NCRA Sprint 2014 Season Review: A Tie for Two!

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NCRA Sprint 2014 Season Review: A Tie for Two!

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Park City, Kansas November 27, 2014 - The National Championship Racing Association of Park City, Kansas presented by Precise Racing Products sprint car division recently wrapped up their 2014 campaign and for only the second time in the tours 25 year history, there was a tie for the point championship.

 

The season kicked off with the fourth annual Air Capital Shootout at 81 Speedway in Park City on March 28th where a strong field of 39 sprinters filled the back pit area and third generation sprint car driver Kevin Swindell picked up the $5000 paycheck.

 

Next up, nearly one month later, it was a special non-nationals event atop the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson, Kansas where Norman, Oklahoma veteran Danny Wood took home the April 19th victory.

 

The second and third Saturday night in May saw two new venues for the series in consecutive weeks. The first came atop Butler County Speedway in Rising City, Nebraska in a co-sanctioned event with the Nebraska 360 sprint series. On this night it was Jack Dover picking up his first of five tour victories of the season.

 

One week later it was yet another new venue, this to the Northwest Oklahoma community of Longdale, Oklahoma and the half mile Longdale Speedway and what better way to break in a new track than to put a new face in victory circle as Jeff Stasa of Kingman, Kansas scored his first career sprint car victory.

 

A special Fathers Day edition at 81 Speedway was up next where Dover once again found victory lane.

 

The tour closed out the month of June in a much anticipated co-sanctioned weekend with the American Bank of Oklahoma American Sprint Car Series Sooner region. It all kicked off on Saturday night, June 28, at Dodge City Raceway Park in Dodge City, Kansas where 23 cars were on hand for the new home of Steve King Memorial. On this night it was four time and defending tour champion C.J. Johnson bringing home a victory for the series and his only victory on the tour in 2014.

 

A strong field of 29 sprints were on hand for night two of the swing, this at 81 Speedway where Aaron Reutzel scored his first career NCRA victory and one for ASCS.

 

Butler County Speedway hosted the tour for the last time in 2014 on July 12th where Dover once again got the best of NCRA and the Nebraska 360s.

 

Next up was the end of July, which meant only one thing in the region, the 58th annual Hutchinson Grand Nationals atop the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson. For the second year in a row it was Dover taking home the $3000 first place prize and Hutch Nationals trophy.

 

The first of two originally scheduled Labor Day weekend events took place on Saturday night, August 30, at 81 Speedway and it was J.D. Johnson breaking four year victory draught with the series, picking up the victory aboard the #8w Whitehead Motorsports sprinter. The next nights annual Labor Day trip to the Belleville High Banks was nixed by rain.

 

The following weekend was the tours annual trip to Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska where they were joined by the American Sprint Car Series Midwest Region and for the third time this year the tour made its way into the Husker State, Dover once gain found victory lane, his fifth and final on the tour in 2014.

 

This set up a two car showdown for the season championship, occurring on Saturday night, September 27, at 81 Speedway where Danny Wood picked up his second tour victory of the season.

 

Former tour champion Jeremy Campbell came into the night with a forty point lead over C.J. Johnson and it looked as though he would claim his second series championship as he was running second most of the feature finale. But just past the half way point the oil line broke on his family owned #10c causing him a sixteenth place finish. Johnson would go on to finish seventh and at the time it was five points short of a tie for the championship. However, as is customary at the end of each race season, NCRA officials went back through all the results and it was discovered there was a tie for the point championship.

 

It was only the second time in the series history a tie for the point championship occurred as Larry Neighbors and Kirby Hagens accomplished this back in 1995. In fact, this wasnt event the closets point battle in series history as the 1995 season also saw Clay Bontrager fall just five point short of making it a three way tie for the NCRA sprint title.

 

Jon Freeman would finish third in the point standings while J.D. Johnson and Stasa rounded out the top five. Jake Greider finished sixth in the standings as well as earning rookie of the year honors. Raymond Seeman, who finished second to Greider in rookie honors, came home seventh in the standings followed by Dover, Tyler Drueke and Jordan Weaver.

 

Those drivers who finished in the top ten in the standings and competed in 75% of the thirteen races that were completed will be officially rewarded at the 2014 series banquet on January 31, 2015 in Wichita, Kansas.

 

The National Championship Racing Association would like to thank the following series partners and those who climbed aboard during the season to make 2014 one to be remembered: Park City, Kansas, Precise Racing Products, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, A to Z Oil Field Services, Pat McVicker Oil Field Services..