National Championship Racing Association

 
Franz Heading towards Fifth Championship
 
PARK CITY, Kan. (Aug. 29, 2007) – With just three shows left, Brian Franz is zeroing in on another title in the O’Reilly NCRA Modified Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol.
 
The four-time defending series champion from Halstead, Kan., has a 130-point lead over rookie Jeremy Massey. Brian Powers sits in third, 45 points behind Massey.
 
The series last raced Aug. 11 at 81 Speedway. That’s when Powers won his fourth career NCRA feature and jumped from seventh to third. Massey was second to Powers and moved back into the runner-up spot in points.
 
Prior to that show, Franz had six consecutive finishes of sixth or better, four of them no worse than third. He was fourth late in that race when a flat tire dropped him to 16th.
 
Sunday the series returns to the famed Belleville (Kan.) High Banks in what should be a wide-open race. Franz doesn’t run as well there as other places, but he definitely does OK. Last year, he won in July and was eighth in September. Earlier this year, Franz was third behind John Allen and Marc Hurd.
 
Only two other current top 10 drivers have more than one top 10 finish in the last three shows at Belleville. Tied for fifth in the standings, Hurd won in September and was second this year. Greg Burt is 10th in points and runs well there in July. He finished eighth in 2006 and fourth this year.
 
Don Renfro had a pair of fourth-place finishes at Belleville last year but was a DNF in July. He is 19th in points this season.
 
The modifieds wrap up their season with two shows at 81 Speedway, Sept. 8 and Oct. 5-7.
 
For more information about the NCRA, either visit their Web site at www.ncraracing.org or call the NCRA office at (316) 755-1781.