MARTINSVILLE, Va. — For a brief moment after Sunday’s Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway, there were signs Burt Myers might not be himself.
With a face as red as the C3 paint scheme on his No. 50 Team AmeriVet Chevrolet Camaro, the 49-year-old from nearby Walnut Cove, North Carolina was too overcome with exhaustion to crack a smile as he prepared to climb from the car. Pop off the steering wheel, drop the window net, detach cooling systems — much like his first NASCAR Cup Series points race in general, the process, while familiar, was foreign.
One step out of his ride and onto Martinsville’s pit road, though, delivered the return of Burt Myers. That seemingly permanent smile was back.
“That was tough,” Myers told a crew member through his grin, still catching his breath. “I tried my hardest.”
Despite his obvious fatigue, Myers was asked a question: How do you feel?
He glanced upward and scanned the scene that was a still-packed grandstand cheering (and booing) Denny Hamlin’s first Martinsville win in 10 years, all flanked by the sun setting behind the southwest Virginia hills. He finally responded.
“I’m good. I’m trying to take it all in, man. That was a lot.”
finished ✅ and still smiling 😃 pic.twitter.com/VGbWdxOAnN
– NASCAR Regional (@NASCARRegional) March 30, 2025
Myers is not used to finishing 36th in a 38-car field. He’s a Modified racing legend whose 11 Bowman Gray Stadium championships are only part of a resume he began building almost 30 years ago.
He is, however, familiar with the concept of enjoying himself at a race track. In that regard, Sunday at Martinsville was a new career highlight.
Myers participated in the Cook Out Clash weekend last month at Bowman Gray, but this was his first “real deal” Cup Series racing experience, as he described it. And he didn’t take a moment for granted. He was relaxed, not nervous. He was cheerful, not edgy.
He was Burt Myers, not some 49-year-old rookie.
“At Bowman Gray, if there are five variables separating teams, there are 30 here,” Myers said, acknowledging the challenge that was a 400-lap Cup race at the demanding paperclip.
Myers’ opportunity to race at Martinsville was born in the wake of the Clash when his Modified sponsor, CitruSafe, entered a partnership with C3 Skids. The latter was willing to help fund another ride for Myers and Team AmeriVet at another short track.
The Martinsville race was more than an opportunity for redemption after Myers crashed out of the Clash’s Last Chance Qualifier. Myers was given a chance to join a national series show away from Bowman Gray, yet still surrounded by his family, friends and supporters.
That was the scene on pit road after driver introductions and before Myers climbed into the car. He spent those precious minutes taking photos with his wife, children and everyone else close to him sharing the milestone.
He admitted the race itself delivered only pockets of amusement. After all, he finished multiple laps down thanks largely to an ignition snafu during the second of three stages. But the post-race vibe was pure delight.
After re-charging for a few minutes in his team’s hauler, Myers emerged ready to engage in his typical hijinks. He engulfed a famous Martinsville Speedway hot dog, fully loaded with mustard, slaw, onions and chili. He also convinced his crew chief for the day, Tony Eury Jr., to eat one for the first time in 15 years.
Myers asked his crew members if there was anything left of the right side of the car. While he was being facetious with the question, the driver was legitimately delighted to learn only one body panel would need to be replaced.
As he sat on a cooler, other drivers and crew members stopped by to deliver congratulatory messages — not a scene typical for a driver who finished in the back of the pack. They all knew why Myers was still beaming.
The Modified racing legend did something the vast majority of short-track racers never get to do; he competed on stock-car racing’s biggest stage, and he did so without losing that amicable smile.
“Yeah, that’s the thing,” Myers concluded. “I got to do it. … And all four wheels are still on it.”