The 61st season of stock-car racing at Bowman Gray Stadium is winding to a close and so is filming for a reality show planned for the History Channel later this year.
Camera crews have followed drivers around all season to capture footage for Madhouse, a show focusing on drama at Bowman Gray, the rough-and-tumble quarter-mile track, and on the lives of competitors there.
Taping has included everything from detailed race preparation to day-to-day life situations of the drivers.
Asked if he has enjoyed the scrutiny or is just glad that it's nearly over, driver Burt Myers said: "Both. It will be nice to have a break from it, but I'm sure I'll miss them when they're gone."
Tim Brown, who will try to wrap up a Bowman Gray championship in the season's final Modified race Saturday night, said: "Right now, because it's still going on, it's a pain in the butt. But they told us going in that it would be. They said once we got into it that we would hate them and wish that we had never agreed to do it. And they were right.
"I have to be up at 4 o'clock in the morning to get to my job (as a suspension specialist for Michael Waltrip Racing), and there have been nights at the shop we were still filming at 1 o'clock in the morning. I'd get two hours of sleep and have to drive to work. So it's been tough."
But, Brown said, "It's also been an experience that we can all take with us. I hope what comes out of it is that people will respect how hard that I, and Junior (Miller), and Burt and Jason (Myers), and everybody they're filming all work on their racecars to be able to do this. Maybe we'll gain some respect from fans that it's really a fulltime job."
Burt Myers said: "It has been interesting. You definitely get a different perspective, actually seeing how a television show is made.
"It's been time consuming. If there's a particular point they're trying to get across to the audience, they want us all to sit down together and talk about the past week. It's not necessarily staged, it's kind of like a recap, but that slows us down sometimes because we have to stop working to do that. But, for the most part, it's been fun."
Driver Jonathan Brown said he has adjusted and has gotten used to the looming of film crews.
"At first it was really awkward to have cameras following you around all the time," he said. "I've gotten to know all the guys and now, really, it will be kind of weird not having them around."
The History Channel has yet to announce dates of the show's airing, and the show's production staff and crew haven't offered many details.
Some drivers and race crew members say they're a bit apprehensive about what the show will actually include and that they wonder what the finished product will be like.
They say they hope everyone involved is portrayed in a good light, that controversies aren't exaggerated, that everything is in context and that stereotypes of "Southern rednecks" haven't been sought and won't be perpetuated in an effort to lure viewers.
"The only thing that concerns me is that we can't see the product until it's on TV," Tim Brown said. "They have filmed so many hours of us. If they pick all the bad stuff and show that, it will make us look stupid. We can't control that."
Jonathan Brown said: "I guess we'll all find out what all the drivers say about each other. I'm sure that will be pretty interesting."
And Burt Myers said he's curious as to what the reaction of viewers will be.
"I'm guessing the people in this area will love it," he said. "But what will people in Kansas, California and New York think about it? I think that will be the key to whether it's successful or not. We'll see how the public reacts to it."
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
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