Kent SLYDE King captain Luke Bowen finished 4th in last nights NLRC at Leicester after scoring 10 points.
Fellow Kent SLYDE Kings heat leader James Shanes scored 5 points, in a meeting that was won by Cradley Heathens rider Max Clegg with 14 points, Second place was Rye House rider and defending champion Ben Morley after a run off with third place Birmingham rider Tom Perry.
After 4 rounds of races Luke Bowen was still in contention on 10 points as he lied second in the standings, just one point behind leader Clegg who was unbeaten on 12 and 3 ahead of Morley, the three would meet in heat 19.
The cruicial heat saw Luke Bowen leading with Clegg in third this would have meant a run off for the title between the two. However Luke then fell causing Morley to lay the bike down in order to avoid a worse accident. The re-run was won by Morley from Clegg.
Proceedings got off to a bumpy start for the two Kings representatives as they met in Heat 2. They were involved in a 4 man crash on the first turn. After being checked over by the paramedics Shanes was given the all clear to race. It's the second time this week James Shanes has been involved in a first bend crash in his opening ride.
The rerun was won by Cradley's Ashley Morris from Luke Bowen, whilst James Shanes had a terrific battle for third place with Ryan Blacklock of Buxton. James got the point.
Luke then won his second race from Lee Payne before another second behind Tom Perry in his third outing. James Shanes picked up a second place behind Morley in his second ride before running a last in his third.
Luke won his fourth ride from the gate over Mildenhall's Dan Halsey and Stoke's Ben Wilson. James picked up a third place point in each of his last two rides to finish with a total of 5.
NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP, at Leicester 1. Max Clegg (Cradley) 14 2. Ben Morley (Rye House) 11 After run off 3. Tom Perry (Birmingham) 11 Other Scorers: Luke Bowen 10, Matt Williamson 9, Nathan Greaves 8, Ben Wilson 8, Lee Payne 7, Ashley Morris 7, Jake Knight 7, Mark Baseby 6, Daniel Halsey 5, Ryan Blacklock 4, Rob Branford 4, James Shanes 4, Chris Widman (Res) 4, Ryan Kinsley (Res) 1, Liam Carr 0.
