By Greg Soukup
The large crowd who filed through the gates of Eagle Raceway Saturday evening for Go Lucky 55 Night, presented by Racesaver and Hormel were greeted by cloudy skies and very un-July like temperatures in the mid-70’s. The track, thanks to a heavy overnight rain was FAST and extremely racy.
Nick Bryan grabbed the lead at the start of the Racesaver IMCA Sprint A Feature in the 52 with Rodney Droud’s 40X, the 77D of Keith Dragoo and Boyd Peterson’s 57B rounding out the top 4. Neil Nickolite’s 12N jumped all the way to second on lap 2 with Toby Chapman putting the #7 into fourth on lap 3. Peterson regained fourth the next lap. 1 more circuit was in the books when Nickolite took over the lead and Chapman moved back to fourth. Bryan regained the lead on lap 8. Chapman moved up to third with 8 to go. Ryan Kitchen took over the fourth spot the next time around in the 21 but lost the spot back to Droud. Jason Martin lost the left rear wheel assembly from the 5X with 4 laps remaining. Chapman moved to second on the restart as Kitchen again took the fourth position. Tyler Drueke put the 12 into fourth the net lap, took over third after another circuit and advanced to second the next time around. The last lap saw Mike Boston put the 51 into fourth. At the checkers it was Bryan, Drueke, Chapman and Boston.
This marked the first 2018 win for Bryan at Eagle Raceway in this, just his second appearance at the track this year. “It was actually pretty maneuverable there on the bottom with the berm this week. We came in tonight and checked in a little late, so we didn’t get our starting spot at the front of the heat race, so we really had to work for it. We got a caution in the heat race and got into the invert, so we started on the front row of the Feature tonight. We tightened up the car a little bit and maneuvered around there. Somebody showed their nose a few times, but at the same time I just kept watching the scoreboard, counting down the laps and tried to stay out front. This year we haven’t been racing that much because we lost some sponsors throughout the last few years. That kind of put a hardship on the expenses. We knew that we really wanted to race at the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals. To qualify for the Nationals we knew that we had to race at least 3 shows. I helped out Mike Boston through the year. Looking at the weather over the next 2 months you never know what you’re going to get, so we decided to start racing. We’re still racing on the engine from last year. We ran this engine the last 4 Nationals and it has 50 plus shows on it! We’re waiting on our engine builder to get our other one ready to go. I want to thank Mom and Dad, Rod, Tyler, Nate, Nick and Mike plus everyone else who comes over and helps us get to the races” he stated. Bryan’s sponsors include Finish Line Race Products, Sardeson Racing, Wollen Racing Engines and Onyx Wraps.
Runner Freight and ATV Motorsports present High Roller Rumble next weekend at Eagle Raceway. Blinky the Clown will be there for the kids from 5:30 to 7:30. The annual ‘Hillbilly Slip ‘N Slide’ will be held after the races.
Front gates open at 5:15 with hot laps at 5:30 and racing at 6:30. Adult and youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free. Those 55 and older receive free front gate admission.
The Racesaver Sprint Cars, Runner Freight Modifieds, Hoosier Racing Tire Sport Modifieds, Valentino’s Hobby Stocks and ATV Motorsports Sport Compacts will all be in competition.
Pit gates open at 4 P.M. with pit passes costing $25.
RESULTS:
IMCA Sprint A-Feature 1. Nick Bryan Lincoln, Ne. 2. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 3. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 4. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 5. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 6. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 7. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 8. Ryan Kitchen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 9. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 10. Rodney Droud Lincoln, Ne. 11. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 12. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 13. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 14. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 15. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 16. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 17. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 18. Brandon Horton Omaha, Ne. 19. Jason Martin Lincoln, Ne. 20. Trey Gropp(r) Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint B-Feature 1. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 2. Brandon Horton Omaha, Ne. 3. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 4. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 5. Trey Gropp(r) Lincoln, Ne. 6. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 7. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 8. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 9. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 10. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 11. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 12. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 1 1. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 2. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 3. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 4. Nick Bryan Lincoln, Ne. 5. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 6. Brandon Horton Omaha, Ne. 7. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 8. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 9. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 10. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 2 1. Ryan Kitchen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 2. Rodney Droud Lincoln, Ne. 3. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 4. Jason Martin Lincoln, Ne. 5. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 6. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 7. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 8. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 9. Trey Gropp(r) Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 3 1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 3. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 4. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 5. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 6. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 7. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 8. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 9. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne.