Published: June 30, 2008 11:47 pm         

NCRA returns to Enid on Saturday

The O’Reilly/National Championship Racing Association (NCRA) late models presented by ICM/Ethanol will make their season debut at Enid Speedway Park Saturday night for the annual Firecracker Nationals.

The four-day barnburner will kick off at Nebraska Raceway Park in Greenwood, Neb., Wednesday before heading to Eagle Raceway in Lincoln, Neb., Thursday. On Friday night, the series contenders will take command of the Belleville High Banks in Kansas with the grand finale on the Garfield County Fairgrounds track on Saturday.

Three-time and defending NCRA late model champion Kelly Boen comes into the event with nearly a 200-point lead over John Anderson of Omaha, Neb. Kyle Berck sits third in point standings followed by Mike Wiarda and 2001 series champ Delbert “The Ice Man” Smith.

Other drivers expected to compete include series regulars Joe Kosiski, Mike Collins, Ben Schaller, Bill Koons, Jerry Warner, Kelly Dunn, Steve Foster, Ryan Rairden, Greg Larson, Ted Martin and Jason Schobinger. More than 30 drivers are expected for this special series event.

Racing at the Garfield County Fairgrounds track is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. The card will include action-packed racing in all of the track’s regular divisions, followed by the annual fireworks extravaganza.

The 25th anniversary season of the O’Reilly NCRA late model division promises to be huge as close to 23 drivers have indicated their intentions on competing full-time with the series in 2008. NCRA is the nation’s longest running late model sanctioning body in the country and 20 races are scheduled for this season. The National Championship Racing Association is entering its 38th season of sanctioning dirt track races, this year in five different states in its sprint car, modified and late model divisions combined.

To learn more on the history of NCRA, rules, schedules and more, log on to their official website http://www.ncraracing.org.