OKOTOKS, AB. – The $100,000 Northern Provincial Pipeline Late Model Series paid fans at Rocky Mountain Raceway Park a visit Saturday night.  This was the NPP Series’ only visit of the 2006 season to this southern Alberta racetrack.  A thunder and lightning storm greeted the twenty race teams as they arrived at the track Saturday afternoon.  Drivers and crew began wondering if they were even going to get to race.  Many huddled inside their trailers.  Others began strategizing what effect the rain would have on track conditions.  When the sun broke through the clouds all race teams knew it was time to go racing.  Cody Graber, Jeff Grundberg, Mike Tom, Gerry Emond, Dwight Kennedy and Jason Beaulieu won their heat races.  The father and son race team of Gerry and Trevor Emond were early favorites heading into the Feature event after individual victories at this track last season.  But it was Series point leader Dwight Kennedy who won his fourth Feature of the year.  The victory was by a less than a fender at the finish line.  Jason Beaulieu challenged Kennedy for the final five laps moving under the Edson Alberta driver on the final corner and was just three feet shy of grabbing his first win of the season.  “It was close,” says the Campbell River, BC driver, “it would have been nice to put this Dodge in first place but Kennedy ran a good race.”  Feature winner Dwight Kennedy was extremely pleased with his hard fought victory.  “I had to win plain and simple” says Kennedy, “ with drivers gaining behind me (in points) and considering what happened to me here last year, there was no way I wanted Jason to get by me.”  Kennedy was black flagged at his last appearance at Rocky Mountain Raceway.  Kennedy believes that disqualification cost him a top three finish in 2005 points.  “I had a little bit of a score to settle,” adds Kennedy, “having a Dodge finish one and two just tops it off nicely.”  For the third race event in a row, Gerry Emond had a podium finish.  Emond says he was fortunate to finish this high.  “We were driving a hurtin’ car this evening.  We think we broke a push rod so we were running only 7 cylinders.  We would have been in real trouble if this was a bigger racetrack.”  The third place finish keeps Emond solidly in second place in the NPP Late Model standings.  The Edmonton Alberta driver is only 141 points behind Dwight Kennedy.  “We are going to push him to the max in Drayton Valley (Aug. 19/20) and the remaining races in September.  This season is far from over.”  After the Feature there were some fireworks in the competitor pits.  Three-time series champion Trevor Emond and Mike Tom had a little ‘chat’.  The ingredients for the ‘blow up’ were there with Emond desperate to claim his fourth consecutive Series crown and Tom trying to salvage his worst season ever in a stock car.  Tom was upset over an aggressive pass Emond made to take over fourth spot.  It took several crew members and track staff to separate the two ‘hot’ drivers.  No penalties or fines were handed out.  Emond sits third in the point standings.  Tom is only 74 points out of the top 10 in the NPP standings after missing close to half the season after a devastating crash the end of May in Edmonton.  The final road trip of the season wraps up the most grueling part of the 2006 Northern Provincial Pipelines Late Model season.  Drivers and crew find themselves at another inaugural race event and back to back race event.  NPP Late Model teams visit Rapid Fire Motorsports Park in Drayton Valley this Saturday and Sunday August 26 & 27.