High Point, NC (Thursday, March 15th 2007) - Thursday night I had to chance to sit down and talk with the two combatants from last year's Whelen Southern Modified Tour championship, Junior Miller and Tim Brown. Tim seems refreshed and ready for his up coming modified season even after spending long hours at his "day job" working underneath the Ginn Motorsports' Nextel Cup cars as a suspension specialist. Tim came to our media meeting straight from the shop in his US ARMY T-Shirt while Junior was in one of his NASCAR Champion embroidered button down shirts. It's obvious the two drivers are friends off the track as well as interested in each other's vastly different life styles as conversations over dinner ranged from interesting facts about the "Car of Tomorrow" Tim was working on, to the restaurant Junior owns and operates with his wife, Kim.

Junior looked relaxed after a second hip replacement surgery and seems to be ready to defend his two consecutive titles aboard his Riggs Racing Dodge as well as chasing a possible seventh track championship at Bowman Gray Stadium in Melvin "Puddin'" Swisher's modified. It's also interesting to note that both drivers we spoke with shared a common bond of being six time champions at the only weekly track running modifieds in North Carolina. Tim assured me he would return to the "Madhouse" at least for the first few races of 2007 and would decide where the rest of his schedule would lead him purely based on performance and his partnership with his sponsor, Hayes Jewelers.

Jason Mitchell from NASCAR also confirmed that the Whelen Made in America 300 modified race at Martinsville Speedway will be televised on SPEED Channel again this year, albeit on a tape-delayed basis.

For those of you who may have read my previous article with Burt Myers, you'll will recognize a lot of the questions I asked, simply because I felt they were relevant to the up-coming season for all the Modified drivers and I'll publicly apologize to L.W. Miller for not getting his thoughts before the season gets started March 24th at Caraway. For those of you new to the Southern Modifieds, L.W. is the last S.M.A.R.T. Modified Tour champion from 2004, and after taking the inaugural season off from the Whelen Southern Modified Tour to concentrate on the Hooters Pro Cup Series he came back with a vengeance and dominated the two events at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Virginia and finished third in the points in 2006. L.W. is a name on both drivers’ thoughts tonight when I mentioned who could possibly be a threat for the 2007 title.

I'd also like to take a moment and wish a speedy recovery to my former car owner and good friend Mister David Riggs who recently suffered a heart attack and is recuperating in a Roanoke hospital as of this writing. I would like the entire Riggs team and family to know my thoughts and prayers are with you and I wish David a speedy recovery and hope to see him back at the track as soon as he's able. Had it not been for the Riggs Racing team, I would not be involved in Southern Modified racing in this capacity, today.

With that said, both drivers gave me a brief over view of their 2006 seasons and their expectations for 2007. Thoughts ranged from the up coming WSMT race at Nashville's "Music City Motorplex" to the purse structure at Martinsville and the only "combination" event with the Whelen Modified Tour, to skipping a Saturday night at Bowman Gray Stadium to travel up to Mansfield, Ohio for the August 25th WMT event with the Busch East Series.

What are your thoughts on the 2007 Schedule?

JM: "I haven't really seen it all, I don't think. I'm glad we're going to Nashville and get out a little bit further, some. The car might not like it that much but I like to run bigger race tracks and new race tracks so I hope we can go out there and sit on the pole and win the race."

TB: "I guess I'm biased about it because Caraway's right here in our back yard and that's a pretty cool little race track, but six races there is almost half the schedule. I would have liked to went back to Hickory and liked to go back to Motor Mile and some of those places, you know? I like to travel. I know NASCAR's doing what they have to do to keep the thing going. I can't really say that I agree about going to Nashville. Man, I'd love to go to Nashville, but I just can't agree with going out there to race for two thousand to win. It just don't make sense."

What are your thoughts on Nashville?

