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Allen Wins at Belleville
BELLEVILLE, Kan. (Sept. 2, 2007) – Three-time series champion John Allen survived an early crash fest to win his third feature of the season Sunday in the O’Reilly NCRA Modified Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol.
Pole sitter Brian Casey stayed in front at the green followed by Dustin Hill, who started to Casey’s outside. But the race was stopped with two red flags in the first three laps.
The first red came on the second lap when Hill spun in turn three. Four drivers got together trying to avoid him, with two of them leaving the track on the hook. Hill went to the pits for repairs and was able to return to the track before they resumed racing.
On the restart, it was still Casey leading the way with Marc Hurd having taken second when Hill spun. Allen, from Chanute, Kan., had moved from eighth to third on the first two laps.
Hurd and Allen crossed start/finish side-by-side at the end of lap three before Allen moved into second coming out of turn two onto the back straight. But his pass went for naught as a spectacular flip in turn four stopped the racing again.
Grant Junghans lost control of his car, bounced off the wall, and went end-over-end. He was OK but the car was demolished.
Allen wasted little time passing Hurd again for position on the restart. Allen completed his charge to the front as he moved around Casey to take the lead on lap five.
Hurd was able to take second from Casey on lap six. Casey held on to third with Brendon Gemmill fourth and Jason Roe running fifth.
Allen had opened up his lead before a caution bunched the field on lap nine. He stayed in front on the restart but with Hurd now on his tail. Casey was third before something broke and he retired on lap 10, with Gemmill moving up to third.
By this time, Hill had charged his way from last on the second-lap restart to fifth place. He took fourth away from Jeremy Massey on lap 11.
The field became strung out when Hurd, running second on lap 13, slowed and pulled into the infield, done for the evening. That elevated Gemmill to second, closely followed by Hill and Massey.
The three youngsters ran nose-to-tail in a tussle for position the rest of the 20-lap feature. During that time, Allen moved out to a full straightaway lead over them.
Massey moved around Hill for third on lap 18. Coming out of turn two on lap 19, Hill was able to get around both Massey and Gemmill for the runner-up spot. But no one could touch Allen as he won for the third time this season in only four races.
Hill finished second after restarting at the end of the field on lap two. Massey held back Gemmill for third with four-time defending series champion Brian Franz in fifth.
Hurd, Hill, Gemmill, and Jason Roe all won heat races. Brian McGowen and Greg Stephens won B-features.
A-feature
1. John Allen, 2. Dustin Hill, 3. Jeremy Massey, 4. Brendon Gemmill, 5. Brian Franz, 6. Jimmie Hobbs, 7. Troy Gemmill, 8. Cody Gearhart, 9. Brian Powers, 10. Jarrod Johnston, 11. Jason Roe, 12. Troy Davis, 13. Micaah Johnson, 14. Marc Hurd, 15. Kirk Coleman, 16. Brian Casey, 17. Greg Stephens, 18. Mike Jarvis, 19. Brian McGowen, 20. Grant Junghans, 21. Travis Govern, 22. Kurt Johnston, 23. Greg Burt, 24. Casey McClaskey.
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