National Championship Racing Association

NCRA Late Model Speed Week a Success
 
By Randy Fisher
   
PARK CITY, Kan. (July 6, 2007) – The recently completed Speed Week in the O’Reilly NCRA Late Model Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol, provided a lot of action for the fans.
 
With five events over six nights, the racing extravaganza played to big crowds at every venue. An average of 35 cars signed in each night.
 
Despite the rain playing havoc with racing this summer, the NCRA was able to get in four of their five scheduled shows. The only rainout was the July 4 finale at 81 Speedway.
 
Prior to Speed Week, the series had only raced twice, with Delbert Smith and Al Purkey taking the wins. In the standings, Smith was deadlocked with John Anderson for the top spot. The rest of the top five then were Kyle Berck, Kelly Boen, and Corey Zeitner.
 
Smith opened Speed Week with his second win, June 29 at North Platte, Neb., and moved 60 points in front of Boen, who jumped from fourth to second. Anderson slipped to third as Berck and Zeitner rounded out the top five.
 
June 30 the series moved to McCool Junction, Neb., as Boen won his 22nd career feature to take the point lead. Smith fell to second with Anderson, Berck, and Zeitner holding on to third through fifth, respectively.
 
Anderson took the checker July 1 in Belleville, Kan., to grab the top spot from Boen by 15 points. Smith held fast in third and Berck remained fourth, but Mike Wiarda replaced Zeitner in fifth.
 
After an off night July 2, the series moved to Enid, Okla., for a July 3 show. It was Anderson adding to his point lead with his second straight win. Boen remained in second and Smith third. Berck held on to fourth, but moved to within 20 points of Smith, with Wiarda still fifth.
 
Rookie of the year leader Jimmy Segraves continues to improve with each race. The Valley Center, Kan., driver was 15th in points after the first two shows. He had one top 10 finish in the four Speed Week events, a sixth at Enid, and climbed to eighth in points.
 
The series is idle until July 20-21 when they go to Mid-Nebraska Speedway in Doniphan, Neb., for the Pump ‘N’ Pantry Late Model Nationals. Kyle Berck and Darrin Miller each won features at last year’s event.
 
For more information about the NCRA, either visit their Web site at www.ncraracing.org or call the NCRA office at (316) 755-1781