National Championship Racing Association

Hurd Doubles Up With Modified Win at Belleville
 
By David Smith, Jr.

BELLEVILLE,   Kan. (Aug. 31, 2008) -- Current series points leader Marc Hurd of Wichita, Kansas followed up his Hutchinson Nationals feature win from last weekend with his second feature victory in a row, this one in convincing fashion, as he won the O'Reilly/NCRA modified presented by ICM/Ethanol feature Sunday night at the Belleville High Banks in Belleville, Kansas.
 
Greg Stephens and Don Renfro started on the front row for the fifteen lap feature with Stephens taking the lead on the initial start before it was waved off when Tyler Henderson spun in turns one and two.

The complete restart saw no different out come as Stephens again jumped out front with Renfro, sixth starting Brian Powers and Hurd giving chase as the green flag fell. Renfro would slide high to the turn three guardrail allowing Hurd to drive underneath Powers and Renfro into the second position with Powers falling in behind into third.

Stephens would open a fifteen car length lead atop the big half mile high banks by lap four but just a couple of laps later, Hurd and his Briley Racing Engines/Bills Built chassis would close the deficit to three car lengths by lap six.
 
Lap eight saw the leaders enter lapped traffic for the first time allowing Hurd and his Alternative Pest Management, Parker Oil Company sponsored modified to pull to within one car length of the leader. One lap later the race would go under caution for the last time when Dustin Briley coasted to a stop in turn two.

The final restart saw Powers, who was sitting third, make a move down low in turns one and two on the two front runners but couldn't make the move stick. However, Hurd would be right on Stephens rear bumper and entering turns three and four on lap eleven, would pull even with Stephens coming down the front stretch before taking the lead for good entering turns one and two. Powers would follow suit and pass Stephens for the runner up position and had his sights on the leader. However, there was no catching Hurd on this night as he went the final three laps unchallenged to take the fifteen car length victory over Powers to secure his second feature victory of the season and one step closer to his first ever NCRA modifiied championship. Stephens would settle for third with Renfro and John Thompson rounding out the top five.

The eight lap heat races for the twenty-five cars on hand were won by Hurd, Stephens and Renfro.

 
O'Reilly Finish Line

Heat 1: 1, Marc Hurd. 2, Jon Thompson. 3, Brad Johnston. 4, Kurt Johnston. 5, Jarrod Johnston. 6, Brett Behrends. 7, Clind Gilmore. 8, Tony Foster. 9, Scott Phillips.

Heat 2: 1, Greg Stephens. 2, Joe Cleveland. 3, Kirk Coleman. 4, Ryan Hegar. 5, Travis Govern. 6, Micaah Johnson. 7, Jimmie Hobbs. 8, Rick Germar. 

Heat 3: 1, Don Renfro. 2, Marlin Farr. 3, Brian Powers. 4, Dustin Briley. 5, Brian Casey. 6, Dan Daniels. 7, Jordan Whitehead. 8, Tyler Henderson. 

A feature: 1, Marc Hurd. 2, Brian Powers. 3, Greg Stephens. 4, Don Renfro. 5, Jon Thompson. 6, Kurt Johnston. 7, Joe Cleveland. 8, Brad Johnston. 9, Marlin Farr. 10, Kirk Coleman. 11, Dan Daniels. 12, Jarrod Johnston. 13, Brian Casey. 14, Travis Govern. 15, Jordan Whitehead. 16, Scott Phillips. 17, Ryan Heger. 18, Brett Behrends. 19, Clint Gilmore. 20, Tyler Henderson. 21, Tony Foster. 22, Dustin Briley. 23, Micaah Johnson. 24, Jimmie Hobbs.