TB: "I mean, as a race car driver I love the idea of going to Nashville and getting to race somewhere new and different. But as a car owner also and having to pay the bills, it kind of sucks. I mean, we're losing money before we ever leave the house. I mean, the people that read these interviews are like "Well, quit your whining" and whatnot but it has nothing to do with whining. It's just that this is a business and it's not fun anymore. You know, we have to look at it as a business and it's just not business-smart to drive eight hours and stay three days to race for two thousand to win. Will we do it? Yeah. I mean, I'm pretty sure we'd go race if it paid five hundred to win so, it just wouldn't be real smart business-wise but we're racers and it'll all be fine and it will all work out."

Junior, have you ever been there before? You said earlier you had been there before.

JM: "I've run a Winston Cup car out there in the 70's three or four times and it's been so long I don't remember what it looks like but I do remember that it is a pretty nice race track."

What tracks do you think you'll miss this year?

JM: "To tell you the truth I don't know which ones we are racing at, this year. Are we running Ace? I hate we're missing Hickory because I have the track record down there and we won the race down there pretty easily the last time we were there. Motor Mile you know, I've won races up there but the last two years haven't been too good for us at Motor Mile. We've had little things happen that just are one of those deals but I like running Ace and all of them so I'm glad we're going back to Ace."

TB: "Hickory, Motor Mile. I love Hickory. Motor Mile is an awesome place. I mean, I just like to race different places. I like to race period. Don't get me wrong. Hickory was a neat deal. I thought me and Junior put on a heck of a race there and you know Motor Mile was an awesome deal. We got our butts spanked by L.W. (Miller) but it was still, it was a fun deal. It's got a lot of grip and you can run hard. It was cool. I just want to go racing at all the places they'll let us come to."

Which tracks would you like the Tour to go to?

JM: "I guess Caraway is my favorite. I've probably run 50 races down there. Any time you win on one, that's the one you like. We won three I think down there last year and half of what we won so you know, Caraway is probably my favorite race track."

TB: "I really liked Myrtle Beach. Tri-County is pretty good. I'd like to go maybe to Richmond. Any race track man, I just like to race. As long as it's beneficial to the sport of modified racing, anywhere they want to take us is fine with me within reason. I don't want to be traveling to Florida for two thousand dollars to win. If they could get the purses, if we could go to some bigger venues and get a bigger purse, where it's beneficial I wouldn't mind going where ever. As far as a driver, I'd race anywhere but as a car owner we got to you know, not pick and choose but you know we don't get any input on the schedule. The sponsors and NASCAR mandates and makes the schedule and we just abide by it. I just want to race, man."

What would you say is your best race from last year?

JM: "My best race? I'd say the last race of the year at Kenly, you know? It all come down to being four points behind and I had to beat Tim (Brown) by position. If he run second I had to win the race. So, me and him had a good race and put the hammer down and both of us about lapped the field there, and I guess that's the one that stands out most in my mind more than any of them."

TB: "I don't know. I mean, I ran good a lot last year. If you'd took Junior out from winning six races, all of them would have been pretty good. *laughs* Actually, the race I had the most fun at (pauses) I guess Martinsville would have to be, and I still don't consider that a win but I was competitive with the northern guys and we were fastest in happy hour by NASCAR's timing and not by my stopwatch and that was pretty cool and you know we had a car capable of winning Martinsville. Then the rain came and we had some deal in the pits that hurt us a little and we came back to a good, solid top ten finish with a good, strong race car. I mean we honestly had a shot to win that race and that's pretty stout coming from a southern car, you know what I mean? So yeah definitely, that was pretty good and I enjoyed Greenville-Pickens, I enjoyed Caraway, Hickory. I mean, I liked them all that we run good at. If I had to pick just one race track that I liked, I don't know that I could. I mean, Hickory was a blast, Kenly's fun, Caraway's good. I mean, I just don't know that I could pick one. I just want to race. Heck, I'd race out here in the parking lot, you know?" *laughs*

Junior, would you say that last race at Kenly was one of the best drives of your career?

JM: "I don't know, we had a good time last year. It was as good as it's ever been."

What would you say was your worst race of last year?

