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David Smith Jr
BELLEVILLE, Kans. (September 6) - Current series points leader Kyle Berck of Marquette, Nebraska inched one step closer to his second career series championship as he started on the outside front row, withstood a late race restart and went unchallenged the rest of the distance to pick up the O'Reilly/NCRA late model Hard Rock Hotel-Casino feature Sunday night, in front of a near capacity crowd, at the Belleville High Banks Speedway.
Event Images
Corning, Iowas Bryant Goldsmith started the twenty lap Hard Rock Hotel-Casino feature on the pole but Berck and his Dorthy Lynch Salad Dressing/Strobel Construction sponsored Lazer chassis quickly jumped out front and set a torrid pace. Earl Kinderknecht fell into the third position while Jason Bodenhamer and Jason Friesen settled into the top five.
A couple of minor cautions slowed the pace the first half of the event but past the races midway point, the non-stop green flag action allowed Berck to pull away to near a full straightaway advantage over Goldsmith.
The final caution flag fell with three laps to go putting the front runners on Bercks rear bumper. But they were no match for the 2002 series champion on this night as he powered away to pick up his second series feature victory of the season and one step closer to the championship heading in to the annual "Cornhusker Classic" at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska on September 26th.
"I came in after the heat races and wanted to make a couple of minor changes but my crew told me to leave it alone," said an elated Berck in victory lane. "The car was absolutely on a rail tonight and worked perfect."
Goldsmith, aboard the Goldsmith Farms/Dupont Products sponsored Kuntz powered Schwartz Race Cars chassis held off eighth starting Al Purkey by a nosepiece to come home in the runner up position while Jason Frieson turned in a strong performance to finish fourth.
Four time and defending series champion Kelly Boen, going for a series tying eleventh victory on the season, worked through the night the hard way. After failing to participate during mandatory hot laps because of ignition problems, Boen was forced to start last in both his heat and the twenty-one car feature finale. Boen, aboard the Road Runner Fabrication/Peterson Fluid Systems sponsored Rocket chassis, rebounded to round out the top five.
The three, eight lap heat races for the twenty-one car field were won by Goldsmith, Berck and Kinderknecht.
As mentioned above, the 26th season of O'Reilly/NCRA late model action will come to a close on Saturday night, September 26th, with the annual running of the "Cornhusker Classic" at I-80 Speedway at Nebraska Raceway Park in Greenwood, Nebraska.
The O'Reilly/NCRA late model division is putting the wraps on 26th season of racing while the series is in its 39th season of sanctioning dirt track races across the Great Plains region. For more information on the O'Reilly/NCRA, including current schedules, point standings, driver profiles as well as historical stats from the series historic past, check them out on the world wide web at www.ncraracing.org.
The O'Reilly/NCRA would like to thank the following sponsors and contingency sponsors for their support for the 2009 race season:
Official 2009 NCRA late model Series Sponsors: O'Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, Hard Rock Casino-Hotel.
2009 NCRA late model contingencies: Brodix Cylinder Heads, Schoenfeld Headers, Maxim Chassis, Lazer Chassis, KSE Racing Products, QA1 Motorsports, The Brake Man, Rod End Supply, Outerwears Racing Accessories, Ultra-Shield Race Products, Racing Optics, Design 500, Taylor Cable Products, Vertex Magnetos, Design 500, Keizer Wheels, Arizona Sports Shirts, Winters Racing Products, Bodee's Race Bodies and Just Plugs
1st Heat: 1) Bryant Goldsmith, 2) Jason Bodenhamer, 3) Mike Collins, 4) Al Purkey, 5) Kelly Dunn, 6) John Kuchar, 7) Wylan Petrie
2nd Heat: 1) Kyle Berck, 2) Jason Friesen, 3) Delbert Smith, 4) John Anderson, 5) Bill Koons, 6) Scott Daly, 7) Brian Bolster
3rd Heat: 1) Earl Kinderknecht, 2) Jimmy Segraves, 3) Kelly Boen, 4) Jason O'Brien, 5) Ted Martin, 6) Scott Koskovich, 7) David Brack
Hard Rock Hotel-Casino A Feature: 1) Kyle Berck, 2) Bryant Goldsmith, 3) Al Purkey, 4) Jason Friesen, 5) Kelly Boen, 6) Earl Kinderknecht, 7) Jason Bodenhamer, 8) Jimmy Segraves, 9) Jason O'Brien, 10) Bill Koons, 11) John Kuchar, 12) Mike Collins, 13) Ted Martin, 14) Brian Bolster, 15) Delbert Smith, 16) Kelly Dunn, 17) John Anderson, 18) Scott Koskovich, 19) Scott Daly, 20) Wylan Petrie, 21) David Brack
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