know your son is out there racing with you.”
In addition to the 99-lap race for the stars and cars of the SMART Modified Tour powered by Pace-O-Matic, South Boston Speedway will host its first-ever race for the STAR Super Stock Tour, the Southeast’s Premier Super Stock Tour. The drivers and teams of the STAR Super Stock Tour will compete in a 50-lap, $1,000-to-win feature. A 25-lap race for the Southern Ground Pounders Vintage Racing Club will round out the afternoon’s racing action.
Advance tickets for the Hitachi Energy Power Up Race Day event on Saturday afternoon, October 12 are on sale and are priced at $17 each. Advance tickets may be purchased online on South Boston Speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com or by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours.
Tickets at the gate on race day will be $20 each. Seniors ages 65 and older, military, healthcare workers, and students (with ID) can purchase tickets for $17 each at the gate on race day.
The event schedule for the Saturday, October 12 Hitachi Energy Power Up Race Day event has frontstretch grandstand gates opening at 9 a.m. Qualifying will begin at 11:15 a.m., pre-race ceremonies will start at 1:30 p.m. and the first race of the afternoon will get the green flag at 2 p.m.
Information about the October 12 Hitachi Energy Power Up Race Day event at South Boston Speedway and all of the speedway’s events can be found on the speedway’s website, www.southbostonspeedway.com, by calling the speedway office at 434-572-4947 or toll free at 1-877-440-1540 during regular business hours, and through the track’s social media channels.
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