JM: "My worst race was at Martinsville when we got in two wrecks in nine laps. We got through the first wreck, then the second wreck was on the ninth lap. The leaders piled in to three or four cars and I got stopped and a car knocked me plum over the top of them and we lost a ton of points there. We had a 110 point lead at that time and we lost about a hundred of them I think there. That was our worst race. It wasn't nothing to do with the car or nothing but we just got in those wrecks and got the car all bent up. It's a super good race car and I would have liked to have been there at the end because I thought we had a good enough car to maybe win the race."

TB: "Let's see. All of them was in the top ten. I finished in the top ten in all of them so, I'm trying to think (pauses) we had one issue where we finished eighth or ninth or something last year where we had a radiator issue or something I ain't exactly sure but I'd have to say that nothing (pauses again) The worst race? I'll tell ya. When that sucker beat me at Kenly because I'd have won the championship and the damn race! *laughs* But, I guess that would have been my worst race. I mean, there really ain't no bad ones. I mean when you're successful and I honestly think if you run in the top ten you're successful, you can't really look back and say you had a bad race when you finish second in the points and you won a race and you finished all the races in the top ten and you didn't tear up nothing. You know what I mean? So, you can't really sit back and say "Oh, I had a bad race." I mean, there were several of them times when I run second to Junior that I could have had a better race if we'd have had an eighth inch less stagger or a stiffer right front or whatever and we could have won, you know what I mean? And you know, I want to apologize to the media because a few times, man I run second to Junior like five races last year or four races or something and the first part of the season, I mean I worked really hard on my stuff through the winter and I expect to win and I'd get out out there on the race track to interview the top three and I wouldn't be real happy about running second. It ain't going to be like that this year. I'm going to be happy just to finish. Especially if you're in the top three and they get to talk to you. You've got to be pretty pleased. I'm a very sore loser. I hate to lose because I want to win all of them but, that ain't going to happen. I mean, he (Junior) had a phenomenal year and won almost half the races we'd run and I don't think that'll happen this year. I mean, somebody might win six but I don't think so. If they do, I hope it's me. But, I can't say I really had any bad races last year."

What are your plans or goals for 2007?

JM: "I'm going to drive the Riggs' car for the whole Whelen Tour and hope we go sit on the pole and win every race. That's what we set out to do, you know? And at Bowman Gray Stadium we're going to drive the fifty three car for Puddin' Swisher."

Since NASCAR has stepped in and taken over the Southern Tour, do you feel NASCAR is doing a good job and do you think Southern Modified Racing is heading in the right direction?

JM: "Oh yeah, these young guys ought to stand up and get themselves a good race car and come on and go racing because I've won a lot of championships but ain't none of them ever sent me to New York like NASCAR has. The last two years I've been to New York and up there they "wined and dined" us with limousines and the finest food you can eat and put us up for three days. I mean, that's a whole lot right there you know? NASCAR's brought it a long ways and I feel sure they'll take it further."

TB: "I think so. I mean two years is really not enough to see a change. Whelen seems to have a pretty good commitment to it and that's huge. So, can it survive if Whelen and NASCAR stays behind it, it can only grow and get better. Yeah, I mean I think you could have a bright future. Especially if we could get some TV races and get the general public aware of what modified racing is all about, then when we come to those venues we'd have more people in the stands. Because I honestly feel that we put on as good of a show as you'll see anywhere at a local short track, period. Hands down."

Is the Tour what you expected it to be after NASCAR got involved?

JM: "Yeah, its real good but these cars need a little bit more help money-wise. They told us one time they were going to have some better purses and I hadn't seen that yet. We've had better point money but as far as purses, we hadn't seen that. I feel sure NASCAR will bring it along in the next year or so. They need to because it's hard on the car owners for the purses we're running for."

TB: "It is and it ain't. As far as the "is" side, we get a lot of press, a lot of publicity that we didn't get when we run it ourselves or S.M.A.R.T. or however you want to go about it. So it is that and it's good on that side. As far as the bad side of it, we're still racing for chump change and the point fund is not what it should be for what we're doing. But, I'm not complaining because I decide to run this deal but it could be better. The thing that really aggravates us is when we go to Martinsville, those guys don't do any different than what we do and they get paid three times what we get paid. That's not right and NASCAR's the one that mandates that and I don't know what we have to do to get to that level. Maybe it will, maybe it won't but I'll be here for the long haul if NASCAR comes or NASCAR goes I'm still going to race modifieds because that's all I can afford to do. My sponsors like modified racing, I like my sponsors so, we're here for the long haul. If NASCAR stays, great. If NASCAR leaves and we run ASA or S.M.A.R.T. or whatever, I want to race. So, I'm not bad-mouthing NASCAR. I'm glad they took it over and I feel like NASCAR's doing a good job, I just think they could do better. Not any harsh words or no way shape or form of what they're doing. I think they've helped us as far as publicity and able to get sponsors and they're telling us we got some TV races now and thing like that which is super and maybe we're heading in the right direction. And it's still new, I mean this is only the second year of it."

Are there any suggestions you would make, to make the Tour better?

JM: "They got good racing, they just need a few more cars at some places. Some places they got thirty, or thirty two and at some places they had fifteen you know? They need a good twenty five car count everywhere we go and help the purse a little bit is all I can say. They're doing a good job, I think."

TB: "I mean, I'm a race car driver. I'm not a politician. I'm a business man and I own my own stuff but as far as promoting a race or setting a schedule, I don't know. I would just, I would like to race for more money and a bigger point fund and that would make it better and I'm pretty sure that NASCAR's probably doing all they can to see that happens for us. I sure hope they are."

Who do you think will be your toughest competition this year?

JM: "Probably the same ones, you know? Tim Brown, Myers, and L.W. Miller I'd say are the top three, you know? But the Riggs bring us a good race car and I think we'll be as good as anybody and we're going to try and go do it again."

TB: "Myself. Because I honestly feel like we have the equipment that we can win the race with if I don't beat myself and what I mean by that is, is by burning the right rear off or tear the tires up before ten to go and I think we'll be okay. I know that L.W. Miller and Junior Miller and Burt Myers and Brian King and Brian Loftin and Michael Clifton and you know, the fifteen top guys I don't want to leave anybody out and piss anybody off but any modified that pulls in there could possibly win that show so I don't want to just pick one guy out and say I mean, Junior's track record there is pretty stout so if I had to pick one, I'd say Junior's pretty tough but I know L.W.'s going to be stout and so is Burt and all those guys so just to be fair to everybody I'll just say myself and hopefully, we don't beat ourselves."

Do you have any new cars or new equipment? Any new crew members?

JM: "Nah, we're all just about the same, I guess you know? I guess David's (Riggs) is sick in the hospital. I hope he gets along all right and have him back with us maybe by the middle of the season. He's had that triple by-pass and he's probably put up for the first half of the season so maybe he'll get to feeling better and come back and help us for the back for the last half."

TB: "I got a brand new car and a new motor. So, yeah we've got some new equipment. We've got a new crew chief in Phil Moran. He's won a championship up north with Todd Szegedy for the Whelen Tour so, yeah we're pretty excited and not a lot of people know that so that's pretty big news. That's pretty big and I think that'll help us."

What are your thoughts on combination races with the Northern Tour, do you like them or dread them?

JM: "I really enjoy racing with them, you know? They race like I do, you know? You can rub on somebody and go on, or they rub on you and you go on. They believe in bumping and going. Some of these southern guys, if you touch them they think a bomb's going off you know? I like racing with them northern boys, they grind and go."

TB: "I mean, I love the chance to race with those guys but I absolutely hate the way that we have to do it. The Martinsville race should be a race to where you could go and race if you want to but it's not a point deal. Not for my sake because I love to race with those guys and I feel like we've got the equipment to race with them. But there are teams that race the Whelen Southern Modified Tour that can't afford to have to be forced to go to Martinsville and race a race that cost you five thousand dollars to run. Then we suffer the rest of the year because they're out of money and now the second race on the schedule we go to Nashville and it's the same thing. Its five grand to go run that race then the next weekend we go to Greenville-Pickens which is going to cost you three grand to go run that one so there's the general race team for the south, that's half their sponsorship money gone in the first three weeks. But, I would like to get the free tires that they get and race for the purse that they're racing for week in and week out. I love the opportunity to get to race with them, I just wish it wasn't a point mandated deal. You know what I mean? And I'd like to be treated like a respectable modified team when we roll in there and not like a field filler you know? That's just (pauses) It's getting better, I mean last year was better than the first year and I expect this year to be better than last year so, the more that we get to run with these guys like the North South Shootout, the Meltdown, the Martinsville deal, we get to know some of them and we can race better with them and I think it's just getting better and four years from now we might think that's the best race on the circuit."

