By Greg Soukup
What a perfect day it was at Eagle Raceway Saturday as Avid Realty, Empire Fence and Celerion presented Freedom Fest. A mild 82 degree temperature with broken clouds and a southerly breeze greeted the huge crowd that turned out to help celebrate the 250th anniversary of our great nation’s independence.
There were no serious incidents in the preliminary racing action.
Nathan Weiler put the 4W out front on lap 1 of the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car A main with Monty Feriera’s 45, the 14J of Josh Riggis and Alex Salzman’s 2A rounding out the top 4. Ferriera passed Weiler for the lead on lap 2 as Brandon Horton got past Salzman to put the 1B into fourth. Horton moved up to third on lap 6 and passed Weiler for second the next time around as Tyler Drueke took the fourth spot in his #12. Drueke passed Weiler for third on lap 10. Gaige Weldon passed Weiler for fourth place with 10 to go in the 35L. Horton grabbed the lead with just 7 circuits remaining. 2 laps later Weldon vaulted past both Drueke and Horton to advance to second place. Drueke passed Ferriera to move up to third the following lap. Weldon put a big slide job on Horton coming out of turn 4 on the final lap to snag the victory. Horton, Drueke and Ferriera rounded out the top 4. Since the race went from green to checkers, all of the drivers in it will receive free pit passes next week.
This was Gaige’s first victory at America’s Home track, having come from 11th on the starting grid. He stated “It was a good run. The car was really good but I couldn’t do it without all of my guys.” Gaige’s sponsors include RPM Trailer Sales, Momentum Racing Suspensions, Lyle's Tires and Wheels, Electrical Systems Inc., Taggart's Powersports, Ledger Motorsports and C2C Construction.
In my youth my father instilled 2 things in me that stick with me to this day; the love of dirt track racing and the LOVE of pyrotechnics! The annual fireworks extravaganza followed the evening’s racing. In my opinion, this was the best one EVER at Eagle Raceway and probably the best at any dirt track in the country. Eagle puts out a huge sum of money to do just that for those in attendance every year, and we all thank them for it. Also, a huge hand goes out to Jim Hitzman and his Eagle FX crew; Jeremy, Katelyn, Mikey and Bryan for all the hard work they put in each and every week at Eagle Raceway. Each week, they do a fantastic job, but this week they outdid themselves. Pyrotechnic products were provided by Aerial FX in St. Joseph Missouri and Night Visions from Glenwood Iowa.
Eagle Raceway will be dark next Saturday to allow the fans, teams, drivers and Eagle workers to enjoy the holiday with their loved ones.
On July 11th it will be Junior Fan Club Night, presented by AM Contractors Washouts. All 5 IMCA classes will be competing.
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 20 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:05:55.993
1. 35L-Gaige Weldon[11]; 2. 1B-Brandon Horton[5]; 3. 12-Tyler Drueke[10]; 4. 45-Monty Ferriera[2]; 5. 4W-Nathan Weiler[1]; 6. 14J-Josh Riggins[4]; 7. 14T-Tyler Hendrickson[8]; 8. 91-Adam Gullion[9]; 9. X-Dylan Waxdahl[7]; 10. 18W-Cole Wayman[16]; 11. 77X-John Klabunde[6]; 12. 2A-Alex Salzman[3]; 13. 03-Shayle Bade[19]; 14. 25-Gunnar Pike[14]; 15. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher[17]; 16. 4X-Jason Danley[12]; 17. 77-Bret Klabunde[18]; 18. 14G-Gene Ackland[13]; 19. 10-Brad Schreiner[15]; 20. 2T-Cameron Thompson[20]
Heat 1 10 Laps | 00:02:07.608
1. 45-Monty Ferriera[2]; 2. 4W-Nathan Weiler[1]; 3. X-Dylan Waxdahl[4]; 4. 1B-Brandon Horton[3]; 5. 14G-Gene Ackland[6]; 6. 18W-Cole Wayman[7]; 7. 03-Shayle Bade[5]
Heat 2 10 Laps | 00:02:10.739
1. 2A-Alex Salzman[2]; 2. 14T-Tyler Hendrickson[4]; 3. 77X-John Klabunde[3]; 4. 12-Tyler Drueke[5]; 5. 25-Gunnar Pike[7]; 6. 35-Trevor Grossenbacher[6]; 7. 2T-Cameron Thompson[1]
Heat 3 10 Laps | 00:02:08.474
1. 14J-Josh Riggins[2]; 2. 91-Adam Gullion[4]; 3. 4X-Jason Danley[6]; 4. 35L-Gaige Weldon[5]; 5. 10-Brad Schreiner[1]; 6. 77-Bret Klabunde[3]