A.J. Sanders is blowing the lid off the notion that there’s more parity than ever at Bowman Gray Stadium.
Late last Saturday night, Sanders won the Thunder Road Grill 50-lap Stadium Stock race. It’s the longest race of the season in that division, and Sanders now has four wins, the most of any driver this season in all of the divisions.
Tyler McDonald has three wins, but its Sanders who has taken a sizable lead in the points race through six weeks.
“You just come and you try to win all you can win, of course,” he told bowmangrayracing.com after Saturday’s late-night victory. “I’m just the lucky one to sit in that seat. There are a lot of people behind the scenes that don’t get seen like I do. I’m just in the seat.”
He’s in the seat very well this season. Sanders and McDonald have combined to win seven of the 11 races.
Heading into Saturday night, Sanders has the largest lead in any of the four divisions and is 26 points ahead of Brandon Brendle.
Here are three things to look for and a prediction.
- 1. There’s seemingly another new star in the Modified Division as 26-year-old Junior Snow won his first race last week. Snow, who used to race Stadium Stock, is in his rookie season in the Modified Division. He ended up on the pole in the second 25-lap race last week and knew exactly what to do with that advantage. He became the seventh different winner in Modified this season.
- 2. It’s heating up in Winston-Salem and that should bode well for the track. Drivers have been hoping that the combination of hot temperatures and plenty of sun on the new asphalt track will make for better tire grip. The more racing that’s done on the track will also help as the season rolls on.
- 3. Gray Garrison, the track promoter, says it’s too early to tell if having the races broadcast by flowracing.com has hurt attendance or not. Attendance does take a hit when school ends, because many families go on vacations. Garrison said that he’s heard nothing but good things about the production and the quality of the pay-per-view site. “We may look at how attendance is doing later in the summer, but right now I don’t think it’s much different than in years past,” Garrison said.
Bold prediction: If you haven’t noticed, Tim Brown, Burt Myers and John Holloman are getting closer in pursuits of their first wins this season. The Modified Division has two 50-lap races on Saturday, and one of those three drivers will finally get to victory lane. Remember, no wagering at home.
Bowman Gray Stadium Points Standings
BRAD'S GOLF CARS MODIFIED SERIES
RANK CAR DRIVER POINTS
1 (16) Chris Fleming 308
2 (4) Jason Myers 300
(04) Brandon Ward 300
4 (83) Tim Brown 280
5 (69) John Holleman 274
6 (22) Jonathan Brown 262
7 (79) Zach Brewer 248
(55) Jeremy Gerstner 248
9 (75) Lee Jeffreys 228
10 (5) Randy Butner 226
(1) Burt Myers 226
12 (51) Junior Snow 208
13 (44) Daniel Beeson 152
14 (05) Bussy Beavers 118
15 (99) William Smith 114
16 (12) Dean Ward 100
17 (57.65) Danny Bohn 92
18 (78) Paul Hall 74
19 (77) Susan Harwell 68
20 (6) Greg Butcher 66
21 (3) Danny Propst 60
22 (24.78) Andrew Harrah 56
23 (40) Luke Fleming 52
(14) Corey Lovette 52
25 (07.53) John Smith 50
26 (88.37) Dan Speeney 46
27 (2) Mike Adams 44
28 (78) Austin Pack 38
29 (89) Eddie Collins 28
30 (15.89) Brian Loftin 26
31 (68) Junior Miller 24
(88) Matt Smith 24
(2) Gabriel Saavedra 24
34 (51) Drew Moffitt 20
35 (6) Jason Southern 16
36 (77) Al Hill 14
37 (88) Brad Robbins 10
MCDOWELL HEATING & AIR SPORTSMAN SERIES
1 (21) Tommy Neal 306
2 (12) Justin Taylor 298
3 (81) Zack Clifton 283
4 (2) Amber Lynn 281
5 (31) Chase Robertson 274
6 (19) Michael Adams 261
7 (07) Riley Neal 249
8 (22) Wesley Thompson 242
9 (55) Zack Ore 237
10 (92) Kyle Southern 230
11 (03) Sterling Plemmons 220
12 (6) Kirk Sheets 190
13 (54) Braden Mills 172
14 (7) Connor Branch 167
15 (38) Mitch Gales 166
16 (08) Dylan Ward 99
17 (30) Blake Shupe 84
18 (8) Casey Kepley Jr 82
19 (02) Terry Thompson 76
20 (08) Jacob Creed 74
21 (5) Spencer Martin 68
22 (3) Jeff Garrison 66
23 (66) Ronnie Clifton 59
24 (83) Cody Griffin 49
25 (1) Doug Wall 7
LAW OFFICES OF JOHN BARROW STREET STOCK SERIES
1 (28) Nate Gregg 282
2 (98) Billy Gregg 280
3 (99) Bryan Sykes 272
4 (7) Zack Staley 258
5 (40) Taylor Robbins 256
6 (02) David Creed 246
7 (1) Christian Joyce 238
8 (8) Bryan Sykes Jr 202
9 (72) Bryant Robertson 198
(69) Jordan Atkins 198
(13) Kevin Gilbert 198
12 (15) Nick Wall 180
13 (79) Conner Shaw 176
14 (22) Brian Wall 172
15 (24) Austin Jones 168
16 (10) Kendell Craig Hartless 150
17 (06) Chase Lewis 148
18 (16) Brad Lewis 144
19 (51) Austin Taylor 136
20 (70) Cale Martin 126
21 (64) Steven Truell 124
22 (97) Chris Allison 86
23 (2) Willie Wall 40
(97) Charlie Gregg 40
25 (00) Donnie Martin 6
Q104.1 STADIUM STOCK SERIES
1 (24) A.J. Sanders 344
2 (43) Brandon Brendle 318
3 (69) Brandon Crotts 302
4 (81) Chuck Wall 296
5 (46) Wyatt Sapp 282
6 (58) Levi Holt 278
7 (47) Tyler McDonald 272
(16) Blaine Curry 272
(54) Justin Owens 272
10 (68) Tyler Bush 256
11 (03) Cody Gum 248
12 (51) Andrew Cates 240
13 (80) Luke Smith 232
14 (25) Matt Goodwin 226
15 (27) Austin Cates 210
16 (31) Kyler Staley 196
17 (28) Robert Mabe 194
18 (74) Matt Alley 188
19 (05) Victor Flores 180
20 (40) Kenny Dixon 178
21 (14) Ken Bridges 158
22 (1) Jessie Yopp 156
23 (76) Grayson Keaton 144
24 (33) DJ Dean 102
25 (17) Andy Southern 96
26 (71) Corbin Foster 92
27 (7) Joel Stewart 90
(59) Dakota Warden 90
29 (2) Blake Spears 74
30 (8) Stephen Sanders 68
31 (32) William Smith 54
32 (48) Junior Smith 52
33 (76) Billy Cameron Jr 46
34 (22) Adam Thomas 42
35 (99) Blake Walker 40
36 (02) Paula Morgan 38
37 (45) Josh Williams 30
38 (39) Patrick Mullen 28
(21) Michael Wells 28
(59) Isaac Hayes 28
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