With the North Tour racing at Mansfield on August 25th, would you skip a Saturday night at the Stadium to go race with them?

JM: "Probably not. If David and them decide they want to go, we probably would but I don't think they want to take those long-distance trips up there any more. We'll probably be running on Saturday night up at the Stadium."

TB: "When's the first race at the Stadium? (April 28th) We're going to the Tucson 200 at the Stadium and see how competitive we are and if we run good in that race, we'll go back for the 25 lappers and we're just going to play it by ear. I mean, I would love to sit here and tell you that I'm dedicated to (pauses) I want to win championships. You know, Junior and me are tied with six over there and I'd like to beat that record. I'd like to break Ralph's (Brinkley) record but I'm pretty dad burn fed up with the draw deal. It costs a lot of money to run these cars and it ain't right. But on the same hand, I've won six championships and all six of them has been with the draw deal so, I had a bad year last year and the draw was a good excuse to just say the heck with it, you know what I mean? It wasn't all the draw, it was a lot of the stuff that went on over there but that was the biggest thorn in my side so, I've got a new outlook on it. We're going back over there to be competitive and we'll just play it by ear and see how it goes. I think that would answer the question because if we're competitive and we're running good then no I wouldn't. But if we're not competitive and we're not running good, then yes I would. So, I just have to wait and see. It's a day by day, race by race deal. I'm committed to run good. Whether it be the Stadium or the Tour, I just want to run good and if luck is on our side and we're at the Stadium and we're haulin' ass and we're running good, I'll be there all year. But if we go to the first race and they wear me out, and we go back the second week and they wear me out and we go back the third week and I draw 24th then you ain't gonna see me much. You know what I mean? And I say that but Bruce Hayes is a partner more than a sponsor to my deal. He's been like a daddy to me and I talk to Bruce about every move that I make. If Bruce Hayes wants to go to the Stadium, we'll race the Stadium. It's that simple. I mean, if I have to start 24th and he wanted me there, I'd be at the Stadium racing. And that's what it's all about. My job is to keep Bruce Hayes and Zack Hayes happy, keep a nice looking race car for them, try to do a good gob with the press and the media for Hayes Jewelers and win races. I'm pretty sure that we'll run decent where ever we go and I think I can do a good job with the PR stuff so if the wins come, then I'll be happy. But it ain't all about one specific thing when you're having a bad year and you get a bad taste in your mouth and we hurt a couple motors last year and Earl Baker wrecked me and bent the car really bad and we were drawing dead last after sitting on the pole and I mean, you just can't take but so much. Once you get so far behind in the points, there's no reason to.....I mean unless you just want to win and don't get me wrong I want to win but it's got to be worth it. I mean to just go to the Stadium and win a 25 lapper and win 600 dollars, it ain't worth it. To win the 600 dollars and move you back into contention for the championship that pays the money, then it's worth it. So, once you've had a bad enough season to where you've dug yourself a hole that you can't get out of, you're kind of wasting your money. So, I've pulled back and said "Okay, we'll focus on the Tour" and I think it showed. I mean we came out after the July break and we hauled ass and I'm hoping we can keep that momentum up through the Stadium and the Tour this year and be competitive in both places. We're just going to play it by ear and see and I'll sit here and tell you right now it's all about Bruce Hayes and Hayes Jewelers and our on track performance. If we go to the Tour and we run 15th the first race, and we go to Nashville and run 10th and then we go to Greenville and run 15th you won't see me on the Tour much because we have to perform in order to keep doing it. That's the bad thing, but then it's a good thing because you have to work hard to be able to perform so you can keep doing it. So, it's a growing deal and you just have to do it. I mean I wish I was financially set to where it wouldn't matter where you start or where you finish, you just go race and have fun. But it's not that way. And Hayes helps me out enough to where we can make it, and that's all you can ask. I mean it's great but you also have to also make it worth your while to put that effort out there, too."

