By Greg Soukup
It was a chilly day Saturday as A1 Iron and Empire Fence presented the 60th Season Opener at Eagle Raceway. Temperatures were around 50 at the start of the evening and a cold north wind greeted the sparse crowd who braved the elements. The fan count may have been down, but the car count was at 130. The track prep crew did their usual great job providing a great racing surface throughout the evening.
There were 3 serious incidents during the preliminary contests. In the third heat for the Avid Realty IMCA Sportmods the 26 of AJ Oaks made contact with another racer on the backstretch and ended up flipping just past the rear pit entrance. He was not seriously injured and was able to make sufficient repairs to compete in the B Feature. In the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car heat 1 Jake Galusha got loose and ended up flipping down the front stretch. In the same heat Nate Johnson’s 97 bicycled going into turn 1 and ended up rolling over. Neither of them were significantly injured but their cars were too badly damaged to continue.
Trevor Grossenbacher’s 35 was out front after 1 lap of the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car finale with Shayle Bade in 03 second, Jason Danley third in the 4X and Stu Snyder’s #5 fourth. Joey Danley passed Snyder on lap 2 in his 14, lost the spot back to Snyder on lap 3 before regaining the position on lap 4. 2 more laps were in the books when Jason Danley moved up to second. Bade spun out at the top of turns 1 & 2 on lap 8 to slow the action. At that time, it was Grossenbacher, Jason Danley, Joey Danley and Snyder. Joey Danley passed Jason Danley on the restart to take the second spot. Snyder also got past Jason Danley on lap 9 to grab third. Joey Danley moved past Grossenbacher on lap 11 to snag the lead. Snyder moved up to second with 10 to go but the pass was negated by a debris caution. Brandon Bosma looped his #23 in turn 2 on the first attempt at a restart. When another lap was official Snyder had again taken the second spot from Grossenbacher. There were just 8 circuits left when Gunnar Pike put the 25 into fourth but lost the spot to Tyler Drueke’s 12 with 3 laps left. The final 4 were Joey Danley, Snyder, Grossenbacher and Drueke.
Joey is of course the 2022 Eagle Raceway track champion and continued showing his abilities during this race. Danley’s win came from the 8th spot on the starting grid. “I got a really good start, getting up to I think fourth in the first couple of laps and just picked them off one by one after that. I was really skeptical about the track at the beginning of the night. It looked really hard but it held up great and ended up nice and wide for the feature. I had a real blast in the A. I need to thank my sponsors; Empire Fencing, The Wave, My Salesman, Nissen Hardwood Floors, Onyx Digital Group and High Performance Lubricants. Of course, I couldn’t do it at all without the people who are there for me every week. My Dad, Cole, Mark, Kyle and Terry”.
Next week is Let The Good Times Roll, presented by H&M Trucking and Rotella’s. All 5 classes will be competing including the Twin Rivers Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, A1 Iron Stock Cars & Valentino’s Hobby Stocks. Track, State, Regional & National Points for all classes.
Front gates open at 5:15 with adult admission being $15, youths 6-12 $5 and children 5 and under free.
Hot laps kick off at 5:30 with racing at 6:30.
Pit gates open at 3:45 with pit admission being $30.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 2. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 3. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 4. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 5. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 8. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 9. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 10. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 11. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 12. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 13. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 14. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 15. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 16. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 17. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 18. Koby Werkmeister Armour, Sd. 19. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 20. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 3. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 4. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 5. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 6. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Andrew Sullivan Milford, Ia. DNS. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. DNS. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Stacy Baas Rossie, In. DNS. Maxwell Roseland Carter Lake, Ia. DNS. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 2. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 3. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 4. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 5. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 6. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 8. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 9. Maxwell Roseland Carter Lake, Ia.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 4. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 5. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 6. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 7. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 8. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 9. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Koby Werkmeister Armour, Sd. 3. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 4. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 5. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 6. Andrew Sullivan Milford, Ia. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 8. Stacy Baas Rossie, In. 9. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.