Anderson Leads the Way at
Belleville
By Randy Fisher
.
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.
O'Reilly
Finish Line
Heat #1:
1. (92) Delbert Smith,
Wichita,
Kan.; 2. (7c) Ted Martin, Bennington, Kan.;
3. (z28) Dan Topliff,
Topeka,
Kan.; 4. (15w) Mike Wiarda, Aurora, Neb.;
5. (5m) Todd Shute, Des
Moines,
Iowa; 6. (17B) Scott Rhoades, Westminster, Colo.;
7. (64) Greg Larsen,
Plattsmouth,
Neb.; 8. (7w) Trace Westling, Fulton, Mo.;
9. (29s) Ron Sutton, Genoa,
Neb.
Heat #2:
1. (15m) Jacob Murray,
Hartford,
Iowa; 2. (14) Kyle Berck, Marquette, Neb.;
3. (1x) Bo Egge, Kearney, Neb.; 4. (21) Steve Foster, Abilene, Kan.;
5. (02) John Kuchar,
Brighton,
Colo.; 6. (26JR) Corey Zeitner, Bellevue, Neb.;
7. (M38) Bob Miller; 8. (1JR) Justin Kinderknecht, Salina, Kan.;
DNS: (16B) Jason Schobinger, Wiggins,
Colo.
Heat #3:
1. (07) Kelly Boen,
Henderson,
Colo.; 2. (21w) Ronnie Warman, Wichita, Kan.;
3. (14m) Dean Moore, Grand
Junction,
Colo.; 4. (22c) Dave Conkwright, Manhattan, Kan.;
5. (21c) Mike Conkwright,
Manhattan,
Kan.; 6. (66) Mike Danburg, Council Bluffs,
Iowa; 7. (20) Jim Beaman,
Littleton,
Colo.; 8. (0K) Bill Koons, Omaha, Neb.;
9. (90) Steve Kempt,
Shelton,
Neb.
Heat #4:
1. (2J) John Anderson, Omaha, Neb.; 2. (33) Al Purkey, Coffeyville, Kan.;
3. (15R) Ryan Rairden,
Brookville,
Kan.; 4. (3) Jimmy Segraves, Valley Center,
Kan.; 5. (22) Craig Preble,
Yutan,
Neb.; 6. (T1T) Earl Kinderknecht,
Salina,
Kan.; 7. (49) Wylan Petrie,
Solomon,
Kan.; 8. (89) Jerry Warner, LaVista, Neb.;
9. (99) Camron Winter,
McPherson,
Kan.
B feature #1:
1. (22c) Dave Conkwright, 2. (z28) Dan Topliff, 3. (5m) Todd Shute,
4. (22) Craig Preble, 5. (26JR) Corey Zeitner, 6. (64) Greg Larsen,
7. (0K) Bill Koons, 8. (29s) Ron Sutton, 9. (7w) Trace Westling, 10.
(17B) Scott Rhoades.
B feature #2:
1. (21c) Mike Conkwright, 2. (02) John Kuchar, 3. (15R) Ryan Rairden,
4. (89) Jerry Warner, 5. (21) Steve Foster, 6. (20) Jim Beaman, 7.
(T1T) Earl Kinderknecht, 8. (1JR) Justin Kinderknecht, 9. (99)
Camron Winter, 10. (49) Wylan Petrie, 11. (66) Mike Danburg.
A feature (20 laps):
1. (2J) John Anderson, 2. (33) Al Purkey, 3. (07) Kelly Boen, 4.
(7c) Ted Martin, 5. (15m) Jacob Murray, 6. (15w) Mike Wiarda, 7.
(1x) Bo Egge, 8. (22c) Dave Conkwright, 9. (15m) Dean Moore, 10.
(02) John Kuchar, 11. (3) Jimmy Segraves, 12. (26JR) Corey Zeitner,
13. (15R) Ryan Rairden, 14. (z28) Dan Topliff, 15. (20) Jim Beaman,
16. (0K) Bill Koons, 17. (21c) Mike Conkwright, 18. (5m) Todd Shute,
19. (21) Steve Foster, 20. (21w) Ronnie Warman, 21. (89) Jerry
Warner, 22. (22) Craig Preble, 23. (64) Greg Larsen, 24. (14) Kyle
Berck.
