By Greg Soukup
Mother Nature may have caused the Icebreaker Challenge last week, but she relented this week allowing A1 Iron Corp. and Nebraska Lottery to present Start your Engines- Season Opener last evening at Eagle Raceway. The large crowd that braved the cool temperatures were rewarded with 16 heats, a C Feature and 5 B Features preceding the A Mains for each class. Wheel to wheel action the whole night was the answer to every race fan’s prayers after a too long, too cold winter.
There were no serious incidents in the preliminary races.
The last A Main of the night was for the Duros Dent Works IMCA Racesaver Sprints. The action was slowed on lap one when the 97 of Nate Johnson came to a halt in turns 1 & 2. Shon Pointer pulled to the infield after stopping and several tries to get him restarted failed. Adam Gullion’s 91, the 47 of Cody Ledger, Trevor Grossenbacher and the 4W of Nate Weiler led the first official lap. Tyler Drueke put his #12 into fourth on lap 3. Grossenbacher passed Ledger with 10 to go to snag second but Ledger regained the spot the next time around as Joey Danley put the 14 into fourth. Drueke again moved to second the next lap and took over the top spot 2 laps later with Danley moving up to third. Danley kept advancing moving up to second with 2 to go and overtaking Drueke on the final circuit. The top 4 were Danley, Drueke, Gullion and Ledger.
This is Joey’s 8th year racing a sprint car. “That was a blast!! That’s probably the most fun race I’ve ever been a part of. We started kind of deep, and when I got up to fifth, I was watching those guys battle and they messed around so much that we caught up to them. Then I found the rubber in 3 and 4 and they didn’t so I snookered them a little bit. We’re going to try to be here every week this year and run for points. We started that off pretty good tonight”. Joey’s sponsors include Empire Fencing, The Wave, Cleanright Street Sweeping, Nissen Hardwood Floors, Russell Shoulders Race Engines and Onyx Wraps.
The racing continues next Saturday as Hotsy and Empire Fence present May Day Madness. All 5 classes will be in action with the Duros Dent Works Sprint cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, A1 Iron Corp. Stock Cars, Modern Real Estate Sportmods and Valentino’s Hobby Stocks.
Front gates open at 5:00. Adult admission is $12, youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with pit admission being $30.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA sponsored by Duros Dent Works A-Feature
1. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 2. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 3. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 4. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 5. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 8. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 9. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 10. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 11. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 12. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 13. Troy Sanford Lincoln, Ne. 14. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 15. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 16. Bobby Eubanks Concordia, Ks. 17. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 18. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 19. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 20. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA sponsored by Duros Dent Works B-Feature
1. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 2. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 3. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 4. Bobby Eubanks Concordia, Ks. 5. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 6. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. DNS. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA sponsored by Duros Dent Works Heat 1
1. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 2. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 3. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 4. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 5. Troy Sanford Lincoln, Ne. 6. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 7. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 8. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA sponsored by Duros Dent Works Heat 2
1. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 2. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 3. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 4. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 5. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 6. Bobby Eubanks Concordia, Ks. 7. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. DNS. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA sponsored by Duros Dent Works Heat 3
1. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 2. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 3. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 4. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 5. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 6. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 7. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 8. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne.