By Greg Soukup
Junior Fan Club Pajama Jam, presented by Colby Ridge at Eagle Raceway Saturday saw a big crowd in attendance. The low 90’s temperatures were lessened by a nice breeze. With some tracks being rained out, the ranks of the Sam’s Club IMCA Sport Modified and Hoosier Tire IMCA Modified classes swelled. Four heats were run in both classes with the Sport Mods running a C and B Feature and the Modifieds requiring a 16 car B Feature.
Possibly the best part of the evening was at intermission when the youngsters in the crowd were treated to free rides around the high banks in race cars driven by some of the competitors.
The only serious incident occurred in the second heat for the Duros Dent Works IMCA Racesaver Sprints when Andrew Jackson’s 5A ended up rolling over. He was not badly hurt but his racer was too badly damaged to continue.
The Duros Dent Works Racesaver IMCA Sprint Car A Main saw Neil Nickolite’s 12N out front after a lap followed closely by Keith Dragoo’s 77D, the 20 of Tim Hilfiker and Ryan King’s 93. Lap 2 saw contact between the 91JV of Adam Gullion and Mike Boston’s 51 in turn 2. Boston went flying as both cars came to rest right side up and ended up being towed to the pits. King advanced to third on lap 4. Toby Chapman put the 40X into fourth the next lap. King took over second on lap 7. Chapman moved up to third on lap 11 and advanced to second after 2 more laps. King slowed dramatically with 10 to go, allowing Chad Koch to put the 22C into fourth.
The next time around Chapman grabbed the lead the next lap, but
someone made contact with an implement tire guarding the infield and the yellow flag flew, negating the pass. Clint Benson took the #100 to the fourth spot with 7 to go and moved up to third the next lap as Koch stayed in fourth. Nickolite got sideways in turn 4 with 2 laps remaining and Chapman made contact but kept going. Nickolite was sent to the rear of the field for causing the caution. That moved everyone up and allowed Trevor Grossenbacher’s 95 to take up the fourth spot. Benson moved to second on the restart but lost the spot to Koch the last circuit. At the checkers it was Chapman, Koch, Benson and Grossenbacher.
“I don’t know what happened out there. Somebody got a little loose. It was a good race. I didn’t know at the start if we were going to be good enough, but once we got rolling, I said to myself ‘Oh yeah! We’re good enough!!’. That’s our first win in a couple of years now. I thought that maybe I was getting too old to do this. I’ve got to thank the Bogue family. I can’t thank them enough for letting me drive their car” he related. Sponsors include Leifert Construction, Penelope’s ‘Lil Café and Husker Lock & Key.
This coming weekend Budweiser presents ‘Party On!’. Twinky the Clown will be there from 5:30 to 7:30. Budweiser will present the Party Rock Challenge at intermission.
The Duros Dent Works 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 $10 for adults.
Pit gates open at 4:00 with pit passes being $25.
RESULTS:
IMCA Sprint A-Feature 1. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 2. Chad Koch Lincoln, Ne. 3. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 4. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 5. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 6. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 7. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 8. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 9. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 10. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 11. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 12. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 13. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 14. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 15. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 16. Rich Cerveny Omaha, Ne. 17. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 18. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 19. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 20. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint B-Feature 1. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 2. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 3. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 4. Rich Cerveny Omaha, Ne. 5. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 6. Mark Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 7. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne. 8. Nick Fricke(r) Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 1 1. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 2. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 3. Chad Koch Lincoln, Ne. 4. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 5. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 6. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 7. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 8. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 2 1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 3. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 4. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 5. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 6. Nick Fricke(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 8. Mark Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 3 1. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 2. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 3. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 4. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 5. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 6. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 7. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 8. Rich Cerveny Omaha, Ne.