By Greg Soukup
With strong storms to the north and south, Mother Nature didn’t completely leave Eagle Raceway without a touch of her wrath as very strong winds kept the crowd cool as Nebraska Septic, S&L Trenching and Max I Walker presented Heartland Hustle.
The evening’s action kicked off at 6:30 with 16 heats and 4 B Mains and the A Features started at 8:30 with no serious incidents in the preliminary racing.
Brad Schriener in the #10, the 17 of Justin Bolte, the 77X of John Klabunde and Dylan Waxdahl’s X were your top 4 after 1 lap of the Nebraska Septic IMCA Sprint Car feature event. Bolte and Waxdahl both passed Schreiner on lap 2 to move to first and second place with Schreiner falling to third and Klabunde holding onto fourth place. Trevor Grossenbacher passed Klabunde on lap 2 when Shreiner slowed dramatically to put the 35 into fourth. Schreiner hit the wall at the top of turns 1 & 2 hard on lap 5 causing the red flag to be thrown. He was not seriously hurt but could not continue. The Choose Cone top 4 restarting positions went to Bolte, Waxdahl, Klabunde and the 91 of Adam Gullion. Bolte fell back to fourth place on the restart moving Waxdahl to first, Gullion to second and Grossenbacher to third. Gullion passed Waxdahl to take the lead the next time around. Tyler Drueke got past Bolte the following circuit to put the12 into fourth. Drueke advanced to third on lap 11 and snagged the lead away from Gullion on lap 15. The next lap saw Grossenbacher move up to the third position. Waxdahl got too high and smacked the wall in turn 4 on lap 16 and the caution flag was again displayed. During the caution, Bolte was sent off the track with flames coming from the left rear of his mount, The Choose Cone top 4 were Drueke, Gullion, Grossenbacher and the 18W of Cole Wayman. Grossenbacher and the 25 of Gunnar Pike both passed Gullion on the restart to move to second and third, respectively. Gullion held on for the win with Grossenbacher, Pike and Gullion rounding out your top 4.
Drueke’s win came after starting in 14th. He related “I hope that the fans enjoyed that because it sure was fun to run up on the wall as slick as it was. I hope that they enjoyed it; it sure was fun from where I was. All of my crew did a great job tonight. My Dad, my brother, Dustin, Gavin Wilson, Adrian and Matt Zozz did a great job. Zach Woods at Speedway Motors helped us get the motor tuned up this week. Jack and Bonnie at J&J gave us this 1 off coil race car, just 1 of 2 in the United States with 1 in Canada. It’s very unconventional so it takes different things. It’s a work in progress and I’m very proud of everyone that’s a part of this car and this project. It’s fun to get the first win in a coil car. We didn’t have all the best results when we ran with the High Limit Series those 2 nights, but we’re learning there too. Some things we learned with this coil-over car we’re applying to the 410. You can’t stay the same and get comfortable. You have to learn new things and do the work.” Tyler’s sponsors include Rick Forbes of Forbes Motorsports, Cherney Enterprises, Cutting Edge Ag, Drueke Trucking and Ranch, Zoz Farms, Jeffries Trucking, Angel Energy Services, Johnson Farms, J&J, Speedway Racing Engines and Surebuilt Suspensions.
After the regular season classes concluded their competition, there was one more race to go as the annual Trailer Race was held. If you’ve never watched this event, you have GOT to watch Eagle Raceway’s schedule so that you don’t miss next year’s race. The crowd cheered, laughed and gasped throughout the whole race.
Next Saturday at America’s Home Track is the War of the Wings, presented by Empire Fence and Nebraska Realty. This is Eagle Raceway’s stop and the finale of the 4 night Stan Cisar Speedweek, featuring the IMCA Racesaver Sprints. All 5 IMCA classes will be in competition.
Grandstands open at 5:15 with adult admission being $20, youths 6-12 are just $5 with children 5 and under free.
Pit gates open at 3:15 and hot laps start at 5:45 and racing at 6:30.
RESULTS:
IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car 24 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:14:52.295
1. 12-Tyler Drueke[14]; 2. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher[10]; 3. 25-Gunnar Pike[11]; 4. 91-Adam Gullion[7]; 5. 11-Billy Alley[8]; 6. 18W-Cole Wayman[12]; 7. 35L-Gaige Weldon[15]; 8. 14G-Gene Ackland[13]; 9. 1B-Brandon Horton[20]; 10. 22D-Daniel Nekolite[6]; 11. 4X-Jason Danley[18]; 12. 77X-John Klabunde[3]; 13. 5-Stuart Snyder[9]; 14. 03-Shayle Bade[17]; 15. 14TTyler Hendrickson[16]; 16. 15V-Cole Vanderheiden[19]; 17. 14J-Josh Riggins[5]; 18. 17-Justin Bolte[2]; 19. X-Dylan Waxdahl[4]; 20. 10-Brad Schreiner[1]
B Feature 1 10 Laps | 00:03:25.233
1. 14T-Tyler Hendrickson[4]; 2. 03-Shayle Bade[1]; 3. 4X-Jason Danley[3]; 4. 15V-Cole Vanderheiden[8]; 5. 1B-Brandon Horton[9]; 6. 8B-Kaedon Thurman[7]; 7. 2A-Alex Salzman[5]; 8. 2T-Cameron Thompson[2]; 9. 4W-Nathan Weiler[6]
Heat 1 10 Laps | 00:03:46.128
1. 10-Brad Schreiner[2]; 2. 14J-Josh Riggins[4]; 3. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher[7]; 4. 77X-John Klabunde[3]; 5. 14G-Gene Ackland[6]; 6. 03-Shayle Bade[8]; 7. 14T-Tyler Hendrickson[5]; 8. 8B-Kaedon Thurman[1]
Heat 2 10 Laps | 00:02:17.146
1. 17-Justin Bolte[2]; 2. 22D-Daniel Nekolite[4]; 3. 11-Billy Alley[6]; 4. 25-Gunnar Pike[8]; 5. 12-Tyler Drueke[5]; 6. 2TCameron Thompson[1]; 7. 2A-Alex Salzman[3]; 8. 15V-Cole Vanderheiden[7]
Heat 3 10 Laps | 00:04:09.172
1. 5-Stuart Snyder[6]; 2. X-Dylan Waxdahl[3]; 3. 91-Adam Gullion[4]; 4. 18W-Cole Wayman[8]; 5. 35L-Gaige Weldon[5]; 6. 4X-Jason Danley[7]; 7. 4W-Nathan Weiler[2]; 8. 1B-Brandon Horton[1]