By Greg Soukup
Saturday was May Day Madness, presented by Hotsy Equipment Co. and Empire Fence and Netting at Eagle Raceway and you couldn’t ask for better weather! Temperatures in the 80’s gave way to the 60’s and the large crowd was treated to fantastic racing with 3 and 4-wide action right into the features.
The only serious incident in the preliminary racing came on lap 1 of the Duros Dent Works IMCA Racesaver Sprint B Feature. Troy Sanford got pushed high going into turn on and slammed sideways into the implement tire guarding the main pit entrance. He was not seriously injured, but his racer suffered too much damage to continue.
Last on the track for the evening were the Duros Dent Works IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars. Gene Ackland’s 14G was first back to the flag stand on lap 1 with Shon Pointer’s 20P, the 55 of Doug Lovegrove and Nate Weiler in the 4W hot on his push bumper. Ackland spun out at the top of turn 2 on lap 2 for a caution. That moved Jason Danley into fourth as the other 3 advanced a spot. Neil Nickolite passed Danley on lap 4, putting the 12N into fourth. Weiler made a huge move on lap 8 for the lead as Joey Danley put the 14 into fourth. Nickolite jumped up to second after 2 more circuits were in the books. Pointer regained the second spot with 7 to go and Trevor Grossenbacher put the 35 into fourth 3 laps later. The final top 4 were Weiler, Pointer, Nickolite and Grossenbacher.
This was Weiler’s very first win in a race car. “I’m speechless really. This is something that I never thought would be possible for me. I’ve spent many years as a pit crew member, but I had never driven any kind of dirt track car in my life before the Racesaver class came to Eagle. Racing with some of the best people in the sport and in this class, plus the fact that I just beat all of the tonight feels amazing!!! Everybody keeps telling me I was pulling away, but I don’t have a mirror in the car, and I wasn’t going to try and look behind me. So, I was just going as fast as I could go and hoping that the tires would last. I need to thank my family; the do a lot of work on the car. My dad works on it during the week, maintenance wise when I’m not there. They are the ones who help keep the car on the racetrack”. I mentioned that he ran most of the race when his usual line is around the bottom and he replied “I bet the fans and everyone were surprised about that! I found the rubber and just stuck right there!!”.
Weiler’s sponsors include Auto Transmatic, Assassin Racing Engines and Tom Grasso with Vahlco Wheels.
Next weekend is Moms Rock night at America’s Home Track, presented by Busch Lite and Rotella’s. As usual, all 5 classes will be competing, including the Duros Dent Works Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, A1 Iron/Sany Stock Cars, Modern Real Estate SportMods & 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 A-Feature
1. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 2. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 3. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 4. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 5. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 8. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 9. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 10. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 11. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 12. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 13. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 14. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 15. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 16. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 17. Dan Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 18. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 19. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 20. Bobby Eubanks Concordia, Ks.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 2. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 3. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 4. Dan Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 5. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 6. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 7. Terry Richards Denton, Ne. 8. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 9. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 10. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 11. Dennis Engelhaupt Page, Ne. 12. Troy Sanford Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA C-Feature
1. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 2. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 3. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 4. Dennis Engelhaupt Page, Ne. 5. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 6. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 8. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 2. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 4. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 5. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 6. Terry Richards Denton, Ne. 7. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 8. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 2. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 3. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 4. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 5. Troy Sanford Lincoln, Ne. 6. Dan Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 7. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 8. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Bobby Eubanks Concordia, Ks. 2. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 3. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 4. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 5. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 6. Dan Satriano Omaha, Ne. 7. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 8. Dennis Engelhaupt Page, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 4
1. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 2. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 3. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 4. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 5. Trey Gropp Lincoln, Ne. 6. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 8. Ryan King Bennet, Ne.