Junior, Are these two championships with NASCAR your biggest career accomplishment?

JM: "Yeah, I guess they are. All those other championships are great and this made us up to fifteen this year. What tickled me as much as anything was setting the all-time win record at Bowman Gray Stadium when we ended up with sixty-seven wins over there. That's what we set out to do last year and we did that and then the next goal was to win two championships and we did that. We had a real good year and had two good race cars and had real good crews on both cars so if we can do that again, I'd be tickled again."

Junior, would you say last year was the best year of your modified career?

JM: "Well, we won eleven races last year and I've won twelve. It's as good as any I've ever had. We've won both championships I think four different times but last year was as good as any, I'd say."

With the recent ground breaking for the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, what would it mean to Junior Miller personally to be inducted there?

JM: "I think that'd probably be the biggest thing in my life, I guess besides being saved. That was the biggest thing in my life. It would be an honor to be there. We got voted last year for the all-time top 25 drivers and that tickled me a whole lot so you know, if I keep going and doing good they might put us there before it's over with."

Finally, what would you tell your fans going into 2007 that they can look forward to?

JM: "All I can say is we're going to try and do the same thing in the Whelen car and we're going to have a good race car and we're going to stand on it in every race and try to win them all. And at Bowman Gray Stadium they're going to have to be looking for a red 53 because that's what I'm going to be in at Bowman Gray."

TB: "I want our fans to be behind us. I got some flack last year for dropping out from the Stadium but a lot of the fans didn't understand it's a financial strain when you're not running good, you know what I mean? And you can't keep digging yourself a hole, in a hole, in a hole and I think I've gained some fans by getting away from the Stadium and proving to some fans that I can run these other tracks as well as we run the Stadium. So, to my fans that are true Tim Brown die hard fans just stick behind me and I think we'll be all right."

A quick call to Bill Davis Racing in High Point verified the former Whelen Modified Tour championship crew chief Phil Moran would be joining the Hayes Jewelers team on weekends on the Tour and at Bowman Gray Stadium. "Tim came over to me when he was struggling with the tires at Martinsville and we helped him out a little. We were parked next to each other and sort of helped him figure the tires out and it just happened to work out that I won't be traveling on the weekends with this deal with BDR. So, he called me and we put something together." So with another top five driver gaining a new crew chief, the guns are fully loaded and looking to take Jeff Riggs' place at the top of the Whelen Southern Modified Tour crew chief championship title.

Personally, I think this bodes well for the Southern Tour as the influx of new thoughts and ideas will further bridge the gap that many fans feel there is between the north and the south. Moran will have to adjust his race strategies as the WSMT teams are not allowed to take on tires where as Riggs and Scott Widener (Burt Myers' new crew chief) already have a firm grasp on the abrasive, worn out race tracks that the WSMT visits.

March 24th is now less than a week away and Mod Series Scene will be at every WSMT event in 2007 bringing you the latest from each event with live updates and full post race reports and stories. Can Junior Miller reclaim his spot at the number one position on top of the WSMT leader board? Or will Matt Hirschman, Chuck Hossfeld or Ted Christopher swoop in and take the trophy and the glory of being the second northern driver to win the season opening event in the Whelen Southern Modified Tour? Christopher has won the opener two seasons in a row in two different cars for Roger Hill and Joe Brady and looks to be returning in Brady's mount again, this year. Hossfeld has also shown promise and pace in his Coors Light, Hillbilly Racing Pontiac when he's entered WSMT events in the past. Look for the Hill's to attend as many non-conflicting dates with Hossfeld at the controls of their beautifully prepared number 79 cars on the 2007 WSMT schedule. Matt Hirschman is also rumored to be entered in the event as well and as the hottest modified driver at the end of 2006, he'll be looking to continue the hot streak he was on below the Mason-Dixon Line and take home another modified victory.