NCRA Late Models at JMS July 1

From NCRA

PARK CITY, Kan. (June 27, 2006)

With victories in two of the last three features, defending series champion Kelly Boen has moved to within 45 points of the top spot in the O’Reilly NCRA Late Model Series, presented by ICM/Ethanol.

Steve Kosiski opened the season with two wins and has stayed on top of the standings. His June 17 victory at Dodge City (Kan.) Raceway Park gave him three wins in the first four shows and a 115-point lead over Boen. Both drivers are still running well – it’s just that Boen has been running a little better.

In the three shows since then, they each have three top five finishes. Kosiski has a second, third, and fifth; Boen has a pair of wins and a fifth.

On the season, Kosiski has seven top five finishes in as many shows. Boen can almost match those numbers, with a 12th-place finish at Lucas Oil Speedway being the only blemish.

With 11 races to go, including three this weekend, the championship is still definitely up for grabs. They make the first of two visits this season to Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Neb., on Saturday. Boen won two of three shows there last year and was fifth in the other. Kosiski raced there twice, finishing fourth and fifth.

Sunday the late models roll onto the famed Belleville (Kan.) High Banks where Boen has really been on a tear. He has won the last three shows at Belleville, including June 18. Kosiski hasn’t done as well, running fifth in June. Last year he was third in one show but didn’t make it out of the B-feature in the other.

They close the Fourth of July weekend with their annual visit to State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City on July 3. Boen wasn’t at last year’s show while Kosiski finished fourth.

Boen has a comfortable margin over Brett LaFollette, who holds third place by only 50 points over Billy Murphy. Rookie of the year point leader Steve Kempt trails Murphy by 57 points in the overall standings. Rookie of the year contender Gary Billings is sixth, only 14 points behind Kempt.

Only 105 points separate positions seven through 10. After winning his first-ever NCRA late model feature last weekend Johnny Bone Jr. is seventh, tied for eighth are former champions Delbert Smith (2001) and Al Purkey (2003-2004), while Ted Martin is tenth.

For more information about the O’Reilly NCRA Late Model Series, visit our Web site at www.ncraracing.org.