By Greg Soukup
Saturday’s Healthcare Hero Salute held at Eagle Raceway and presented by Hotsy saw mid-80’s temperatures and a slight breeze cool off to a beautiful night. Several friends asked “How are you doing?” and all I could say was “I’m at the races, the weather is beautiful, the track is in great shape and there’s 131 cars in the pits PLUS we’re getting double features!! What could be better than that????”.
Since lightning in the area last week cancelled the action before the features could be run, they were held before the evening’s regular racing could be held.
The final make-up feature was for the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprints. Jake Galusha looped the 8B at the bottom of turns 1 & 2 on the start, causing a caution. The first official lap saw Andrew Jackson’s 5A, the 3G of Bill Garrow, Cole Vanderheiden’s 15F and Jacob Dye in the 20D out front. Dye passed Vanderheiden for third on lap 3 but lost the spot back to Vanderheiden the next time around as Garrow snagged the lead. The next circuit saw Vanderheiden move up to second. A debris caution on laap 7 slowed the action. Clint Benson used the restart to put the 100 into fourth and leaped up to second after another lap. Jackson dove into the infield but came back onto the racing surface the next time around, allowing Joey Danley to move to fourth in the 14. Danley advanced to third with 6 to go. Stu Snyder passed Danley for third the next lap and took the second spot on the final lap. The top 4 were Benson, Snyder, Danley and Vanderheiden.
I told Clint that it was about time that he was in the winner’s circle, to which he replied “Yeah I’ll go along with that. I think that the last time I won here was 2016. That’s the last time that I can pull to memory. We’ll take it though. We started outside of row 5. The whole trick to getting the win was to move up through the pack quickly. You have to make your moves fast or you get left at the back and that’s the end of the story for you. At this point, we’ll take what we can get”. Clint’s sponsors include Clint Benson Motorsports, Sundown Homes, Green Beans Coffee, Acme Auto and Fistful Of Bourbon.
The regular weekly show then began. There were 2 major incidents in the preliminary racing, both in the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprints. In their first heat the 4U of Dwight Carter got loose, another car contacted him and Joey Danley’s #14 got caught up and went flipping. He got the damaged repaired well enough to come back for the C Feature, but in the B Feature Joey’s motor started a fire and he came to a halt at the pit entrance. The fire was extinguished but he was unable to continue. He was not seriously injured in either incident.
Finally, the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars came to the high banks for their A Feature. Jake Galusha spun the 8B out in turns 1 & 2 on the first attempt at a start. Derek Kral put the 85 out front of lap 1 with the 91 of Adam Gullion, Alex Davenport’s 25A and Jacob Dye in the 20D close on his tail tank. Gunnar Pike passed Dye on lap 3 to put the 25G into fourth. Mike Houseman Jr. got past Pike for fourth in the 4L the next circuit. Davenport spun out in turns 1 & 2 with 6 to go and Houseman headed to the pits with a flat right rear tire. At that time it was Kral, Gullion, Shon Pointer and the 35 of Trevor Grossenbacher. Grossenbacher passed Pointer on the restart with Stu Snyder also getting past Pointer to put the 5 into fourth. Snyder moved up to third the next lap and advanced to second with 4 to go. Gullion took second place back from Snyder on the final circuit. The top 4 were Kral, Gullion, Snyder and Grossenbacher.
I mentioned that it was Derek’s first sprint car win at Eagle and he corrected me saying “Yeah, first sprint car win ever. I started racing micros about 6 years ago, took a year and a half off. We bought a sprint car, so here we are!. The cushion was treacherous but I knew that starting on the pole I had to get up there or I was going to get freight trained. So, we made it work I guess. I need to thank my fiancé because she helps a ton and all of my crew guys”. Derek’s sponsors include Speedway Shocks, Marcus Kennedy, Lost Creek Motorsports and Adam Gullion Racing.
Next weekend is Driver Appreciation Night at Eagle Raceway, presented by Pepsi and Demon Decals. Drivers will receive a free pit pass to use at any remaining regular event when they visit the payout window at the end of the night.
Also, after the races the famous Hillbilly Slip ‘n Slide will be held after the races.
Adult front gate admission is $15 and youths 6-12 are just $5 with children 5 and under free.
All 5 classes will be in competition including the Twin Rivers Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, Valentino’s Hobby Stocks & A1 Iron Stock Cars.
Front gates open at 5:15.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with pit passes costing $30. Hot laps begin at 5:30.
RESULTS:
Make-up feature
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 2. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 3. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 4. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 5. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 6. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 7. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 8. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 9. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia. 10. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 11. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 12. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 13. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 14. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 15. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 16. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 17. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 18. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. DNS. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 2. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 3. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 4. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 5. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 8. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 9. Derek Kral(r) York, Ne. 10. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 2. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 3. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 4. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 5. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 6. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 7. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 8. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 9. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia. 2. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 3. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 4. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 5. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 6. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 7. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 8. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 2. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 3. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 4. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 5. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 6. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 8. Derek Kral(r) York, Ne.
7/30/22
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Derek Kral(r) York, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 4. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 5. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 6. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 7. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 8. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 9. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 10. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 11. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 12. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 13. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 14. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 15. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 16. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 17. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia. 18. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 19. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 20. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 2. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 3. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 4. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 5. Mitchell Moore(r) Peculiar, Mo. 6. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 7. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 8. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 9. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 10. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 11. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 12. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA C-Feature
1. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 2. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 3. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 4. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 5. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 6. James Reed Holodrege, Ne. 7. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 8. Cole Cloud(r) Salina, Ks. DNS. Steve Hurst(r) Ames, Ne. DNS. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. DNS. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 2. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 3. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia. 4. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 5. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 6. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 7. Cole Cloud(r) Salina, Ks. 8. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 9. Joey Danley Martell, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 2. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 3. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 4. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 5. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 6. Nate Johnson Hastings, Ne. 7. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 8. Steve Hurst(r) Ames, Ne. DNS. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Derek Kral(r) York, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jacob Dye Albany, Mo. 4. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 5. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 6. Mitchell Moore(r) Peculiar, Mo. 7. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 8. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 9. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 4
1. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 2. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 3. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 4. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 5. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 6. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 7. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 8. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 9. James Reed Holodrege, Ne.