By Greg Soukup
It was another beautiful evening Saturday as another large crowd filed through the front gates of Eagle Raceway as Hotsy presented School’s Out For Summer. Believe me when I say that the fans were not disappointed with the show the racers put on for them. 145 cars filled the pits resulting in 18 heats, 2 C Features, 4 B Features and 5 A Mains. Action from the first green flag to the final checkers kept those in attendance on the edge of their seats.
There were 2 major incidents in the preliminary racing. In the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock B Feature Troy Dowty’s 17T hit the implement tire at the back pit entrance hard, taking the rear end out of the car before coming to a halt in turn 4. Then, in the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver B Feature Ty Ledger got too high in turn 1 just after the checkered flag and ended up climbing the wall in turn 2 before coming to rest facing the wrong way. Neither driver was seriously injured but those marked the end of racing for both of them.
Brandon Horton’s 1B, the 14TK of Tyler Hendrickson, Alex Salzman in the 2A and the 63 of Jack Thomas were the first 4 back to the flag stand on lap 1 of the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver A. Salzman got past Hendrickson on lap 2 for second. 2 laps later Cody Ledger passed Thomas for fourth in his #47. Hendrickson jumped up to second on lap 13 as Trevor Grossenbacher put the 35 into fourth. Grossenbacher moved up to third the following circuit and then to second the next lap as Cody Ledger put the 47 into third. Mike Boston grabbed the fourth spot the following time around in his #51. Grossenbacher was running lap times of a second faster than Horton and finally caught up to him with 6 to go. Grossenbacher put a slide job on Horton in turns 3 and 4 on the final lap but Horton crossed over and held on for the win. Grossenbacher was second, Ledger third and Boston fourth.
This was Brandon’s second Eagle Raceway victory in 2024. He related “We made it happen on that first corner which really was an advantage. Leading all of those laps out front on your own is huge. With 5 laps to go we caught some lapped traffic and I don’t think I got onto the rubber quick enough with Grossenbacher running behind me. That’s when he made up a lot of ground on me. I could hear him coming for a lot of laps, so I’m just glad we didn’t have 1 more lap in this race because I don’t know if it would have wound up in my favor”. I mentioned that Grossenbacher almost got him coming out of turn 4 on the last lap and he said “OH! Holy Cow!! I gave it my all to get to the checkered flag the soonest, and we barely pulled it off but he was right there. It’s been 2 or 3 years since I won here but this year has been good to us”. Brandon’s sponsors include Lazy Days RV, Slideways Customs Inc., Omaha Barbell, TSG Tax Services, West Omaha Jet Ski and Real Smokey Barbeque.
Next Saturday is Destination Eagle Night, presented by Avid Realty and Empire Fence. Front gates open at 5:15 with adult admission being $15, youths 6-12 are just $5 and kids 5 and under are free.
The intermission challenge is the Hoop there it is Challenge. After the regular racing concludes there will be a Mad Max Race, sponsored by A&M Recycling.
Hot laps start at 5:30 with racing action kicking off at 6:30. All 5 classes will be competing including Nebraska Septic Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, A1 Iron Stock Cars & Valentino’s Hobby Stocks.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with pit admission being $35.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 2. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 3. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 4. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 5. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 6. Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 8. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 9. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 10. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 11. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 12. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 13. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 14. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 15. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 16. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 17. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 18. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 19. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 20. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 2. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne. 3. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 4. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 5. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 6. Chad Koch Murdock, Ne. 7. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 8. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 9. Nate Thompson Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne. 2. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 3. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 4. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 5. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 6. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 7. Nate Thompson Fremont, Ne. 8. Chad Koch Murdock, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 2. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 3. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 4. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 5. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 6. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne. 7. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 8. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 2. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 3. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 4. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 5. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 6. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 7. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 8. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne.