Kellyville, Oklahoma – May 7, 2010 – In just his third night out in the Terry Pannell owned #33x late model stock car, five time series champion Kelly Boen of Henderson, Colorado wasted little time putting the car into victory lane as he took the victory in the second night of “Showdown in the Heartland II” as the MARS DIRTCar series and the O’Reilly/NCRA late model divisions both made their first ever appearance at Creek County Speedway in Kellyville, Oklahoma.
Boen started on the pole for the thirty lap feature and wasted little time getting to the front as the green flag fell. Third starting Al Purkey quickly drove underneath outside front row starter Will Vaught and pressured Boen throughout the early stages of the race as the twenty-four car field made their way around the tight quarter mile oval.
Five car lengths separated the two front runners as they began entering lapped traffic on lap nine. This allowed Purkey, the former two time O’Reilly/NCRA late model champion, to close to within one car length of Boen with both drivers swapping sheet metal. This also allowed Vaught to regain his form and make it a three car battle for the lead for the next several laps before the first caution of the race fell at the races midway point for debris in turn two.
Ronnie Warman would bring out a spin on the attempted restart and just one lap after going green, the caution waved once again on lap sixteen when sixth running Dean Moore, who received The Brake Man “tough brake” award, came to a stop in turn three with mechanical problems.
The restart would see Boen quickly open a five car length advantage over Purkey with Vaught still holding down the third position. Wallace and eleventh starting Jack Sullivan, aboard the GRT Race Cars house car were your top five for the next several laps before the final caution of the evening fell on lap twenty-seven when Bill Koons spun in turn four.
The final restart with just three laps to go saw a flurry of action as Vaught ducked underneath Purkey in turns one and two to take over the runner up position. Purkey would look to get back that second position the next time around trying the top side of the track in turns one and two. But nothing was there for the Coffeyville, Kansas veteran and Purkey would fade back to a seventh place finish.
Back up front with one lap to go, Vaught looked to have a run on Boen entering turns three and four. But the career leader in feature wins for NCRA held off the challenge and Boen was able to hold on for the one car length victory at the stripe.
“I wanted real bad to get this one for Terry (Pannell) as I feel I have let him down these past three races,” said Boen in victory lane. “He was nice enough to give me a phone call over the winter to drive his car and I was glad to do it. I am available anytime he is ready to race.” Sullivan’s charge from eleventh ended with a strong third place finish while seventeenth starting Eric Turner came home fourth. Wallace would settle for a fifth place finish. Kenny Schrader of Concord, North Carolina would work his way up from his ninth starting position to finish sixth.
Twenty-nine cars done battle in the four heat races with Moore, Boen, Wallace and Vaught picking up the ten lap victories while Turner held off Raymond Merrill for the ten lap “B” feature honors.
The next stop for night three of the “Showdown in the Heartland II” will take place Saturday night at Brill Motor Speedway in Meeker, Oklahoma where gates open at 4:30 PM and racing set for 7:00 PM. NASCAR star Schrader will once again be on hand to sign autographs and compete in his Federal Auto Parts late model stock car.
The National Championship Racing Association would like to thank the following contributors for their involvement with the late model division for the 2010 race season:
Official Sponsors: O’Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels
Official Contingency Partners: Arizona Sports Shirts, Bernheisel Racing Components, Hatfield Racing Engines, Hooker Harness, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Lazer Chassis, Peterson Fluid Systems, Pro Shocks, Racing Optics, Real Racing Wheels, Rod End Supply, Saldana Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Taylor Cable Products, The Joie of Seating, Ultra-Shield Race Products, Vertex Magnetos, Winters Performance Products
To learn more about the MARS DIRTCar series, you can check them out at http://www.dlra.net.
HEAT 1: 1, Dean Moore. 2, Zac Simmons. 3, Larry Campbell. 4, Darrell Mooneyham. 5, Dustin Mooneyham. 6, Jeremy Payne. 7, Justin Wells.
HEAT 2: 1, Kelly Boen. 2, Gary Christian. 3, Bill Koons. 4, Rylan Long. 5, Jason Obrien. 6, Waylan Petrie. 7, Jerry Warner.
HEAT 3: 1, Wendell Wallace. 2, Ken Schrader. 3, Jack Sullivan. 4, Ronnie Warman. 5, Raymond Merrill. 6, Corey Zeitner. 7, Justin Asplin.
HEAT 4: 1, Will Vaught. 2, Al Purkey. 3, Terry Phillips. 4, Jase Kaser. 5, Eric Turner. 6, Jason Trevathan. 7, Jason Redman. 8, Shawn Harker.
B FEATURE: 1, Eric Turner. 2, Raymond Merrill. 3, Corey Zeitner. 4, Dustin Mooneyham. 5, Justin Asplin. 6, Jason Trevathan. 7, Waylan Petrie. 8, Jason Redman. 9, Shawn Harker. DNS: Jeremy Payne, Ronnie Warman, Jase Kaser. 13, Jason Obrien, Jerry Warner, Justin Wells.
A FEATURE 1, Kelly Boen. 2, Will Vaught. 3, Jack Sullivan. 4, Eric Turner. 5, Wendell Wallace. 6,Ken Schrader. 7, Al Purkey. 8, Terry Phillips. 9, Rylan Long. 10, Larry Campbell. 11, Jeremy Payne. 12, Dean Moore. 13, Gary Christian. 14, Jason Obrien. 15, Jase Kaser. 16, Justin Asplin. 17, Bill Koons. 18, Darrell Mooneyham. 19, Dustin Mooneyham. 20, Raymond Merrill. 21, Zac Simmons. 22, Waylan Petrie. 23, Corey Zeitner. 24, Shawn Harker.
2010 O’Reilly/NCRA Late Model Contingencies
The Brake Man – Dean Moore
Peterson Fluid Systems Half Way Leader – Kelly Boen
Saldana Racing Products Runner Up – Will Vaught
The Joie of Seating Runner up – Will Vaught
Rod End Supply 3rd Place – Jack Sullivan
Real Wheels 5th Place – Wendell Wallace
Hooker Harness 8th Place Finisher – Terry Phillips
