By David Smith Jr.
– Midwest City, Oklahoma – October 12, 2010 – The 21st consecutive season for the O’Reilly/NCRA sprint car series will come to an end this coming Saturday night as the tour heads to the historic fairgrounds half mile oval at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas. And with the finale, the 2010 series champion will be officially decided with two drivers having a realistic shot at the championship while one driver still has an outside chance at his first career championship.
Fresh off his first career O’Reilly/NCRA sprint car feature victory this past Saturday night at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas, Jeremy Campbell of Wichita comes in as the series point’s leader by 85 points over five time and defending series champion Garry Lee Maier of Cimarron. Goddard, Kansas driver J.D. Johnson still has an outside shot at his first title as he sits 190 points out of the lead. Those three drivers have each reached victory lane once out of the eleven feature events that have been held this year.
2008 series champion Mike Peters holds down the fourth position in the point standings while Jon Freemans strong season has him fifth in the point standings, just 75 points behind Peters.
Rounding out the top ten in the point standings and expected to compete include Luke Cranston, two time feature winner Jason Martin, A.J. Selenke, Aaron Berryhill and Gavin Punch.
Campbell is in his first year driving for long-time series car owner Danny King and first time to compete with the O’Reilly/NCRA and has not disappointed. He has finished in the top five seven times and has finished all eleven races that have been held, making the top ten in each.
The last series visit held at the track earlier this year as part of the 54th annual Hutchinson Grand Nationals saw Norman, Oklahoma’s Danny Jennings pick up the victory. Danny won the first night of the two day show back over the 4th of July weekend but rain washed out the finale. The rescheduled date one month later saw Jennings make a return trip to lead wire to wire the finale and his second career Hutch Grand Nationals victory and third victory over all. He is not expected to be competing this weekend, however.
Gates will open at 5:00 PM while racing is slated to begin at 7:00 PM. The Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson is located west of SR 61 on 17th Ave., then north on Poplar. For more information call the NCRA office (316) 755-1781.
The 2010 race season is the 40th Anniversary season for the O’Reilly Auto Parts National Championship Racing Association and sanctions five divisions, including late models, sprint cars, modified north, modified south and southern modifieds throughout the Great Plains region in the following states: Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. To find out more on the series, check out their website www.ncraracing.org. For other inquiries on the series and any one of their five divisions, contact the office (316) 755-1781.
Officials with the O’Reilly/NCRA would like to welcome the following for their partnership with the sprint car division for the 2010 race season:
OFFICIAL SPONSORS: O’Reilly Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels
CONTINGENCY SPONSORS: Arizona Race Shirts, Airflow Racing Products, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Hooker Harness, Kiezer Racing Wheels, Pro Shocks, Racing Optics, Rod End Supply, Saldana Race Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Super Shox, Taylor Cable Products, The Joie of Seating, Ultra Shield, Vertex Magnetos and Winters Performance Products.
Rank Car Driver Points
1 E85 Jeremy Campbell 3025
2 1X Garry Lee Maier 2940
3 98 J.D. Johnson 2835
4 51 Mike Peters 2620
5 81 Jon Freeman 2545
6 20 Luke Cranston 2455
7 36 Jason Martin 2340
8 43 A.J. Selenke 2295
9 97 Aaron Berryhill 2230
10 81au Gavin Punch 1985