By Greg Soukup
Despite cloudy skies, cool temperatures and a cold north breeze, a large crowd showed up for Queen of Hearts Ladies Night-A Mother’s Day Tribute Saturday night.
Whether or not there was even going to be racing was up in the air until the afternoon due to heavy rain overnight Friday into Saturday. But the crack Eagle Raceway track prep crew came through with flying colors; giving the racers an extremely fast surface to compete on. With almost all of the other area tracks having their nights fall to Mother Nature, extra teams came to America’s Home Track putting a total of 166 race cars in the pits.
As the cars rounded turn 1 on lap 2 of the IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car B Feature the 19JR of Paul Hendrickson went up and over the right rear tire of Shayle Bade’s 03 and ended up heading into the implement tire at the entrance to the pits, sending his racer flying through the air into the pits and ending up on its wing. In the ensuing melee, Nate Weiler’s 4W ended up flipping in turns 1 and 2. None of the drivers was seriously injured.
Jimmy Grasso put the 8G out front of the IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car A Feature with Boyd Peterson’s 57B, the 12N of Neil Nickolite and Cody Ledger in the 47 hot on his heels. Nickolite passed Peterson on lap 2 for second and Ledger followed him into third the next time around. 1 more lap saw Adam Gullion move the 91 to fourth. Nickolite snagged the lead on lap 12 with both Ledger and Gullion moving up a spot the next circuit. Tyler Drueke put the #12 in fourth the next time around. Grasso stopped on the back stretch after another circuit and headed to the pits. Trey Gropp’s #54 smacked the turn 1 wall extremely hard on the restart and the red lights came on in the corners. During the stoppage Nickolite headed to the pits, making the top 4 Ledger, Gullion, Drueke and the 51 of Mike Boston. 1 lap after the restart Drueke took the high line, passing Gullion for second. Ledger hit the wall with 9 laps remaining, handing the lead to Drueke and moving the 5X of Jason Martin into fourth. Drueke flew around the competition from there to the finish beating Gullion, Boston and Martin.
He said “That was a pretty good race. Like I said in my interview on the front stretch, whenever there’s a little moisture in the race track with a cushion to lean on and it’s a little cowboy up, that seems to be our style and that’s what we do best at. We didn’t have to change a whole lot all night. I think I changed a half inch of stagger and maybe moved the wing 1 hole. Other than that, we hardly put a wrench on the car all night. I started 12th in the feature. It’s pretty cool that we went from eighth to first in the heat race and then 12th to the lead in the feature. I had a really fast race car thanks to Matt, my Dad, Dustin, Zach and my brother Austin. Thanks to everybody who helps out on the car, because they did a great job. It’s a privilege to drive it. There are so many other people who help out our race team, and we couldn’t do it without any of them”. I then mentioned that he was currently leading the IMCA Racesaver National points. He stated “Yeah. I got congratulated for that earlier. Like I said then, it’s pretty early. It doesn’t mean a whole lot now, but if we keep winning races, then it will mean something towards the end of the year”. Drueke’s sponsors include Vahlco Wheels, Drueke Trucking, Zoz Farms, Picadilly Rosehill Ranches, Jeffres Trucking, The Villa, Johnson Farms and Agri-Builders.
Next weekend the regular season at Eagle Raceway continues as the Lincoln Saltdogs and The Eagle 92.9 present Fever 55-Armed Forces Night. Twinky the Clown will be there from 5:30 to 7:30. Military personnel in uniform or with their military ID will receive free front gate admission.
Front gates open at 5:15 with hot laps at 5:30 and racing at 6:30. Adult admission is $10, youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free.
As always it will be IMCA racing with the Racesaver Sprint Cars, Runner Freight Modifieds, Purdue University Sport Modifieds, Valentino’s Hobby Stocks and ATV Motorsports Sport Compacts.
Pit gates open at 4 P.M. with pit passes costing $25.
RESULTS:
IMCA Sprint A-Feature 1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 4. Jason Martin Lincoln, Ne. 5. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 6. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Trevor Grossenbacher Hickman, Ne. 8. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 9. Jack Dover Springfield, Ne. 10. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 11. Matt Richards Lincoln, Ne. 12. Brandon Horton Omaha, Ne. 13. Tim Fricke Lincoln, Ne. 14. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 15. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 16. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 17. Jimmy Grasso Omaha, Ne. 18. Trey Gropp(r) Lincoln, Ne. 19. Ryan Kitchen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 20. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne.
IMCA Sprint B-Feature 1. Ryan Kitchen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 2. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jack Dover Springfield, Ne. 4. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 5. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 6. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 7. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 8. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 9. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 10. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 11. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 12. Blain Petersen Essex, Ia. 13. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 14. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 15. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 16. Paul Hendrickson Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint C-Feature 1. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 2. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 3. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 4. Paul Hendrickson Lincoln, Ne. 5. Dan Satriano Papillion, Ne. 6. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 7. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 8. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne. 9. Jeff Pendergast Norfolk, Ne. DNS. Tige Jensen(r) Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 1 1. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 4. Trevor Grossenbacher Hickman, Ne. 5. Ryan Kitchen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 6. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 7. Blain Petersen Essex, Ia. 8. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne. 9. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 10. Tige Jensen(r) Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 2 1. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 2. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 3. Tim Fricke Lincoln, Ne. 4. Matt Richards Lincoln, Ne. 5. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 6. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 8. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 9. Jeff Pendergast Norfolk, Ne. 10. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 3 1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Jimmy Grasso Omaha, Ne. 3. Trey Gropp(r) Lincoln, Ne. 4. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 5. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 6. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 7. Jack Dover Springfield, Ne. 8. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 9. Dan Satriano Papillion, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 4 1. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 2. Brandon Horton Omaha, Ne. 3. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 4. Jason Martin Lincoln, Ne. 5. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 6. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 7. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 8. Paul Hendrickson Lincoln, Ne. 9. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne.