NIGHT #2 AT HUTCHINSON NATIONALS

STARTED: 11TH

FINISHED: 6TH

John was scheduled to start the first heat race of the night on the inside of the second row. The polesitter had problems in hot laps and was unable to start the heat race. This moved John up to start the heat on the pole. He shot to the lead but going into turn one the outside polesitter, #10 Marc Hurd drove past John on the outside. John could run him down, but was unable to make the pass for the win. John finished 2nd. This put him 11th in passing points out of 44 modifieds. The top 5 would start on the outside row of the A feature. Two of the next 6 cars were already qualified for the inside row from Friday night's races. So John started the B feature on the outside of row 2. On the first start John took the lead on the second lap only to have the yellow flag fly and the officals call a complete restart. The outcome was the same though, as John jumped to the lead on lap 3 and drive off from the field. The B feature win would put him 11th in the A feature. John was following the cars around the top of the track in 11th when the yellow flag flew on lap 9. Then he started to make his move. On the restart he quickly raced up to 8th and was looking good. Then with 4 laps to go two cars made contact and got hooked together on the front straightaway right in front of John. Luckily they rolled to the infield and John got by without and problems. He was up to 6th on the final restart and that is where he would finish. #13 of Brent Burgkhart won, with Scott Green in second.

Burkhart Redeems, Claims Hutch Nationals NCRA Modified Victory

By David Smith, Jr.

Hutchinson, Kansas (July 25, 2009) - After bad luck struck him while leading the race Friday night, Brent Burkhart redeemed himself in a huge way as he won the O'Reilly/NCRA modified Hard Rock Hotel-Casino feature for his second career Hutchinson Grand Nationals championship on Saturday night on the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas.

By virtue of the most passing points in Friday nights Smiley's Race Products of Wichita heat races, Burkhart started on the pole for the fifteen lap championship finale and quickly jumped into the lead as the green flag fell. Greg Stephen's settled into second with Dan Daniel's and Marc Hurd giving chase. Hurd, the defending modified series champion looked to be making a quick move to the front as he passed Daniel's for third on lap two in turns three and four, only to see Daniel's return the favor in the next corner.

In the meantime Scott Green, who won Friday nights event, began making his move from his fifth starting position as he took over the third position on lap four.

Back up front it was Burkhart, who now had opened a six car length lead over Stephen's as Daniel's and Green stepped up their challenge for the runner up position.

As things were heating up the first caution of the feature fell on lap nine when Ryan Whitworth came to a stop at the top of turn four.

As racing resumed so did Green charge to the front has his Gressel Racing sponsored, Mullins Race Engines powered Hughes Race Car chassis passed Stephen's and Daniel's in turns one and two down low to take over the runner up position and set his sights on the leader. At the same time Jason Scniepp, who started sixth on the restart, quickly moved into the third position.

Back up front it was still Burkhart as he held a four car length lead with Green in tow when the final caution fell on lap nine when Schniepp and Daniel's got together coming out of turn four while battling for the third position.

On the final restart, Green attempted to dive low in turns one and two and briefly took the lead. However, Burkhart powered out of turn two and kept the top spot. Green would try the same move in turns three and four on the final lap but Burkhart would hold on to take the three car length victory and redemption from Friday nights defeat. "I wanted that real bad after last night," said a firm Burkhart in victory lane. "When Scott passed me on that last lap I thought I lost it but I just stood on it and held on."

Stephen's would hold on to finish third with Reimer fourth and defending series and Nationals champion Hurd rounding out the top five.

The Smiley's Race Products of Wichita heat races for the forty-five car field were won by Hurd, Scniepp, Stephen's, Green and Jim Johnson while Ryan McAninch took home the eight lap "C" feature with John Allen topping the ten lap "B" feature.

Kansas State Fairgrounds
Hutchinson, Kansas
July 25, 2009

HEAT 1 - 1, Marc Hurd. 2, John Allen. 3, Casey McClaskey. 4, Brian Franz. 5, Ryan McAninch. 6, Frank McGehee. 7, Craig Newell. 8, Bobby Bills. 9, Jay Purkey.

HEAT 2 - 1, Jason Schneipp. 2, Marlin Farr. 3, Dan Daniels. 4, Brad Johnston. 5, Ross Shipman. 6, Gary Douglas. 7, Buck Sewell. 8, Josh Loffland. 9, Lee Sabata.

HEAT 3 - 1, Greg Stephens. 2, Mark Schafman. 3, Don Renfro. 4, Mark Crough. 5, Brian Powers. 6, Shawn Langhover. 7, Mike Jarvis. 8, Jerrod Reimer. 9, Ken Sweet.

HEAT 4 - 1, Scott Green. 2, Ryan Whitworth. 3, Travis Govern. 4, Brian Casey. 5, Mike Miller. 6, Kyle Taylor. 7, Shawn Langhover, Jr. 8, Austin Allen. 9, Jordan Whitehead.

HEAT 5 - 1, Jim Johnson. 2, Jeremy Massey. 3, Cam Case. 4, Jim Armstrong. 5, Jim Graves. 6, Jim Pearcy. 7, Tommy Miller. 8, Spud Farrell. 9, Brent Burkhart.

C FEATURE - 1, Ryan McAninch. 2, Brian Powers. 3, Mike Miller. 4, Jim Armstrong. 5, Jim Graves. 6, Mark Crough. 7, Bobby Bills. 8, Kyle Taylor. 9, Frank McGehee. 10, Ross Shipman. 11, Mike Jarvis. 12, Spud Farrell. 13, Shawn Langhover. 14, Gary Douglas. 15, Tommy Miller. 16, Craig Newell. 17, Jim Pearcy. 18, Buck Sewell. 19, Josh Loffland. 20, Lee Sabata. 21, Shawn Langhover, Jr.

B FEATURE - 1, John Allen. 2, Marlin Farr. 3, Ryan Whitworth. 4, Jeremy Massey. 5, Jim Johnson. 6, Brian Franz. 7, Mark Schafman. 8, Brian Casey. 9, Ryan McAninch. 10, Brad Johnston. 11, Jim Armstrong. 12, Mike Miller. 13, Bobby Bills. 14, Ross Shipman. 15, Kyle Taylor. 16, Brian Powers. 17, Mark Crough. 18, Frank McGehee. 19, Cam Case. 20, Jim Graves.

A FEATURE 1, Brent Burkhart. 2, Scott Green. 3, Greg Stephens. 4, Jerrod Reimer. 5, Marc Hurd. 6, John Allen. 7, Casey McClaskey. 8, Brian Franz. 9, Jeremy Massey. 10, Brian Casey. 11, Marlin Farr. 12, Ryan McAninch. 13, Don Renfro. 14, Jim Johnson. 15, Dan Daniels. 16, Travis Govern. 17, Mark Schafman. 18, Jason Schneipp. 19, Bobby Bills. 20, Brad Johnston. 21, Jim Armstrong. 22, Ross Shipman. 23, Ryan Whitworth. 24, Mike Miller.

NIGHT #2 AT HUTCHINSON NATIONALS

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