PARK CITY, Kan. (Sept. 8, 2007) – Brian Franz of Halstead, Kansas inched closer to his fifth consecutive division championship Saturday night but it didn't come without some drama with one lap to go as the O'Reilly National Championship Racing Association modified series presented by ICM/Ethanol made their fourth appearance of the season at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas.

 

   Marc Hurd of Wichita and Franz started on the front row for the thirty lap feature with Franz jumping out into the lead as the green flag fell. Hurd, Brian Powers, Brian Casey and Bill Stahl gave chase as Franz and his Bills Built chassis quickly built a six car length advantage. Lap four saw Casey get a strong run on Hurd and Powers and took over the fourth position on lap four before Hurd would retake the position two laps later.

 

   Franz kept his six car length lead throughout the early stages of the race but his pace slowed when the first of three caution flags fell on lap eight when division rookie of the year contender Casey McClaskey came to a stop off of turn four.

 

   When the race resumed, Franz stretched back out front while behind him, Casey would get around Hurd for the runner up position with Powers, Stahl and seventh starting Delbert Smith giving chase. The leader would eventually open up an eight car length lead by the races midway point before Casey would close the gap on lap seventeen.

 

   On lap eighteen the second caution flag would wave, this coming from the Don Foster owned modified driven by Powers, who lost power and slowed going down the backstretch. Powers, who came into the night third in the series point standings, would end up finishing 18th to continue a week-long string of misfortune.

 

   The restart got the crowd to it's feet as Casey would drive underneath Franz entering turns one and two to take the lead as the pair drove down the backstretch. But the lead change was all for naught as Kirk Coleman would lose power and come to a stop in turn two.

 

   Franz would stay down low on this restart and jump out in front with Casey, Hurd and eleventh starting Jeremy Massey the top four on lap eighteen. Behind them, all eyes were on the fast closing Mike Jarvis of Wichita. Jarvis, who won the "C" feature and finished fourth in the "B" feature to transfer to the "A", started fourteenth and appeared to be the fastest car on the track at this point.

 

   With Franz having built a five car length lead on lap twenty, the battle for second through fifth was a side-by-side affair as Casey, Hurd, Massey and Jarvis all battled for position. Five laps later Hurd would get a run on Casey entering turns one and two and would take over the runner-up position before the final caution would fall on lap twenty-eight when Casey's night would come to an end as he came to a stop in turn four.

 

   The final restart was an exciting one as Franz would slow a bit getting into turn one. Hurd got a strong run at the top of turns one and two and with both drivers racing side by side down the backstretch. Hurd would officially lead lap twenty-nine by inches before Franz drove hard in turns one and two and made the move stick as he out ran Hurd going down the backstretch. Franz would enter turns three and four with a little breathing room and would go on to take the four car length victory for the second time in NCRA action this season, the 23rd series victory of his career.

 

   "We lost our front brakes around lap three and about midway we started getting real loose," said Franz in victory lane. "We felt good there around the bottom and I knew if we wouldn't push too bad we would be all right." 

 

   Hurd would settle for second with Jarvis passing the most cars of the night to finish third. Current series modified rookie of the year leader Massey would finish a strong fourth while Greg Stephens also put on a passing clinic, rounding out the top five after starting in the sixteenth position.

 

   The ten lap heat races for the thirty-seven cars signed in were won by McClaskey, Casey, Powers, Hurd and Franz. Jarvis took the previously mentioned, ten lap "C" feature over Jason Yager while Jimmie Hobbs won the fifteen lap "B" main.

 

   The next stop for the O'Reilly NCRA modifieds presented by ICM/Ethanol will be the season ending "Fall Classic" back at 81 Speedway on Friday through Sunday night, October 5-7th.