By Greg Soukup
A large crowd braved mid-90’s heat to enjoy an evening of racing Saturday night at Eagle Raceway as Village Pointe Toyota and Great Clips presented Junior Fan Club Night. At intermission $1500 in coins was spread out across the front stretch thanks to Village Pointe Toyota and Verbeek Racing/One Shot Auto Repair. All kids in attendance 12 and under were divided into three age groups and were then allowed to scramble to grab as much of the loot as possible. This is an annual event held at Eagle Raceway and is always a crowd favorite.
The racing was awesome as always, but 2 of the A Feature finishes were definitely for the record books as far as excitement.
There were no serious incidents throughout the evening’s competition.
The last event of the evening was the A Feature for the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars. Clint Benson put the 100 out front of lap 1 with Chase Weiler’s 0 second, Alex Davenport in the 25A third and the 23 of Brandon Bosma in fourth. Bosma and Gunnar Pike in the 25 both passed Davenport on lap 2 for third and fourth. Bosma continued his march to the front, moving up to third on lap 3. Pike then also passed Weiler to take over third the next circuit. Cole Vanderheiden got past Weiler for fourth on lap 8 but lost the position to
Tyler Drueke’s #12 on lap 12. Bosma took over the lead the next lap. Pike advanced to second with 5 to go, with Drueke moving up to third the following circuit. With Bosma and Pike running low in 1 & 2 while Drueke ran the top it was going to be a fantastic battle over the final 3 laps. Unfortunately, the battle was temporarily suspended when a 4 car pileup happened in turns 1 & 2 with just 2 laps left with Vanderheiden, Gene Ack;land’s 14G, the 14J of Josh Riggins and the 77 of Bret Klabunde all coming to a halt. With the way that the top 3 had been running, it was sure to be a great Green/White/Checkered finish. The finish was put off a little longer as Ryan Kitchen’s 21 slowed to a halt in turn 3 on the restart. That just heightened the anticipation for the final 2 circuits. Coming out of turn 4 for the final time with Pike low and Bosma up high on the track the 2 got together coming to the checkered flag with Pike eking out a miniscule lead at the flag stand. Pike, Bosma, Drueke and Benson were the final top 4.
This was Pike’s very first Eagle Raceway sprint car victory after having won the sportmod championship a few years ago. He was still out of breath when I caught up with him but wearing a smile the size of his top wing. He said “This was a long, long, long, long, long, long time coming! I really don’t know what to say right now. The car was really great all night. We won the heat race and then the feature. That caution with 2 to go killed me. Once we got going, the bottom cleaned out really good but it was tough. I’m kind of speechless right now. The car was running pretty hot before that last caution; we got going and it got hotter and on the second restart it just wouldn’t go. Once we got going it was fine, but there was only so much we could do. That final corner was pretty entertaining. I wasn’t sure who got it and then I looked up at the screen and saw that we had won”. Gunnar’s sponsors include Taylored Computers, S&L Trenching LLC, Avid Realty, Grass Assassins, Larson Motors, VOG Performance, Meyers Racing Engines, Maxim Chassis, Continental Battery Systems and Trevor Window Wings.
Next Saturday is Freedom Fest, presented by A1 Iron and Twin Rivers. Front gates open at 5:15 with adult front gate admission is $15, youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free. 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.
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. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 2. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 3. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 4. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 5. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 6. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 7. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 8. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 9. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 10. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 11. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 12. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 13. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 14. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 15. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 16. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 17. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 18. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 19. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 20. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 4. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 5. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne. 6. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 7. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 8. Cole Garner Sioux Falls, Sd. 9. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 10. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 11. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 12. Justin Bolte(r) Fremont, Ne. 13. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. DNS. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 2. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 3. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 4. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 5. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 6. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 7. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne. 8. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 2. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 3. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 4. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 5. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 6. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 7. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 8. Cole Garner Sioux Falls, Sd.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 2. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 3. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 4. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 5. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 6. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 7. Justin Bolte(r) Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 4
1. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 2. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 3. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 4. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 5. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 6. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 7. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne.