by Greg Soukup
Well, Mother Nature tried to ruin “Last Call, Season Finale” presented by the Nebraska Lottery and Coors Light, but all she did with her liquid sunshine was to delay the start by a half hour. The crowd was very large, in anticipation of the drivers settling once and for all who would take home the crown in each of the five divisions, and in all but one class those decisions went down to the final few laps!
The Duros Dent Works IMCA Racesaver Sprints then came on the track for their finale. Joe Miller’s 45, the 97 of Nate Johnson, Mark Vanderheiden’s 15V and the 22D of Danny Nekolite were the top 4 after 1 lap. Neckolite moved to third on lap 2 and Ryan King also passed Vanderheiden the next time around to put the 93 into fourth as Neckolite moved to second.
Neckolite grabbed the lead on lap 6 as King advanced to third. Johnson moved back to third on lap 10. The next time around saw Jake Bubak’s 74B advance to fourth, take the third spot after 2 more laps and move up to second after another 2 laps. Neckolite spun to the infield with 8 to go, putting the 12 of Tyler Drueke fourth and putting Bubak out front. Drueke moved up to second the next lap and Joey Danley grabbed fourth in the 14. Danley advanced to third after 2 more laps and grabbed second in the closing laps. The final top 4 were Bubak, Danley, Drueke and Johnson. All that Trevor Grossenbacher needed to accomplish was to make the A Feature in order to win the points, and he did that by winning the B Feature.
Bubak, from Arvada Colorado was in town to get some laps in on the high banks of Eagle Raceway in advance of the 2019 IMCA Sprint Car Racesaver Nationals which kicks off next Thursday. He stated “We had to come from a long way back after coming from the B Feature, so it was pretty fun. We started fourth in the B and won that, so we made a bunch of changes. Actually, I was glad we had to run the B because we got a bunch more track time and helped us to figure out where we needed to be, so it helped us a lot. They did an awesome job with the track! I was thinking that it was going to be just a fast 1 lane track, but it widened out really nice. There were 2 lanes in turns 3 and 4 and 3 lanes in 1 and 2 so you couldn’t ask for much more. This gives us a lot of confidence going into next
week. It’s still going to be a tough week though, with lots more good cars coming and that’s a whole different ball game then!! It gives us some good confidence for sure though”. Bubak’s sponsors include Coyote Candle Company, Maxim Chassis, Momentum Racing Suspensions, Sardeson Racing Products, Winters and Simpson.
The biggest races of the season kick off next Thursday as the 2019 IMCA Sprint Car Racesaver Nationals start with a practice night and the qualifying races for the Jake Ita Memorial Race of Champions.
Front gates open at 5 PM. Grandstand admission for those 13 and up is just $2 with 12 and under free.
Pit gates open at 5 PM with pit passes costing $15.
Practice will be from 6 to 8:45 with qualifying for the Jake Ita Memorial Race of Champions beginning at 9.
Then on Friday the action begins for real as the Racesaver Nationals begin in earnest. Heat races and features will be run to set the first 3 rows of the Big Show on Sunday. The ATV Motorsports IMCA Sport Compacts will be the support class for the evening. Hot laps start at 5 PM with racing kicking off at 6.
The front gates open at 4 PM with adult admission costing $15, kids 6-2 are just $5 and children under 6 are free.
Pit gates open at 3 PM with pit passes costing $30.
RESULTS:
IMCA Sprint A-Feature 1. Jake Bubak Arvada, Co. 2. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 3. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 4. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 5. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 6. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 7. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 8. Jay Russell Elmwood, Ks. 9. Mark Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 10. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 11. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 12. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 13. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 14. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 15. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 16. Nick Bryan Lincoln, Ne. 17. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 18. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 19. Joe Miller Vail, Ia. 20. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne.
IMCA Sprint B-Feature 1. Jake Bubak Arvada, Co. 2. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jay Russell Elmwood, Ks. 4. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 5. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 6. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 7. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 8. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 9. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 10. Brooklyn Holland Fresno, Ca. 11. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 12. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint C-Feature 1. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 2. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 3. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 4. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 5. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 6. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 7. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 8. Ryan Navratil East Des Moines, Ia. 9. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 10. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 11. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 12. Aaron Allgood(r) Lincoln, Ne. 13. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 1 1. Keith Dragoo Greenwood, Ne. 2. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 3. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 4. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 5. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 6. Brooklyn Holland Fresno, Ca. 7. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 8. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 9. Aaron Allgood(r) Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 2 1. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 2. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 3. Nick Bryan Lincoln, Ne. 4. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 5. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 6. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 7. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 8. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 9. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 3 1. Joe Miller Vail, Ia. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Mark Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 4. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 5. Jay Russell Elmwood, Ks. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 8. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. DNS. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 4 1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Danny Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 3. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 4. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 5. Jake Bubak Arvada, Co. 6. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 7. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 8. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 9. Ryan Navratil East Des Moines, Ia.