PARK CITY, Kans. (Sept. 1, 2007) - Kelly Boen took a step closer to his third consecutive series championship as he retook the lead with six laps to go and manhandled his damaged car to win the thirty lap O'Reilly NCRA Late Model presented by ICM/Ethanol feature as the series made their first and only appearance Saturday night at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas. The race was co-sanctioned with the Topless Outlaw Racing Association (TORA) late models.

 

   Boen and Kyle Berck started on the front row and paced the field to green with Boen taking the lead entering turns one and two as the green flag fell. Berck, Steve Foster, Chris Hawkins and Gary Gorby fell into position as Boen and his Rocket Chassis would open a half stretch lead by lap three. It stayed that way for two laps before the first of two caution flags fell on lap five when John Kuchar and Gorby, aboard the Earl Kinderknecht ride, got together in turns one and two.

 

   On the restart, Boen throttled out to the front at the top of the three-eighths mile oval and began to pull away from the rest of the field. Behind him, all eyes were on "B" feature winner Jerry Warner as the LaVista, Nebraska driver had moved up to fifth from his eleventh starting position, passing Foster. On lap ten, Berck dropped to the bottom side of the track and began to reel in the leader and as the front runners began approaching lapped traffic, moved to within one car length of the lead.

 

   The fourteenth lap saw a change for the lead as Boen continued to work the high side while Berck found the bottom to his liking and entering turn one, drove underneath to take the lead and quickly open an eight car length advantage.

 

   At the races midway point it was Berck, followed by Boen, Foster, rookie contender Jimmy Seagraves and Warner as the front runners began entering heavy lapped traffic. Lap eighteen saw Boen's chances for victory take an apparent hit as he made contact with an infield tractor tire entering turn three. Despite a broke tie rod on the left front, he kept the pressure on the leader as the leaders continued working lapped traffic.

 

   Lap twenty-three saw yet a new twist to the race as Berck bobbled and drifted high in turn three allowing Boen to sneak underneath and retake the lead. Berck would recover and stay within four car lengths of the leader before the second and final caution fell on lap twenty-six when Justin Kinderknecht spun in turns three and four, which was then followed by a Gorby spin in turn one on the restart.

 

   The final restart saw Boen continue to nurse his ill-handling car out front and held on the final four laps to take his sixth series feature of the season and move one step closer to yet another series championship. "My crew didn't tell me to move to the bottom of the track so when Kyle got under me, it took me by surprise," said Boen, who was icing his left hand after jamming his wrist when contact was made with the tractor tire. "We just kept pace with him (Berck) and when he made that little mistake we took advantage of it." Following Boen and his AFCO shock and Peterson Fluid Systems sponsored Rocket Chassis was Berck, followed by a strong and consistent run by Abiliene, Kansas race veteran Foster. Seagraves finished fourth while thirteenth started Bryant Goldsmith rounded out the top five.

 

   The three, eight lap heat races for the thirty car field were won by Warman, Berck and Boen while Warner took the lead from early race leader Chris Kratzer on lap four and went the rest of the way unchallenged to win the twelve lap "B" feature.

 

O'Reilly Finish Line


Heat #1: 1, Ronnie Warman. 2, Chris Hawkins. 3, Mike Wiarda. 4, Steve Foster. 5, Camron Winter. 6, Jim Beaman. 7, Michael Furthmyer. 8, Zeck Hanger. 9, John Kuchar. 10, Ted Martin.

Heat #2: 1, Kyle Berck. 2, Gary Gorby. 3, Andy Gerstenkorn. 4, Chris Kratzer. 5, Delbert Smith. 6, Justin Hoepker. 7, Jason Schobinger. 8, Justin Kinderknecht. 9, Greg Larsen. 10, Ryan McAninch.

Heat #3: 1, Kelly Boen. 2, Jimmy Segraves. 3, Brad Fortney. 4, Jerry Warner. 5, Bryant Goldsmith. 6, Ryan Rairden. 7, Shaun Buckley. 8, Kelly Dunn. 9, David Brack. 10, Wylan Petrie.


B-feature: 1, Jerry Warner. 2, Chris Kratzer. 3, Bryant Goldsmith. 4, Delbert Smith. 5, John Kuchar. 6, Ryan Rairden. 7, Camron Winter. 8, Jason Schobinger. 9, David Brack. 10, Justin Kinderknecht. 11, Wylan Petrie. 12, Jim Beaman. 13, Kelly Dunn. 14, Greg Larsen. 15, Justin Hoepker. 16, Shaun Buckley. 17, Michael Furthmyer.
A Feature: 1, Kelly Boen. 2, Kyle Berck. 3, Steve Foster. 4, Jimmy Segraves. 5, Bryant Goldsmith. 6, Jerry Warner. 7, Ronnie Warman. 8, Chris Kratzer. 9, Camron Winter. 10, Ryan Rairden. 11, David Brack. 12, Mike Wiarda. 13, Delbert Smith. 14, John Kuchar. 15, Justin Hoepker. 16, Gary Gorby. 17, Jim Beaman. 18, Kelly Dunn. 19, Justin Kinderknecht. 20, Andy Gerstenkorn. 21, Chris Hawkins. 22, Jason Schobinger. 23, Brad Fortney. 24, Greg Larsen.