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David Smith, Jr. NCRA Press Releases (405) 740-4769 Franz Opens NCRA Modified Season with Victory Former five-time series champion Brian Franz of Halstad, Kansas took the lead at the start and held off a late race charge from Greg Stephen's to win the O'Reilly/NCRA modified season opener Saturday night at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas. Franz and Casey McClaskey started on the front row for the twenty-five lap Cherokee Casino-Resort feature with Franz and his Shadow Racing Engines powered Bills Built chassis taking the lead as the green flag fell. Fifth starting Rodney Dodd fell into the third position behind McClaskey as the leader would open a three car length lead by lap two. Mike Jarvis quickly moved through the field from his ninth starting position and into the third position by lap three and closed on the two front runners one lap later. The first caution flag of the race fell on lap five when Nic Baalman came to a stop at the bottom of turn two. The restart saw Franz again power away from the field and by lap six had opened a ten car length advantage over McClaskey. Eighth starting Stephen's worked his way up into the top three and was challenging McClaskey and Jarvis for the runner up position when the caution waved on lap eight when Shawn Govern slid to a stop off turns one and two. Once racing resumed for the Cherokee Casino-Resort feature, Franz again pulled away while Jarvis over took McClaskey for the runner up position on the restart. With Franz pulling to a ten car length lead by lap ten, the caution would again wave on lap eleven when 2008 NCRA modified champion Marc Hurd and Randy Woodside got together and spun in turn two. Stephen's would move into the runner up position on the restart while Jarvis, McClaskey and Dan Daniel's battled for the third position. Franz and his Pro Motor Sports/RCG Graphics sponsored modified looked to have things under control approaching the five laps to go signal. But the final caution for debre on the front stretch would close the front runners for the five lap dash to the checkered flag. The final restart saw Franz, who worked all race long at the bottom of turns one and two and high entering turns three and four, slow a bit coming out of turn two allowing the top running Stephen's to nudge up the the leaders bumper. Franz would maintain the lead in turns three and four, only to have Stephen's again close in turns one and two. But Stephens could never get close enough to get around the leader and Franz went on to claim the five car length victory. Jarvis finished in the third position with Grant Junghans coming home fourth. Dan Daniel's worked his way up from his thirteenth starting position to round out the top five. For Franz it was his series best 27th career NCRA modified victory, this one with a little help from his crew. "They kept signaling to me that they were getting a run on me in turns one and two," said Franz in victory lane." But I didn't want to go moving around the race track because if felt pretty comfortable with the line I was running." With the former five-time series champion picking up the point lead and leading point standings, will he attempt to become a six time series champion? "We are just taking this one race at a time and then see where we are at in the end." The eight lap heat races for the 44 car field were won by Franz, McClaskey, Jason McGehee, Ryan McAninch and Ken Sweet. The 12 lap "C" feature was won by defending series champion Marc Hurd while Brian Powers picked up the fifteen lap "B" feature honors. The next stop for the NCRA modifieds will be back at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas on Saturday night, May 23rd. The O'Reilly/National Championship Racing Association would like to thank the following sponsors for their support of the 12th consecutive season for the NCRA modifieds during this 2009 race season: SPONSORS: O'Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Race Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, Cherokee Casino-Resort CONTINGENCY: Design 500, Hoffman Race Cars, Billsbuilt Chassis, Racing Optics, BSB Manufacturing, Belleville Motor Sports, Schoenfeld Headers, Hatfield Racing Engines, Taylor Cable Products, Bassett Wheels, Pro Shocks, Ultra Shield, Pro Motor Sports, AFCO Race Products, The Brake Man and Arizona Sport Shirts. Cherokee Casino A Feature: 1) Brian Franz 2) Greg Stephens 3) Mike Jarvis 4) Grant Junghans 5) Danny Daniels 6) Brian Powers 7) Casey McClaskey 8) Ryan McAninch 9) Jason McGehee 10) Rodney Dodd 11) Marc Hurd 12) Randy Woodside 13) Ross Shipman 14) Cody Gearhart 15) Shawn Govern 16) Brian Casey 17) Don Renfro 18) Ken Sweet 19) Jason Schniep 20) Nic Baalman B Feature: 1) Brian Powers 2) Ross Shipman 3) Dan Daniels 4) Don Renfro 5) Randy Woodside 6) Jason Schiep 7) Cody Gearhart 8) Marc Hurd 9) Travis Govern 10) Nic Baalman 11) Jeremey Massey 12) Marlin Farr 13) Strawn Taylor 14) Bill Siemers 15) Jim Johnson 16) Craig Miller 17) Bill Stahl 18) Jerry Schniep 19) Dustin Briley 20) Jason Lutkie
C Feature: 1) Marc Hurd 2) Dustin Briley 3) Randy Woodside 4) Jim Johnson 5) Nic Baalman 6) Jeremey Massey 7) Bill Siemers 8) Strawn Taylor 9) Bill Stahl 10) Marlin Farr 11) Travis Govern 12) Bobby Bills 13) JD Greshman 14) Adam Schrug 15) Kirk Coleman 16) Ryan Heger 17) Gary Whitmore 18) Ron Heger 19) Joe Cleveland 20) Bo Key 21) Jim Pearcy 22) Jason Roe 23) Kevin Patton DNS: Spud Farrell
1st Heat: 1) Brian Franz 2) Grant Junghans 3) Cody Gearhart 4) Bill Siemers 5) Ryan Heger 6) Joe Cleveland 7) Jason Roe 8) JD Greshman 9) Marlin Farr
2nd Heat: 1) Casey McClaskey 2) Rodney Dodd 3) Don Renfro 4) Jason Schniep 5) Marc Hurd 6) Jeremey Massey 7) Bo Key 8) Kevin Patton DQ Bob Bills (Light at Scales)
3rd Heat: 1) Jason McGehee 2) Brian Casey 3) Ross Shipman 4) Dan Daniels 5) Dustin Briley 6) Jim Johnson 7) Nic Baalman 8) Travis Govern 9) Kirk Coleman
4th Heat: 1) Ryan McAninch 2) Mike Jarvis 3) James Lutkie 4) Jason Schniep 5) Strawn Taylor 6)Spud Ferrill 7) Ron Heger 8) Gary Whitmore
5th Heat: 1) Ken Sweet 2) Greg Stephens 3) Brian Powers 4) Craig Miller 5) Shawn Govern 6) Adam Schrag 7) Randy Woodside 8) Bill Stahl 9) Jim Pearcy
David Smith Jr.
www.oklahomatidbits.com
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