By Greg Soukup
Saturday’s Memorial Day Extravaganza, presented by Twin Rivers and Pepsi had some marked differences from the past few weeks. First of all, even though it was breezy the temperature was nicely into the 80’s probably resulting in the crowd being much larger. The track was in great shape, allowing 3-wide racing through the heats. After intermission, the prep crew worked their magic and made the surface even better.
There were 2 serious incidents in the preliminary racing, both in the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprints. In the second heat, Doug Lovegrove’s 55 and the 4L of Mike Houseman made contact after a part broke on Lovegrove’s mount, sending both cars flipping down the front stretch. Both cars were damaged too severely to return to racing but neither driver was seriously injured. In the B Main, Tim Hilfiker flipped his #20 in turn 2. Again, the car was badly damaged, but Tim was not seriously injured.
The Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car A Feature’s first circuit saw Mike Boston’s 51 out front. Chase Weiler was second in the 0, Gene Ackland third in the 14G with Gunnar Pike’s 25 fourth. Clint Benson got past Pike on lap 3 to put the 100 into fourth. Lap 8 saw Toby Chapman get past Benson for fourth in the #11 and move up to third on lap 13. Josh Riggins took over the fourth position with 11 laps remaining in his 14J. The final position change in the top 4 came with 5 to go as Chapman snagged second. The top 4 were Boston, Chapman, Weiler and Riggins.
I told Mike that I had almost forgotten that he raced to which he replied “I’d probably do the same!! I know it’s been a while since we talked, with me taking last year off from racing. I started a different job, a different career with Speedway Motors building race cars, and we’re just getting back into it. We’re just running Eagle Raceway and maybe a few special events. I’m getting old enough where I’m going to be retiring here one of these days, I hope. Our car has been good every night out, but one week we broke 2 driveshafts! It’s bad enough to break one driveshaft a year, let alone two in one night! We had a power steering line that had just 5 shows on it that sprung a leak. We even had a header come off. In all the years I’ve been racing I’ve never had that happen!!!! We’ve just been having some bad luck, but that’s part of racing. Taking last year off really helped me learn to deal with that. Any racer will tell you that sometimes you lose but if you’re happy with losing you shouldn’t be out there on the track. I was disappointed early in the season, but I didn’t go home and kick the dog or whatever. I knew that we would come back because we’re fast enough. It’s what I wanted to do! We’re not racing for points; I just want to come out and win some races. First and foremost, I want to thank Zach Woods at Speedway Racing Engines. Not just for me, but he does an awesome job for the Racesaver teams. He bends over backwards to not miss a race and make sure he has the parts to fix your motor if you have a problem. He builds a ton of engines, but doesn’t just specialize in the Racesaver engines. He’s built Jack Dover’s 360 and 410 plus Tyler Drueke’s which won the IMCA Racesaver Nationals last year. My girlfriend owns Boss Cleaning and she supports me 110%. Also, my Dad who I wish could be here, but he’s in a retirement home and I sure wish he was here tonight. I need to thank my pit crew; my daughter Shelby, my son Jordan and Nick Bryan Without them I couldn’t do this”. Mike’s other sponsors include Moock Trucking, Johnson Farms and MTO Clean.
Next Saturday is ‘Schools Out for the Summer” night, presented by Southeast Community College and the Nebraska Lottery. There will be school bus races following the A Features.
All 5 classes will be in competition including the Twin Rivers Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, Valentino’s Hobby Stocks & A1 Iron Stock Cars.
Front gates open at 5:15 with adult admission being $15.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with pit passes costing $30. Hot laps begin at 5:30.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 3. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 4. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 5. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 6. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 7. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 8. Mitchell Moore(r) Peculiar, Mo. 9. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 10. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 11. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 12. Dusty Ballenger Harrisburg, Sd. 13. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 14. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 15. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 16. Derek Kral(r) York, Ne. 17. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 18. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 19. Trefer Waller 20. Jeremy Schultz Stewart, Mn.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 2. Dusty Ballenger Harrisburg, Sd. 3. Trefer Waller 4. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 5. Jeremy Schultz Stewart, Mn. 6. Mark Finnell 7. Bayley Ballenger Harrisburg, Sd. 8. Steve Hurst(r) Ames, Ne. 9. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. DNS. Shon Pointer Grand Island,
Ne. DNS. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. DNS. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia. DNS. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 2. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 3. Derek Kral(r) York, Ne. 4. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 5. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 6. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 7. Dusty Ballenger Harrisburg, Sd. 8. Jeremy Schultz Stewart, Mn. 9. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. DNS. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 2. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 3. Mitchell Moore(r) Peculiar, Mo. 4. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 5. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 6. Trefer Waller 7. Mark Finnell 8. Steve Hurst(r) Ames, Ne. 9. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 10. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 4. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 5. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 6. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 7. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 8. Bayley Ballenger Harrisburg, Sd. DNS. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.