To be honest, I had great fears that we would get to see Fan Appreciation Night presented by Avid Realty and Empire Fence last evening at Eagle Raceway. As I neared the Lincoln city limits Mother Nature opened up the skies and let go with a deluge so hard that we were slowed to a near crawl. Thankfully, as I got 3 or 4 miles east of town the rain ceased and was never to be seen again that night. The grandstands were filled with a huge crowd ready to see action on the high banked 1/3 mile of America’s Home Track.
There were no serious incidents in the preliminary action.
The finale showcased what is probably the biggest Hard Charger of the year!! Nate Weiler held the lead on lap 1 of the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car Feature. Close behind were the 18W of Cole Wayman, Gene Ackland’s 14G and the 35 of Trevor Grossenbacher. Ackland passed Wayman for second on lap2. Max Roseland spun the 84 in turn 2 the next lap for a caution. Clint Benson’s 100 spun out in turns 3 & 4 on lap 6 to slow the action. Tyler Drueke had quietly been working his way forward from his 17th spot on the starting grid after transferring from 5th starting the B. He got up to fourth with 10 to go and moved up to third 3 laps later. Drueke again advanced one position with 3 circuits remaining, taking second from Weiler who fell to third with Grossenbacher holding down fourth. He continued his pursuit of Wayman and managed to squeak past him on the final corner for the victory.
I asked Tyler what the heck happened to him in the heat where he finished far back in the field. He stated “I changed some stuff on the motor today and I think it may have slowed us down some. The track has been a lot rougher these last two weeks than it was at the beginning of the year. I thought we were closing in on it. We made a bar change after the heat race and that woke the car up for the B. And I had to make some changes on the motor to make it run a little harder for the feature”. I then inquired about what lit the fire in him for the A Feature. He laughed and said “Starting in the back you have to just charge hard. Put your head down and your foot down and go as hard as you can. It helps if the car goes into
the corner and comes off the corner. You can manipulate it and do things to help yourself. The track got slick and widened outs and slowed down enough that guys started moving around”. Tyler’s sponsors include Cherney Enterprises LLC, MySalesman, American Trailer Co., Drueke Trucking and Zoz Farms
Next Saturday Pepsi and Platte Valley Equipment present Kick Your Boots Up Night at Eagle Raceway. Front gates open at 5:15 with adult front gate admission is $15, youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free. All 5 classes will be competing including the Twin Rivers Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, A1 Iron Stock Cars & Valentino’s Hobby Stocks. Track, State, Regional & National Points for all classes.
After the races Eagle Raceways famous Hillbilly Slip ‘n Slide will be held so bring a change of clothes and chill out.
Hot laps kick off at 5:30 with racing at 6:30.
Pit gates open at 3:45 with pit admission being $30.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 3. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 4. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 5. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 6. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 7. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 8. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 9. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 10. Jordan Boston 11. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 12. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 13. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 14. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 15. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 16. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 17. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 18. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 19. Maxwell Roseland Carter Lake, Ia. 20. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 2. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 3. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 4. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 5. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 6. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 7. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 8. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. DNS. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Cole Wayman(r) Lincoln, Ne. 2. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 3. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 4. Jordan Boston 5. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 6. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 7. Ryan Kitchen Seward, Ne. 8. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 9. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 2. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 3. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 4. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 5. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 6. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 7. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 8. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Maxwell Roseland Carter Lake, Ia. 2. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 3. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 4. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 5. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 6. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 7. Daniel Nekolite O`neill, Ne. 8. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne.