By Greg Soukup
The old saying is “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”, but in my case 11 days with no dirt track racing just makes me madder at that fictional female deity that all fans and drivers love to hate. Luckily I and a very large crowd got their fix Saturday night as Hotsy and Nebraska Realty presented Dads Crash Bash at Eagle Raceway.
There were no serious incidents throughout the evening’s racing.
The final A Feature was for the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprints. Ryan Kitchen took advantage of starting outside the front row to put the 21 into first place, with Chase Weiler’s 0, the 55 of Doug Lovegrove and Jacob Dye’s 20D in hot pursuit. Lovegrove passed Weiler for second place on lap 2. Adam Gullion took over fourth in his 91 on lap 6 and moved up to third two laps later. Jay Russell put the #76 into fourth on lap 11. Gullion got past Lovegrove on lap 12 for second. Russell also passed Lovegrove with 7 to go, grabbing the third spot. Stu Snyder jumped all the way up to third the next circuit in the #5, moving Russell back to fourth. Snyder continued his move to the front with 3 to go when he passed Gullion for second. The final top 4 were Kitchen, Snyder, Gullion and Russell.
Ryan related “It’s always good if you can start up front here, especially with all of the good cars and fast guys. Having track position is key around here. We found a setup about 3 weeks ago that worked really well at this place so we put the same one on it again and just drove around here wide open. They told me that I had a half lap lead so I plan to stick to it. Clint Benson and Mike Boston were battling for position late in the race; one on the top and one on the bottom. They were both going the same speed and I wasn’t going to push the issue by trying to slide one and give up my position. So, I was just rolling around waiting for one of them to pull ahead of the other or both to go to the top, or both to go to the bottom. But it never happened. Coming to the checkered flag out of turn 4 Stu showed his nose and from there on it was just wide open down the straightaway, hoping that we beat him, and we did”. Ryan’s sponsors include Midwest Petroleum, Swirlfire Screen Printing, 91 Trucking, King Racing Products, Maxim, BP, AL Drivelines, Simpson Racing Products, Big Pickle Trucking and Clint’s Tree Service.
Next Saturday is Junior Fan Club Night, presented by Village Pointe Toyota and Great Clips. All kids 12 and under get in the front gates 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.
Front gates open at 5:15 with adult admission being $15, kids 12 and under are 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. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 2. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 3. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 4. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 5. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 6. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 7. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 8. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 9. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 10. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 11. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 12. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 13. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 14. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 15. Trevor Grossenbacher
Panama, Ne. 16. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 17. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 18. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 19. Maxwell Roseland Carter Lake, Ia. 20. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 2. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 3. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 4. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 5. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 8. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 9. James Reed Kearney, Ne. 10. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 11. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 12. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 2. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 3. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 4. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 5. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 6. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 7. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 8. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 9. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 4. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 5. Maxwell Roseland Carter Lake, Ia. 6. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 7. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 8. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 9. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 2. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 3. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 4. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 5. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 6. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 7. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 8. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 9. James Reed Kearney, Ne.