National Championship Racing Association

Brown uses red flag to adjust car and win NCRA sprint race

By Randy Fisher
 
BELLEVILLE, Kan. (July 26, 2007) – Brian Brown used a red flag to make adjustments and retake the lead to win in the O’Reilly NCRA Sprint Car Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol, at the Belleville High Banks.
 
Pole sitter Don Droud Jr. led the field to the green but it was Brown grabbing the early lead from the outside pole and planting himself on the bottom. J.D. Johnson passed Droud on lap two and moved into second.
 
Brown led the way around the famed half-mile track before losing the point to Johnson on lap 13. When the leaders ran up on lapped traffic, Johnson was able to stay low while Brown had to move up high. They sandwiched a pair of back markers as Johnson, from Goddard, Kan., took the lead with the pass of the race.
 
Johnson stayed in front until Droud, second in points going into the evening, blew his engine on lap 15. A small fire under the racecar brought out the red flag. The Lincoln, Neb., driver was OK as safety workers quickly extinguished the fire, but the pause gave Brown’s crew time to adjust his racecar.
 
When they restarted lap 15, Brown could now run up top. The Grain Valley, Mo., hot shoe took the lead back on lap 16 as he passed Johnson on the outside. Brown led the way to the checker of the 20-lap race for his first NCRA feature win of the season and the second of his career.
 
Johnson finished second with point leader Garry Lee Maier in third and Mike Peters fourth. Derek Drown of Amarillo, Texas, was fifth after winning the B feature.
 
 
O'Reilly Finish Line
 
Heat #1: 1. Don Droud Jr., Lincoln, Neb.; 2. Jon Freeman, Salina, Kan.; 3. J.D. Johnson, Goddard, Kan.; 4. Mike Peters, Wichita, Kan.; 5. Tige Jensen, Lincoln, Neb.; 6. Stu Snyder, Waverly, Neb.; 7. Andy Shouse, Oklahoma City; 8. Terry Goodwin, Phoenix.
 
Heat #2: 1. Brian Brown, Grain Valley, Mo.; 2. Garry Lee Maier, Cimarron, Kan.; 3. A.J. Selenke, Wichita, Kan.; 4. Marc Robe, Wichita, Kan.; 5. Roger Sundquist, Holdrege, Neb.; 6. Derek Drown, Amarillo, Texas; 7. Mike Chadd, Lincoln, Neb.; 8. Paul Flynn, Abilene, Kan.; 9. Dan Freeman, Salina, Kan.
 
B feature: 1. Derek Drown, 2. Andy Shouse, 3. Stu Snyder, 4. Terry Goodwin, 5. Paul Flynn, 6. Dan Freeman, DNS: Mike Chadd.
 
A feature: 1. Brian Brown, 2. J.D. Johnson, 3. Garry Lee Maier, 4. Mike Peters, 5. Derek Drown, 6. Marc Robe, 7. Stu Snyder, 8. A.J. Selenke, 9. Jon Freeman, 10. Tige Jensen, 11. Dan Freeman, 12. Terry Goodwin, 13. Don Droud Jr., 14. Andy Shouse, 15. Roger Sundquist, 16. Paul Flynn, DNS: Mike Chadd.