By Greg Soukup
Last night at Eagle Raceway was one of my 2 favorite nights of the season. Miller Lite and Colby Ridge presented Junior Fan Club Bash, and the stands held a large crowd of fans, including lots of kids. The reason that it was one of my favorites was the Kid’s $1000 Money Grab at intermission.
Seeing the front stretch filled with kids itching to snag their share of the booty, then walking back to the stands with their hauls and big smiles on their faces is an experience that is hard to describe.
The Duros Dent Works r Racesaver IMCA Sprint Car A Feature’s first circuit was led by the 22C of Chad Koch with the 21 of Ryan Kitchen, Ryan King’s 93 and the 4W of Nate Weiler close behind. Shayle Bade put the 03 into fourth on lap 3, moved up to third the next time around and grabbed second after another circuit. She caught Koch on lap 10. As Koch ran the low line Bade took the high line around the track. Bade slipped up on lap 12 and nearly looped it in turn 2 but recovered and set off in pursuit of the 22C again. King advanced to third with 9 to go. 4 laps remained when Bade finally caught back up to Koch and passed him. From there to the finish Bade pulled away for the win with Koch second, King third and Kitchen fourth.
This was Bade’s second win at Eagle this year, after having won the Sprint Series of Nebraska portion of the Icebreaker Challenge and came from the 5th spot on the starting grid. She related “It about didn’t happen, but we got it done! Chad was running away from me, so as soon as I finally got into some clean air I saw him and started running him down. And then the track just changed in a lap. I was running high the whole time and everything was great, then all of a sudden I went high on my same line and just wasn’t good all of a sudden. I almost spun out in 1 and 2 and I thought ‘Well, hopefully 3 and 4 will be better’ and the same thing happened on the same lap. About the time I was getting ready to pass for the lead I messed up, but I found him again but he was a whole straightaway
ahead of me. At that moment I thought ‘Okay, second is really good. I’m fine with that’. We only had 6 or 7 laps to go, but as soon as he caught up to lapped traffic I thought ‘Well, there’s my chance!’. I moved down a little bit and slowed down a little bit to try and help my wheel spin. And then it was on again. We got into lapped traffic and I started coming. After the race he came up to me and said, ‘I heard you up there, but I wasn’t coming off of the bottom’, so I told him ‘I appreciate it, and it worked out for both of us!!’. I want to give a big thanks to Shad Roth for all he does for the race team. He’s really helped us out a lot with the upkeep on the Racesaver. Without him, our Racesaver car wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is. Also, my Dad; he’s a really big part of our team”. Bade’s sponsors include Helget Construction, Onyx Wraps, MyRacePass, Carpetland, Rowes Graphics, Restore A Muscle Car and TJT Photography.
Next weekend is Eagle Racing Riot-Fan Appreciation Night presented by Great Clips and the Nebraska Lottery. Sprints, Hoosier Tire IMCA Modifieds, Sam’s Club IMCA Sport Modifieds, Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks and ATV Motorsports IMCA Sport Compacts.
Front gates open at 5:15 with hot laps at 5:30 and racing at 6:30. Grandstand admission is just $5 and children 5 and under are free.
Pit gates open at 4:00 with pit passes being $25.
RESULTS:
IMCA Sprint A-Feature 1. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 2. Chad Koch Lincoln, Ne. 3. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 4. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 5. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 6. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 7. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 8. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 9. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 10. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 11. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 12. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 13. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 14. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 15. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 16. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 17. Mike
Boston Lincoln, Ne. 18. Monty Ferriera Fresno, Ca. 19. Austin McLean Loveland, Co. 20. Mark Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne.
IMCA Sprint B-Feature 1. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 2. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 3. Monty Ferriera Fresno, Ca. 4. Austin McLean Loveland, Co. 5. Mark Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 6. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 7. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 8. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 9. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne. 10. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 1 1. Chad Koch Lincoln, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 4. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 5. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 6. Monty Ferriera Fresno, Ca. 7. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 8. Mark Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 9. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 2 1. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 2. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 3. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 4. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 5. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 6. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 7. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. DNS. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 3 1. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 2. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 3. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 4. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 5. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 6. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 7. Austin McLean Loveland, Co. 8. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne.