Forum Activity for @brian-janik

Brian I can't agree more. I have always believed that the racing surface starts with the retaining wall to the grass or inside retaining wall. I have no problems with grass if you can make it work. Also bump to engine size down and do away with the restrictor plate. NASCAR instituted a minimum engine size rule becasue a team tested at Daytona with an engine some where in 311 CI range ran with a restrictor plate and ran faster. Also remember when the V-6 BGN cars were faster than the Cup cars at Daytona. Do you also remember you did not see "the big ones" with the Busch cars? Horsepower on any type of vehicle will allow to get out of trouble than it will get you in. I've been in situations with my V-6 Mustang that would most likely have resulted in a wreck if I was in my wife's. That being able to hit the gas while making an evasive manuver turned out to be the distance. One reason the Mods are so popular is the same reason alot of short tracks are on the rebound. NAPCAR does not offer the action a short track does and I believe people are finding that going to the races close to home is less hassle, less expensive, and the action makes the experience alot more enjoyable. Which is why I've always asked my self the question as to why sprints and modifieds have never taken a big hold in the deep south. It could be that dirt latemodels have always rules or everybody's addicted to fenders. I just don't know

Brian Janik said:

Nascar needs to just get rid of the yellow line, restrictor plates, and let the drivers get back to racin. The drivers will figure out what they can do or not do on the track. Thank goodness NASCAR finally figured out that bump-drafting is not a bad thing. I have been in the stands of a cup race in New Hampshire and have fallen asleep, the excitement was to much for me to handle. When NASCAR figures out why ppl flock to watch the Mods, then they will figure out how to run a cup race. Do NASCAR officals actually go to races?

Could this be an example of "the placebo" effect.....NASCAR's attempt to give the fans something positive to talk about...and to give the fans the impression that they (NASCAR) are listening to to them...and to the drivers. I have heard some say this may represent a "cultural" change as it relates to the "iron fist" of NASCAR's past possibly loosening to give an ear to the fans and drivers. The past 60 years of dictator-like rule giving way to ....democracy....? I don't think so! I think it is more of a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding $$$...and all the bitching by the drama laden, NASCAR Nation of today.

Several years ago NASCAR stopped listening to the fans and completely turned their ear to the dollars. They lost touch with fans trying to continually give sponsors more exposure. The problem with that.....the fans are the ones buying the sponsors products. It doesn't matter how much exposure one gives a sponsor....the success of any series lies with the fans. If they are not entertained with something they understand and are passionate about...there won't be any sort of brand loyalty associated with the sponsors. Without brand loyalty there is no return on investment for a sponsor. I said all that to say...they have had the "cart before the horse." The to 35 rule was put in place to reward the sponsors. I was told by the late David Poole that "go fast or go home" didn't work in big-time auto racing any more. Well, it worked for over 50 years and built a group of loyal fans who understood it. Just look at the confusion this rule has created with all the pre-season points swapping...number selling, bs by the owners to jockey for those top 35 spots.

I'm all for putting the racing back in the hands of the drivers...and I'm especially for listening to the fans....and I hated the wing. I can't help it... I'm skeptical. I'll wait and see if this represents any sort of "cultural change" by NASCAR. I'm not sure NASCAR can work as a democracy either. I still think it requires an iron fist...but with an ear to the fans. If the fans are happy the dollars will take care of themselves.

I would love to be able to regain the passion I once had for this great sport. Whether it is real..or whether it lasts...NASCAR's announcements have stopped a lot of the bitching...for now and have many of us ready to tune in to see if all this makes a difference. What's that I'm tasting? Could it be ....sugar?

So right about Jr...it was pretty clear that his reaction was the cause of that wreck.

Well done Mr. Janik although Burt's younger brother is Jason. I wish I was that young again. An open mind is always open to change.

I'd love to Ronda, we'll have to plan a trip to BGS this coming season. I really feel that there's much more to the story than was portrayed on "Mad House". I'm sure there's an intense rivalry, and that's understandable, but IMO, Hollywood has yet to capture the soul of stock car racing. "Mad House" was only the latest in a long string of missed opportunities for the sport and the media.

Ronda McKnight said:

Bobby I am personally inviting you to come to Winston-Salem and go with Allen and me to see a race at BG. Yes there are plenty of "rednecks' and plenty of rough driving and rough drivers, but I think you will be amazed at the loality the fans have for this track. You know the history of Bobby Myers and I think you will get a better understanding of where he and other ledgends came from. I go to work and have people come up to me and ask about the races I run and when are we coming to BG. It is a way of life for many people in this area. Not everything is the way you seen it on TV. I ran there for a season a few years ago, and trust me I never acted the way you seen on TV and for the most part neither did the other drivers, of course you always have a few bad apples. The nights I am not racing I will more than likley be at the "Stadium" watching Burt and Jason. Randy is right, everyone get out and support you local "madhouse" even though it may not be as mad as BG.

Brian Janik said:

Yes overacting is an understatement. BG may be a Madhouse on raceday for the past 40 plus years and thats fine. It draws a huge crowd of wild fans who love their Miller and their MYERS and thats something to be proud of,,loyal fans. As good as Miller and Myers are, why are they still at BG? NC is the meca of NASCAR and these guys I though by now would have had their sights on bigger and better things. But not everyone has the talent to leave the small pond and go play with the big fish.

John Joyce said:

My father and others I talked to said that has been the way B_G has always been. I think it may have been a little overacting by the guys but it has the rep of always being "wild". But look at the stands, they are packed! And have been for years. People love the rivilaries. Just a thought...I wonder if Nascar will want to pull it due to negative outlook people will get. Much like the NFL pulled the series "Playmakers" from ESPN a few years ago because potrayed the NFL in a bad light.

Burt tested with Roush several years ago and did quite well according to Mark Martin who was setting up the trucks for the tests. Roush GM said so as well. All it took to sit in the seat was a check for $1,000,000.00. Sometimes all the talent in the world won't get you where you want to go. Witness the 100's of great drivers wheeling around the short tracks every weekend with every bit as much talent as the current crop of steering wheel holders. For the record, Miller did get two or three seasons of "Cup" racing as did Burt's dad, Gary, back in the 70's. Finances just didn't let them move on and they were content in being good at what they do which translates into being the big-fish-little-pond you so snidely described.

And that will be 62 years of the Madhouse on opening night in April. Strange the track has never produced many drivers in recent years (1960's through today) who moved up the ladder for long unless you count Childress who never won a feature race there. Several from back in the early days like Turner, my dad, the Flocks, Geln Wood and a few more moved up.

My father and others I talked to said that has been the way B_G has always been. I think it may have been a little overacting by the guys but it has the rep of always being "wild". But look at the stands, they are packed! And have been for years. People love the rivilaries. Just a thought...I wonder if Nascar will want to pull it due to negative outlook people will get. Much like the NFL pulled the series "Playmakers" from ESPN a few years ago because potrayed the NFL in a bad light.

My dad, Billy Myers, was the original "Master of the Madhouse" way back in 1955 wining 12 BGS feature races (from the back of the field) on the way to 48 wins and the NASCAR National Championship in the Sportsman (now Nationwide) division. He won those races against the likes of his brother Bobby, Curtis Truner, Glen Wood and Pee Wee Jones. My nephews, Burt and Jason, continue to compete there and were part of the show you complained about in your post. By-the-way! We are from NC and the spelling is MYERS. They may spell it differently in PA, wherever that is (lol). While you or I may not always approve of the way things are done at Bowman Gray, what you saw on Sunday night is exactly what happens there. There was very little scripting (especially at the track) and these guys are passionate about what they do. The "stuff' you saw Sunday goes all the way back to the earliest days of the sport when "Big" Bill France and Alvin Hawkins were the "Stadium" promoters. (Brian France probably secretly wishes he could package what you saw to help fill some of the empty seats at Daytona in February) You always had to fend for yourself at BGS. Can you imagine how it feels to have several races and a couple of championships taken from you by the local "bully" with the management cheering it on and selling the tickets. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. And, right or worng, the "Stadium" continues today unlike Columbia, Occoneechee, New Asheville, Weaverville, Harris and many more. Drama sells tickets and maybe the "Stadium" does it best of all.

For all you "purists" complaining about the "black eye" this gives short track racing, how short your memory must be. Remember Truner and Allison destroying two perfectly good race cars at Bowman Gray in "66"? Remember the Allison - Petty fueds of the early "70's"? Remember "the fight" that put NASCAR on-the-map on National TV? Remember the "Iron Man" the Houstons, Boscoe Lowe, Roy Trantham, Ned Setzer and the Killians at Hickory, Remember Carl Burris, Perk Brown, Ted Swaim, Eb & Fuzzy Clifton and dozens more at Bowman Gray? I know there were many others at the tracks in the northeast, midwest and west that did (while you cheered them on), and continue to do the very thing you are compalining about. This ain't your Sunday afternoon on TV, milk-and-cookies, steering wheel holder, nap taking bunch of "Cup" racers. These guys (as are most short trackers) are passionate and do what they have to do to make from week-to-week, race-to-race.

So "quit-yer-bitchin" and get out to your local "madhouse" when the season starts. Fill up the seats. Get excited! Support the sport. Those "short tracks" really need your help.