Winston-Salem, NC - Some drivers and teams dread it, while others look forward to it. The only two day show on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour is this weekend at Bowman Gray Stadium for the Advance Auto Parts 199.

Bowman Gray Stadium is the only Whelen All American Series track in the south running the modifieds on a weekly basis and the stadium and its fans are preparing to see big time modified racing in its only visit to BGS this year. Many drivers who race at the stadium during the summer also race on the Whelen Southern Modified Tour and some feel as though the laps of competition and qualifying give them a slight edge over the other drivers who only visit the venue for the once a year tour event.

Walnut Cove, North Carolina's Burt Myers is the current point leader in the GMAC Personal Pit Crew Modifieds at Bowman Gray. The weekly modifieds will run a 50 lap feature on Friday night after Whelen Southern Modified Tour Qualifying. "We're looking forward to it" commented Myers after the drivers meeting last Saturday night. "We consider this our home track pretty much, because we've run here for so long and we run here so often. You know last year is behind us and we're looking at this year and hope to keep the good season going that we got going now."

Myers suffered from a lap one, first turn incident in last year's tour event which took him out of contention early, only to see his brother Jason take home the victory. Burt considered it one of his worst races of the 2006 campaign.

Jason Myers on the other hand, has been saving his equipment for the latter stages of the 2007 tour and hopes that strategy will pay off starting this weekend. "I think not racing over here all year and not wearing a lot of laps on the motor and the car, I think our equipment is better right now than it would be if we had been running all year so, I'm kinda taking that into the big race. You run all year and you put 1500 to 2000 laps on your motor and then they usually need freshening up, so maybe we'll have enough race car so everything will be all right."

Defending Whelen Southern Modified Tour Champion Junior Miller hasn't had an outstanding season behind the wheel of Melvin "Puddin'" Swisher's cars, but recently led all 25 laps from the pole to gather his first win of 2007. Miller will return to run both races this weekend while jumping from Swisher's car to the Riggs Racing, Advance Auto Parts Dodge for the 199. "We're ready to go see what we got. This is one of the most important races. You know all of them are important when you're running for points. You've got to be there at all of them but with Advance Auto Parts sponsoring it, it's the most important race for us. We need to come over here and see if we can win this one for them."

Advance Auto Parts Motorsports Director Mike Paris informed me that the 199 is the hottest ticket among his customers and clients. "We've sponsored races at Martinsville with the NEXTEL Cup Series and modified races at Martinsville in the past. Our customers and clients love the modifieds. We'll have over 200 people to entertain over the course of the two day event."

With the stadium being the "home track" to a majority of the WSMT teams and drivers, many others have taken advantage of the opportunity to help promote the tour and their sponsors at the Bowman Gray event. Bobby Hutchen's sponsors took advantage of that last year. Unfortunately, those plans are on hold until the health of one of his sponsor's improves. "Unfortunately one of our sponsors is battling cancer right now and we're kind of holding off until he gets to feeling a little bit better. We're going to have a little something later on in the year. Last year we had a big day with TrimUSA and Motorsports Designs Employee Appreciation night and we had about 150 people here from those two companies and that was pretty nice to have them all out and cheering."

Hutchens is looking forward to running both nights with his Chick-Fil-A sponsored modified. "We won and finished third last year in the two races so we're hoping maybe we can rebound. We've had a couple bad weeks here and maybe we can pull that Whelen race out next week. That'd be kind of special."

But for all the drivers who run every week at BGS, there's a few "outsiders" who infiltrate and steal the spotlight away from the WSMT regulars when the tour comes to the stadium. Lee Jeffreys just about stole the show last year at the wheel of his father Robert's Phoenix Packaging, Skinner Warehousing #75 machine. Jeffreys led handily over the rest of the field before a motor issue ruined his chances at the victory. Randy Butner is fresh off a win last Saturday night at the wheel of his RAM Fabrication Chevrolet. "Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. (WSMT event at Bowman Gray) I've just got a little conflict if I've got to be at two race tracks at the same time on Friday night so we don't know how we're going to do that and the logistics of getting that job done." When I asked Butner about the other tour drivers who don't run the Stadium on a weekly basis, he commented with "It seems like they're closing that gap up now. Those guys are getting really tough over here. They're a good bunch of racers, they know how to race and it don't take them long to figure it out."

Butner is also racing for a point championship at Ace Speedway on Friday nights. Another Ace Speedway driver who's made grand strides on the tour is Brian King. King is looking forward to returning to BGS for the Advance Auto Parts 199. "We came and tested last Saturday and we're a lot better this year at knowing what we need when we do come here because last year it was a pretty big surprise. You don't really know what to expect until you get here and it's like nothing nowhere else you go to and nobody would really.....As a matter of fact, I would ask people you know, and they'd all be like "Oh, it's different" and they'd tell me all this stuff and I'd ask them "Well, what do I need to look for?" and all they would say is "You'll see." So, I got to race last year and I did finished eighth and I got to run the whole race. So I learned a lot and I learned what I needed to change or at least the direction I needed to go. I wasn't the fastest car the other week but I was a couple tenths off of (Bobby) Hutchens and Randy (Butner) and all that so I felt pretty good about it and that was our first day back here, so we're going to make some changes and I really expect to do pretty good. The goal is I'd like to qualify in the top six or eight, get in the draw and then it's just ride and just try to survive. I've just go to time in good on Friday, get a good starting spot and then just ride for a while and just see what works out because last year I had my toe knocked way off, the sway bar was loaded, horns were bent and still nobody could pass me. So really, it's all about Friday night."

