National Championship Racing Association

Anderson Turns Back Boen at Belleville
By David Smith, Jr.
 
BELLEVILLE, Kan. (Aug. 31, 2008) – "Woo was that tough!" Those were the first words out of John Anderson's mouth as he reached victory lane, holding off one last lap challenge by Kelly Boen to win the O'Reilly/NCRA late model presented by ICM/Ethanol feature Sunday night at the Belleville High Banks.  

Delbert "The Ice Man" Smith and Dave Conkwright started on the front row for the twenty lap feature with Smith quickly jumping out into the lead as the green flag fell. Anderson and Jason Friesen, who started third and fourth respectively, fell into the second and third positions with Conkwright dropping back to fourth as the first lap was completed. Smith would open a three car length lead over Anderson while behind them, fifth starting Boen would regroup from his poor start to take over the third position by lap three.

With the top three setting a quick pace, lapped traffic came into play for the first time on lap five. This allowed Anderson and his Jay Dickens Racing Engines powered Masterbuilt Chassis to close to within one car length entering turns one and two on lap six. Anderson looked to have made his pass for the lead coming out of turn four down the front stretch but that pass was quickly nullified when the red flag appeared when Jim Beaman of Brighton, Colorado climbed over the guardrail in turns one and two. Beaman was uninjured but was done for the night.

Smith would regain the lead as the field went back to the last completed lap on the restart followed by Boen, Friesen, Bryant Goldsmith and Kyle Berck. However that start was short lived as the race quickly went yellow again when Conkwright, Daly and Kelly Dunn all got together on the back straightaway.

Once racing resumed, Smith again jumped out front but Anderson and Boen were close behind giving pressure on the Wichita veteran and on lap seven, Anderson drove around Smith down the back stretch to take the lead. One lap later saw the three-time and defending series champion Boen pass Smith for the runner up position and would quickly set sail on the leader.

Anderson's lead was only three car lengths as the front runners began approaching lapped traffic on lap eleven. Boen would dive down low in each corner to try to take the lead but Anderson had the momentum up top and was up to the challenge each lap.

On lap twelve the caution would wave for the last time on lap twelve when Ted Martin came to a stop on the back stretch.

The final restart would see Anderson block the low line in turns one and two, where Boen would seem to have gain slight advantages earlier during green flag action. As the front duo battled for the top spot, behind them the action was just as fierce as Smith, Friesen ninth starting Goldsmith and Berck battled for positions three through sixth.

Back up front saw Anderson still with a one to three car length lead, an advantage he held as the white flag fell. Coming out of turns three and four on the final lap, Boen would make one last charge down low and attempt to slide up in front of Anderson on the front stretch. But Anderson would hold on to post his second NCRA victory of the season by one car length. "This win is great and I really want to thank all my sponsors (Shop Quik Convenience Stores, Mc3 Properties, Sunoco). This win is for the Faith Youth team as they are all here with me tonight."

Boen would finish second but didn't appear to be too disappointed. "This is what NCRA racing is all about. The caliber of competition here is second to none and with these guys with NCRA, you fans get your monies worth."

Smith would hold on to finish a strong third with Friesen finishing fourth. Berck, who came into the night as the current points leader rounded out the top five.

The three, eight lap heat races for the twenty-nine car field were won by Al Purkey, Anderson and Smith.
 
 
O'Reilly Finish Line
Heat 1: 1, Al Purkey. 2, Earl Kinderknecht. 3, Jason Friesen. 4, Mike Wiarda. 5, Mike Collins. 6, Scott Daly. 7, Bill Koons. 8, Dan Topliff. 9, Scott Koskovich. 10, Ronnie Warman.

Heat 2: 1, John Anderson. 2, Kelly Boen. 3, Ted Martin. 4, Kelly Dunn. 5, Dustin Huehl. 6, Justin Kinderknecht. 7, Jimmy Segraves. 8, Wylan Petrie. 9, Dusty Leonard. 10, Dave Garman.

Heat3: 1, Delbert Smith. 2, Kyle Berck. 3, Dave Conkwright. 4, Bryant Goldsmith. 5, David Brack. 6, Jim Beaman. 7, Shawn Harker. 8, John Kuchar. 9, Steve Foster.

A Feature: 1, John Anderson. 2, Kelly Boen. 3, Delbert Smith. 4, Jason Friesen. 5, Kyle Berck. 6, Bryant Goldsmith. 7, Al Purkey. 8, Mike Wiarda. 9, Dustin Huehl. 10, Mike Collins. 11, Earl Kinderknecht. 12, Jimmy Segraves. 13, Bill Koons. 14, Shawn Harker. 15, John Kuchar. 16, Dan Topliff. 17, Ted Martin. 18, Wylan Petrie. 19, Justin Kinderknecht. 20, Kelly Dunn. 21, Dave Conkwright. 22, Scott Daly. 23, David Brack. 24, Jim Beaman. 25, Scott Koskovich. 26, Dusty Leonard. 27, Steve Foster.