By Greg Soukup
If you didn’t come out to Eagle Raceway Saturday for Junior Fan Club Night, presented by Avid Realty, you truly missed out. It was a perfect evening for all of the fans who did show up with clear blue skies and a cool north breeze.
One of the highlights had nothing to do with racing; it was the free race car rides at intermission where all of the youngsters who wanted one were treated to a lap around the high banks in a real race car.
There were no serious incidents in the preliminary racing.
Doug Lovegrove’s 55 and the 11 of Toby Chapman came to a halt on lap 1 of the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car A Feature to halt the action before it could begin. Brandon Horton’s 1B led lap 1 with Ryan Kitchen in the 91K, Mitchell Moore’s 57 and the 76 of Jay Russell close behind. Kitchen passed Horton for the lead on lap 3 as Jason Danley put the 4X into fourth. Danley advanced to third on lap 7 but lost the spot back to Moore 3 laps later. Chapman again spun out in turn 2 on lap 11 for another caution. Danley regained third on the restart and moved up to second place with 10 to go. The next circuit saw Russell move back into fourth place. Jake Galusha looped the 8B at the bottom of turns 1 & 2 with 8 to go for yet another caution. Joey Danley put the 14 into fourth with 2 to go making the final top 4 Kitchen, Jason Danley, Horton and Joey Danley.
Ryan is the son of local racing legend Regan Kitchen. This was Ryan’s first ever victory. Ryan related “I don’t know why it has taken so long to get one, but we never ever give up so that was the main thing tonight. We had problems at Oskaloosa Monday when the motor wasn’t running well and leaking oil. It was leaking oil tonight in the heat race but we decided that we were going to go ahead and run it. We did what we had to do and didn’t give up. We started second row inside and I was actually surprised that the bottom wad going to be as good as it was. We stayed down there the first three or four laps but when I caught up to lapped traffic I didn’t have a choice but to move to the top. Once I got up there I only saw Jason Danley one time and that was on that restart so I knew it was probably faster up there so I just stuck to the top. I can’t thank Adam Gullion enough for giving me the opportunity to run this car. As well as everybody that helps keep us racing . Without our sponsors I wouldn’t even be in this car”. Ryan’s sponsors include AGR, Breakout Graphics, Brenning Painting, King Racing, Precise Roofing, Midwest Petroleum and Speedway Motors.
Next weekend is Get Fired Up Night at Eagle Raceway, presented by Empire Fence, High Noon and the Lincoln Stars. There will be a school bus demolition derby immediately following 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:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 2. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 3. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 4. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 5. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 6. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 7. Mitchell Moore(r) Peculiar, Mo. 8. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 9. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 10. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 11. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia. 12. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 13. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 14. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 15. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne. 16. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 17. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 18. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 19. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 20. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 21. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Joey Danley Martell, Ne. 4. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 5. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 6. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Mitchell Moore(r) Peculiar, Mo. 2. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 3. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 4. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 5. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 6. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 7. Daniel Nekolite O'neill, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 2. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 3. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 4. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 5. Cole Vanderheiden(r) Papillion, Ne. 6. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. DNS. Mike Houseman Jr Des Moines, Ia