By Greg Soukup
Oppressive heat caused the starting time for the Duel In The Dirt, presented by Empire Fence and S&L Trenching to start an hour late at Eagle Raceway Saturday. It also kept the crowd size down slightly, but if you weren’t there or watching at home I feel sorry for you because you missed some of the best racing of the season so far with 2 of the features decided on the last lap!
All preliminary races were run without serious incidents.
There was no track prep performed during intermission.
Alex Salzman led lap 1 of the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprint A Main in the 2A, followed closely by Justin Bolte’s 17, the 8B of Kaedon Thurman and Trefer Waller’s #32. Waller jumped up to second on lap 2 as John Klabunde took over the fourth spot in the 77X. Dan Nekolite passed Klabunde the next circuit to put the 22D into fourth. Klabunde regained fourth place on lap 6. Taelynne Roberts made contact with the wall in turns 1 and 2 on lap 10 and her 18T came to a halt on the back stretch. Bolte headed to the work area with damage to his right rear suffered when he jumped Roberts’ left front while trying to avoid her but was unable to rejoin the field. Roberts was pushed to the infield with a locked up left front brake. Tyler Drueke put the #12 into fourth on the restart, with Nekolite holding down third and Waller snagging the lead away from Salzman. Drueke moved up to third the following lap. Salzman used a crossover move to take the lead on lap 12. Adam Gullion’s 91 joined the top 4, passing Nekolite for fourth place the next time around. Waller took the top spot back the following lap but Klabunde and Nekolite made contact in turn 1 with both rolling into the infield bringing out the yellow flag. Nekolite rejoined the field but Klabunde had to be towed back to his pit. That brought out the Eastep Wheels Choose Cone. Your top 4 for the restart were Salzman, Waller, Drueke and Gullion. Salzman fell back to fourth on the restart, allowing Drueke and Gullion to advance to second and third behind Waller. Cole Wayman got past Salzman the next time around to put the 18W into fourth place. Drueke got around Waller after another lap to take over the top spot. Seven to go saw Gullion also pass Waller for second. Gaige Weldon moved up to fourth in the 35L two laps later and moved around Waller the next lap to take over third with
Wayman following him into fourth. Drueke held Gullion off to secure the win. Gullion was second, Weldon third and Wayman fourth.
I congratulated Tyler on his second win in a row and he said, “Thank you; it’s past my bedtime.” I told him I’m 73 and I’m still at the track, to which he replied “We should have gone home a long time ago. The fact that this coil over car can win on kind of a cowboy up track shows that while it’s still a work in progress, it’s versatile and not just a 1-trick pony. The track started out really heavy, and with the sprints being the first class onto the track it was really tough to pass. When Roger didn’t farm it at intermission because it was still heavy I think it turned out okay. Cowboy up around the top and when he puts that much moisture on the track the cushion doesn’t move up as fast as normal and kind of lips up, not flaking up as usual. We just had to find a way to manage that.” Tyler’s sponsors include Speedway Motors Racing Engines, Cherney Enterprises, Cutting Edge Ag, Forbes Motorsports, Drueke Trucking, Jeffries Trucking, Engels Energy Service, Johnson Farms and Kings Auto Supply.
After the races, the Hillbilly Slip ‘N Slide took place in turn 1. This annual fun-filled event is definitely one of the fans’ favorites.
Next Saturday is the Dirt Track Heros event, presented by Pepsi Cola of Lincoln. All 5 IMCA classes will be competing along with the Midwest Classic Stock Car Association (MCSA).
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 23 Entries A Feature 1 25 Laps | 00:11:46.251 1. 12-Tyler Drueke[12]; 2. 91-Adam Gu lion[17]; 3. 35L-Gaige Weldon[11]; 4. 18W-Cole Wayman[10]; 5. 32-Trefer Waler[4]; 6. 14J-Josh Riggins[9]; 7. 4X-Jason Danley[21]; 8. 14G-Gene Ackland[20]; 9. 03-Shayle Bade[8]; 10. 2A-Alex Salzman[2]; 11. 11D-Dominic White[13]; 12. 14T-Tyler Hendrickson[18]; 13. 22D-Daniel Nekolite[6]; 14. 4W-Nathan Weiler[14]; 15. 8B-Kaedon Thurman[1]; 16. 10-Brad Schreiner[15]; 17. 17JS-Julianna Satriano[23]; 18. 1B-Brandon Horton[16]; 19. 77X-John Klabunde[5]; 20. 17-Justin Bolte[3]; 21. 18T-Taelynne Roberts[19]; 22. 25-Gunnar Pike[7]; 23. (DNS) 2T-Cameron Thompson
Heat 1 10 Laps | 00:02:09.443 1. 77X-John Klabunde[3]; 2. 2A-Alex Salzman[2]; 3. 14J-Josh Riggins[5]; 4. 22D-Daniel Nekolite[4]; 5. 11D-Dominic White[7]; 6. 1B-Brandon Horton[6]; 7. 18T-Taelynne Roberts[8]; 8. (DNS) 2T-Cameron Thompson
Heat 2 10 Laps | 00:02:08.168 1. 8B-Kaedon Thurman[1]; 2. 17-Justin Bolte[2]; 3. 18W-Cole Wayman[6]; 4. 25-Gunnar Pike[4]; 5. 4W-Nathan Weiler[3]; 6. 91-Adam Gulion[7]; 7. 14G-Gene Ackland[5]; 8. 17JS-Julianna Satriano[8]
Heat 3 10 Laps | 00:02:10.862 1. 32-Trefer Waler[2]; 2. 35L-Gaige Weldon[6]; 3. 03-Shayle Bade[4]; 4. 12-Tyler Drueke[7]; 5. 10-Brad Schreiner[1]; 6. 14T-Tyler Hendrickson[3]; 7. 4X-Jason Danley[5]