The biggest mystery just might be the current WSMT point leader, L.W. Miller. Miller doesn't think he'll be the dominant car this weekend, but is confident that he can run with the BGS regulars. "Yeah. I'm definitely at a disadvantage to them but it's a disadvantage that they deserve to have an advantage and they run there every week. I mean, they deserve to go to Bowman Gray and they.......You know Burt Myers for instance has probably, he's probably more excited about Bowman Gray than a lot of the races he's going to go to all year because it's his home track and he deserves to have that privilege because he goes there and races every week. We choose not to race there every week, so therefore we're a little bit at a disadvantage but, I'll take my pill and swallow it because that's just the way it is. So I mean, yeah when it's all been said and done I can still run with them. I mean, I went there last year and proved I can there and run well so I don't think I'm going to be the car to beat there and I imagine Burt Myers or Tim Brown are probably saying they're going to be the cars to beat but, by all means I feel that come the end of the night, I can be there."

When I asked Miller about the impending date and keeping his grasp on the WSMT point lead, he added "I don't dread going to Bowman Gray but when you're racing for points it's a little bit.......yeah it's on my mind. I look at it as a hurdle in our season. Once we get over this hurdle then we go back to normal racing. Actually two hurdles we have on this tour and that begins at Bowman Gray and through Martinsville then we go back to normal racing. So, am I looking forward to it? Yeah, I'm looking forward to going to Bowman Gray and racing then going on with the rest of the season. Performance-wise, yeah I want to race there because last year we went there and qualified fifth and ran second in the race. It's definitely not one of my best tracks, but by all means I can still compete there."

One driver who will be doing double duty next weekend will be Gene Pack. Gene normally races in the six cylinder Sportsman division on Saturday nights at the Stadium. When I asked Gene if he's looking forward to the event, his eyes lit up big. "Oh yeah, I love that thing, you know? We get to run in front of about 15 to 16 thousand people and I get to run my sportsman car and the modified so that's kind of cool. So, I'm looking forward to it. We don't qualify well but we've run two and we've finished 11th in both of them so we've had pretty good finishes." When I asked him if he feels he'll have an advantage from racing on a weekly basis at the Stadium, he added "I definitely don't. I'm in a lot less powered car than the modified over here on Saturday night. My lines are completely different than the modified. We've practiced a couple Saturdays on the big tires but, I don't expect to outrun the likes of the Myers or guys that run here week in and week out. Tim Brown, you know I'm not going to touch them as far as qualifying I just hope to out race them or have better luck than them. As far as L.W.? I've watched him and Brunnhoelzl and a couple of them on Saturday morning and they're not hurting any at all. They've been here and they've had good tires on and they're turning some hellacious times. I've been clocking everybody. So, they'll be all right. I mean, the cream comes to the top and it will here also. You just got to be patient. That's going to be the big thing right there."

I think Gene Pack summed it up best when he said “I just can't wait. I wish it was tonight."

Advance Auto Parts 199 weekend begins Thursday night, August 2nd in the Belk court of the Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem, NC with an autograph session from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM hosted by CMA Award winning on air personality, WTQR's Angie Ward. NASCAR PR representative Jason Mitchell also informed me that NASCAR will unveil the new Whelen Southern Modified Tour Championship trophy during the festivities, Thursday night.

Friday night, August 3rd, The Whelen Southern Modified Tour will hold Bud Pole Qualifying with the GMAC Personal Pit Crew Modifieds having a 50 lap event. Also on the program will be the INEX Racing divisions of Legends Cars, Bandoleros and Thunder Roadsters. Gates open on Friday at 6:00 PM. Tickets for Friday night's event can be purchased for only $1.99 at all Winston-Salem area Advance Auto Parts stores.

Saturday night, August 4th, Gates open at 6:00 PM with the Bowman Gray Sportsman, Street Stock, and Stadium Stock divisions sharing the program with the Whelen Southern Modified Tour's Advance Auto Parts 199. Tickets are only $10.00 at the Bowman Gray gate and all children are only one dollar. Also, world renowned monster truck "Grave Digger" will be on display both nights at Bowman Gray and there will also be a special "Grave Digger" simulator set up in the midway along with the truck, both nights.

Mod Series Scene will be on hand both nights and will have trackside live updates all throughout the weekend. For more information about Bowman Gray Stadium, click on over to www.BowmanGrayRacing.com.