By Greg Soukup
After 3 blazingly hot days of 100 degree plus heat drenching rain Saturday morning cooled off the temperature to the mid-80’s as the Lincoln Stars and High Noon Sun Dips presented High Banks Showdown at Eagle Raceway. That same rain presented a huge problem for the crack track prep team, but they managed to provide a great racing surface for the competitors.
There were no serious incidents in the preliminary racing action.
Jake Galusha put the 8B in the lead on the first circuit of the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car A Feature with the 77 of Bret Klabunde, Cole Vanderheiden’s 15V and the 5A of Andrew Jackson rounding out the top 4. Klabunde passed Jackson for second on lap 2 with Vanderheiden moving up to third and Shayle Bade’s 03 taking over fourth. Vanderheiden advanced 1 more spot on lap 3 to take second. Gunnar Pike got around Bade for fourth on lap 4 in the #25 but lost the spot back to Bade on lap 6. Bade advanced to third the next time around but bobbled, allowing Klabunde to regain the spot. Pike again got around Bade 2 laps later as Vanderheiden took over the lead from Galusha. Bade continued her battle with Pike, taking back fourth on lap 11 but lost it back to him again the next time around. Galusha got past Vanderheiden for the lead with 12 circuits left with Pike moving to third the following lap. Galusha tagged the wall with 8 laps remaining but held Vanderheiden off to retain first place. Vanderheiden closed to Galusha’s push bumper with 3 to go in lapped traffic but Galusha managed to hold him off for the win. Vanderheiden was second, Pike third and Klabunde fourth.
This was Jake’s first victory at Eagle Raceway. He said “I think we just got lucky in lapped traffic. I think Cole had a pretty good race car. He showed me the line and I used it. He’s a great young driver and I hope to watch him race for many years.
Turns 1 and 2 on the top was pretty treacherous and you had to decide before you got to 1 whether you were going to save it through 1 & 2 and then tackle the lapped cars in 3 & 4. I tried going up top a couple of times to pass lapped cars and I think that’s what got me the win. I want to thank Bobby and Lynette Becker, my car owners and my wife and kids for continuously supporting me and all of the people who put in so much work to make this possible”. Jakes sponsors include Graves, Access Speed, Engler Machine and Tool, Zach Woods at Speedway Motors and Mike Boston at Eagle Motorsports.
There was Hooptie Hockey after the races were through. If you’ve never seen it before, check out our Facebook page of the website.
Next Saturday Demon Decals, A1 Iron and the Nebraska Lottery present Rock ‘N Roll Classic at Eagle Raceway. At intermission there will be both a Mullet Contest as well as kids bike races. The top 3 in each age group will receive a trophy! All kids must wear a helmet to compete.
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. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 2. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 3. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 4. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 5. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 6. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 7. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 8. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 9. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 10. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 11. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 12. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 13. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 14. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 15. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 16. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 17. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 18. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 19. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 20. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. DNS. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 2. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 3. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 4. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 5. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 6. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 2. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 3. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 4. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 5. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 6. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 2. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 3. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 4. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 5. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne.