TONIGHT, IT IS ALL STAR RACE WEEK IN NORTH WILKESBORO EVENTS REALLY GET STARTED TOMORROW AND THEN THE ENGINES REALLY GET REVVING SUNDAY FOR THE NASCAR CUP SERIES RACE. BUT RIGHT NOW, WE WANT TO BRING YOU PART TWO OF OUR SERIES, LOOKING AT THE UNIQUE BOND BETWEEN RACE FANS AND THEIR LOCAL RACE TRACKS. KENNY BECK IS LIVE ONCE AGAIN AT THE TRACK. KENNY. HI THERE, CHRISTINE. GOOD EVENING. LAST HALF HOUR, OF COURSE, WE WENT ONE ON ONE WITH TIM BROWN, 12 TIME MODIFIED SERIES CHAMPION. TONIGHT, WE ARE HEARING FROM HIS RIVAL, BERT MYERS, AS BERT MYERS AND HIS TEENAGE SON, SLATE. LOOK OUT FROM SECTION 25 RO L ONTO A QUIET TRACK AT BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM. THEY CAN’T HELP BUT THINK ABOUT THE PAST. BERT’S GRANDFATHER, BILLY, RACED HERE IN THIS PHOTO FROM THE LATE 50S. BILLY’S ARM IS AROUND BERT’S FATHER, GARY. NEXT TO HIM IS BERT’S UNCLE RANDY. THEY RACED HERE TWO. NOW, ALMOST 70 YEARS LATER, BERT AND HIS BROTHER JASON CONTINUE TO COMPETE AND CONTINUE TO MAKE MEMORIES AT THIS HISTORIC LITTLE TRACK IN WINSTON-SALEM. MAN, I MUST HAVE BEEN 5 OR 6 YEARS OLD, AND I CAN REMEMBER HAVING YOU REMEMBER WE USED TO WEAR THE TUBE SOCKS WITH THE COLORED STRIPES. AND I CAN REMEMBER WHATEVER COLOR I HAD ON THAT WEEK. MY DAD WON. AND I REMEMBER THINKING TO MYSELF, I NEED TO MAKE SURE I WEAR THESE SOCKS NEXT WEEKEND ABOUT TEN YEARS LATER, BERT WENT FROM BEING A LITTLE BOY IN HIS DAD’S RACE SHOP TO BEING BEHIND THE WHEEL HIMSELF. THEN HE STARTED WINNING RACES, THEN CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE MODIFIED SERIES. TODAY HE REMAINS A FAN FAVORITE AND SAYS HE FEEDS OFF OF THE ENERGY YOU ALMOST FEEL LIKE A LIKE A WHEN YOU SEE RIC FLAIR BEING CALLED OUT ON WWE BACK IN THE DAY WHERE THE WHOLE CROWD ERUPTS, SOME ARE CHEER AND SOME ARE BOOING, BUT THE WHOLE CROWD ERUPTS. YOU KNOW, I’VE BEEN TOLD THAT THAT ME AND TIM BROWN AND SOME OF US ARE LOCAL HEROES. AND I DON’T LOOK AT IT THAT WAY BECAUSE TO ME, IT’S JUST DOING SOMETHING THAT I LOVE, THAT I’M PASSIONATE ABOUT. AND I APPRECIATE THAT GESTURE. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, I CAN KIND OF UNDERSTAND WHERE THAT STATEMENT IS COMING FROM. YOU KNOW, I GREW UP A DUKE BASKETBALL FAN AND I THINK ABOUT THE GRANT HILLS AND THE CHRISTIAN LAKERS AND BOBBY HURLEY’S THAT PLAYED FOR FOUR YEARS. AND WE FELL IN LOVE WITH THOSE PLAYERS OVER A PERIOD OF TIME. AND NOW, LIKE YOU SAID, WITH WITH THE PORTALS AND TRANSFERRING AND GOING TO THE NBA EARLY, YOU DON’T GET THAT TIME TO SPEND WITH THEM TO LEARN THEM, TO KNOW THEM, TO ENJOY WHAT YOU’RE SEEING. SO TO THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT ME AND TIM BROWN AND WHOEVER ELSE HAS BEEN RACING HERE FOR 20 PLUS YEARS, I HAVE TO PUT MYSELF HERE AND THINK ABOUT WHAT IT MUST FEEL LIKE AS A FAN WATCHING THAT SAME DRIVER OVER AND OVER AND OVER FOR ALL THOSE YEARS. AND I THINK THAT THAT’S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT’S REALLY SPECIAL ABOUT BOWMAN GRAY IS YOU HAVE THAT MYERS HAS RACED MODIFIEDS AT NORTH WILKESBORO TWO AND BENDER RACES THERE AS A FAN IN A WAY, HE SAYS HE UNDERSTANDS HOW PEOPLE THERE MUST HAVE FELT WHEN RACING SUDDENLY WENT AWAY IN 1996. I THINK WE GOT A SMALL TASTE OF IT IN 2020 WHEN WE HAD THE WHOLE COVID SCENARIO AND WE DIDN’T RACE HERE AND PEOPLE IN THIS COMMUNITY DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO ACT. AND THERE WAS A CERTAIN PART OF ME THAT DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO ACT. BUT FOR THAT COMMUNITY TO FINALLY GET THE REDEMPTION THAT I THINK THAT THEY DESERVE TO HAVE BIG TIME NASCAR RACING BACK IN THEIR COMMUNITY IS I MEAN, THEY’VE GOT TO BE I KNOW I’M EXCITED. SO I CAN’T IMAGINE HOW IT WOULD FEEL IF YOU LIVED A HALF MILE FROM THE RACETRACK. BURT WENT ON TO TELL ME THERE IS A PASSIONATE FAN AT BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM WHO MADE HIM A GIANT WOODEN NUMBER FIVE PAINTED AT HIS SIGNATURE ORANGE AND PRESENTED IT TO BURT AFTER HE WON HIS FIFTH CAREER MODIFIED SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP AT BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM. THAT SAME FAN HAS SINCE GIVEN HIM A BIG NUMBER SIX SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE AND TEN. AS BURT CONTINUES TO WIN TITLES, ALL