|
BELLEVILLE , Kan. ( July 1, 2007 ) – For John Anderson, it had been close, but no cigar, in 2007. After four straight top four finishes, it was his night Sunday at the famed Belleville High Banks. The Omaha , Neb. , driver broke through to the checker in the O’Reilly NCRA Late Model Series, presented by ICM /Ethanol.
“It worked out really well for us tonight,” Anderson said. “We unloaded and were pretty good. We made a few adjustments and the motor ran strong.”
Anderson started on the outside of pole sitter Ted Martin and took the lead at the green. Kelly Boen, who started behind Martin, also got by for second. Following them were Al Purkey, Jacob Murray and Martin, who slipped back to fifth by the end of the first lap.
Anderson and Boen broke away from the others until a caution bunched everyone on lap four. After the restart, Anderson and Boen again slipped away with Purkey third.
A caution on lap nine bunched the field once again. This time, Purkey took the high side around Boen for second on the back straight following the restart. It was Anderson, Purkey, and Boen pulling away from Martin, who had his hands full with Murray , battling for fourth and fifth.
The leaders encountered lapped traffic on the 12th circuit, which allowed Anderson to move away a little from Purkey and Boen.
Anderson cruised to the checker, the second of his NCRA career. The high banks made an impression on him, once again.
“You get out of the car and you’re just shaking, it takes your breath away,” he said. “I won here about three years ago and then I was on the bottom. Having to run up next to the fence that fast is just crazy.”
As the laps wound down, Boen looked to the inside of Purkey a couple of times but couldn’t make anything happen. Purkey held on to finish second with Boen third. Martin won the battle for fourth over Murray, who was fifth.
With two wins on the season, Delbert Smith was second in the standings and had won the pole for the feature. However, the 2001 series champion blew the engine on the final lap of his heat race and scratched.
“That’s too bad for him,” Anderson said. “You hate to have that happen to anybody but this place is really tough on equipment.”
The point race has really tightened up after Sunday’s show. Unofficially, Anderson jumped from third to first in the standings a few points in front of Boen, who had just taken over the top spot from Smith with a win on Saturday. Anderson isn’t sure how many shows he’ll run with the series this season.
“The series runs a little bit closer to where Greg and Pat (Junghans, his car owners) live in Manhattan ( Kan. ), so we plan on running a lot of them,” he said. “We’re not sure yet, we’re just racing and having a good time.”
Being first in the series may provide a little more enjoyment and motivation for the 2J car to run the entire series.
Heat #1:
1. Delbert Smith, Wichita , Kan. ; 2. Ted Martin, Bennington , Kan. ; 3. Dan Topliff, Topeka , Kan. ; 4. Mike Wiarda, Aurora , Neb. ; 5. Todd Shute, Des Moines , Iowa ; 6. Scott Rhoades, Westminster , Colo. ; 7. Greg Larsen, Plattsmouth , Neb. ; 8. Trace Westling, Fulton , Mo. ; 9. Ron Sutton, Genoa , Neb.
Heat #2:
1. Jacob Murray, Hartford , Iowa ; 2. Kyle Berck, Marquette , Neb. ; 3. Bo Egge, Kearney , Neb. ; 4. Steve Foster, Abilene , Kan. ; 5. John Kuchar, Brighton , Colo. ; 6. Corey Zeitner, Bellevue , Neb. ; 7. Bob Miller; 8. Justin Kinderknecht, Salina , Kan. ; DNS: Jason Schobinger, Wiggins, Colo.
Heat #3:
1. Kelly Boen, Hendeson , Colo. ; 2. Ronnie Warman, Wichita , Kan. ; 3. Dean Moore, Grand Junction , Colo. ; 4. Dave Conkwright, Manhattan , Kan. ; 5. Mike Conkwright, Manhattan , Kan. ; 6. Mike Danburg, Council Bluffs , Iowa ; 7. Jim Beaman, Littleton , Colo. ; 8. Bill Koons, Omaha , Neb. ; 9. Steve Kempt, Shelton , Neb.
Heat #4:
1. John Anderson, Omaha , Neb. ; 2. Al Purkey, Coffeyville , Kan. ; 3. Ryan Rairden, Brookville , Kan. ; 4. Jimmy Segraves, Valley Center , Kan. ; 5. Craig Preble, Yutan , Neb. ; 6. Earl Kinderknecht, Salina , Kan. ; 7. Wylan Petrie, Solomon , Kan. ; 8. Jerry Warner, LaVista , Neb. ; 9. Camron Winter, McPherson , Kan.
B feature #1:
1. Dave Conkwright, 2. Dan Topliff, 3. Todd Shute, 4. Craig Preble, 5. Corey Zeitner, 6. Greg Larsen, 7. Bill Koons, 8. Ron Sutton, 9. Trace Westling, 10. Scott Rhoades.
B feature #2:
1. Mike Conkwright, 2. John Kuchar, 3. Ryan Rairden, 4. Jerry Warner, 5. Steve Foster, 6. Jim Beaman, 7. Earl Kinderknecht, 8. Justin Kinderknecht, 9. Camron Winter, 10. Wylan Petrie, 11. Mike Danburg.
A feature (20 laps):
1. John Anderson, 2. Al Purkey, 3. Kelly Boen, 4. Ted Martin, 5. Jacob Murray, 6. Mike Wiarda, 7. Bo Egge, 8. Dave Conkwright, 9. Dean Moore, 10. John Kuchar, 11. (3) Jimmy Segraves, 12. Corey Zeitner, 13. Ryan Rairden, 14. Dan Topliff, 15. Jim Beaman, 16. (Bill Koons, 17. Mike Conkwright, 18. Todd Shute, 19. Steve Foster, 20. Ronnie Warman, 21. Jerry Warner, 22. Craig Preble, 23. Greg Larsen, 24. Kyle Berck.
|
|
