By NICK SCHWIEN

nschwien@dailynews.net

BOONE, Iowa -- The car pulled into the pit stall, and Bryan LaRiviere killed the engine and hopped out, giving his fiancé a hug.

The sound of the next class of cars was beginning to rumble around the dirt paperclip known as Boone Speedway.

Finally, there was a smile from the Northern sport mod driver -- albeit a small one.

Despite finishing seventh in the big dance Saturday night at the prestigious IMCA Super Nationals in Boone, Iowa, LaRiviere still was wondering a bit what might have happened if he had brakes for the last half of the 30-lap, 30-car feature.

"We had a brake issue, and that's why I'm disappointed," LaRiviere said. "I think if we didn't have a brake issue, we would have been a whole lot better. We were good. I would have liked to beat those crate (engines). They're pretty dominant up here, but I really think if we didn't have a brake issue we'd have been a lot better."

On Saturday night, LaRiviere might not have been the best, but he sure was pretty darn good. He started outside the third row in the three-wide field and was into sixth place with a comfortable distance between him and the next car before a caution bunched the field up again.

The Wichita driver who runs predominantly at RPM Speedway in Hays, WaKeeney Speedway and Minneapolis Raceway, dropped to eighth before mustering enough horsepower to get a spot back.

His seventh-place finish was his best at the national event.

"You have to have luck and draw good,"  LaRiviere said. "Started third row outside, a great opportunity to capitalize on. I really felt we had a car tonight that had the capability of doing it."

LaRiviere, who has a comfortable lead to win track championships at Hays and WaKeeney and should wrap up those titles this weekend, qualified for the big show by finishing third in the last-chance qualifier.

After waiting out a lengthy feature in the hobby stock class right before him, LaRiviere idled his No. 2 Xtreme Motorsports and 1st Class Chassis machine under the catwalk and out onto the track with thousands of people watching.

"It was pretty cool," LaRiviere said. "It gives you chills running up your back, like a little cat when it stands up with its back up. Just not driving under the catwalk, but a lot of people that you know who usually don't root for you come up and bang on your car and tell you good luck, shake your hand, give you a fist bump."

LaRiviere, who has 32 feature wins this season, is the national points leader in the sport mod class. A strong outing this weekend could help him secure his first national title.

Jesse Sobbing of Glenwood, Iowa, is a close second in the points, and he finished inches shy of the super national crown Saturday. Scott Davis of Madrid, Iowa, beat Sobbing to the checkered flag in a photo finish. LaRiviere was the highest Kansas finisher in the class, and he notched the best finish by a Kansas driver in the six classifications that competed in Boone.

"We don't get a lot of respect from where we're from," LaRiviere said. " ... But to come up here and compete with these guys ... they didn't run away from me. I feel my 30 features are legit, and I hope they realize that.

"It's good to come up here and compete with these guys, just for the simple fact that you don't see a lot of them. You read about them, but I don't think we simply get the respect back home. This track ain't nothing compared to what I race on. To come up here and race with them on these types of tracks they're used to racing on, I am happy. I am tickled pink. We weren't the fastest car when we got here, but we made a lot of gains."

More than 180 sport mods competed during the week, with LaRiviere finally acknowledging his seventh-place finish was something special.

"Ultimately, I'm happy, excited," LaRiviere said. "But you know what, I'm really more excited for team Xtreme and 1st Class Chassis."

Then, the always humble LaRiviere put on the brakes -- not on his car, but on his excitement.

Then, he started wondering what he could do to improve.

"I'm already thinking about what I can do to get faster next time I come up here," he said.

"I'll get back in my maintenance log and write down how we did to improve the next time we come here."