By Greg Soukup
Saturday night at Eagle Raceway saw the 2024 Icebreaker Challenge night #2 take to the high banks of Eagle Raceway. The winners of the previous night’s Nebraska Lottery IMCA Modified feature and Avid Realty IMCA Sportmod feature were back in hopes of taking home an additional $1000 if they could complete the Twice As Nice challenge by repeating their victories.
There were 3 serious incidents in the preliminary action, all three in the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver class. The first happened in their first heat when Shayle Bade’s #03 got loose and spun in turn one. Bryan Bosma attempted to slow down the #23 and go around Bade but slid up into the #53L of Ty Ledger, sending him up and over the turn 1 wall. The second incident came in the C Feature when Cole Cloud flipped the 11C over the wall in turn 2 before striking the catch fence and tearing out a large section of the fence. The final incident was in the B Feature when Alex Davenport rolled the 25A in turns 3 and 4. None of the drivers suffered significant injuries.
The Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprints were also the first to roll out for an A Feature. Lap 1 saw a pileup in turn 2 when Clint Benson got sideways in the #100, collecting Gunnar Pike in the 25, the 77X of John Klabunde and Nick Barger in the 14N. Pike went to the pits but returned to the track, only to find out that he had a broken Jacobs Ladder forcing him to return a few laps later. Klabunde went off on the hook. The restart saw Bayley Ballenger’s 6B spin out in turn and collect the 18W of Cole Wayman 2 for another restart. Wayman went to the pits with damage to the left front. Matt Johnson’s 30 led the first official lap with Brandon Horton’s 1B, the 51 of Mike Boston and Tyler Drueke’s 12 rounding out the top 4. Trevor Grossenbacher jumped up to third the following circuit as Boston held onto the third spot.
Boston vaulted into the lead the next time around with Grossenbacher following him into second, Johnson fell to third and Cody Ledger put the #47 into fourth. John Klabunde spun the 77X out in turn 2 the next lap. Grossenbacher snagged the lead on the restart with Ledger moving up to third. Horton stopped at the bottom of turn 1 the next lap for yet another caution. Ledger advanced to second on the restart with Drueke jumping all the way to second. Drueke passed Grossenbacher for the lead on lap 12. Ledger also passed Grossenbacher on lap 14 to advance to second place. With 10 circuits remaining
Drueke had stretched his lead to a full straightaway. With 8 to go Gene Ackland got past Boston to put the 14G into fourth. The top 4 remained unchanged to the checkers with Drueke winning, Ledger second, Grossenbacher third and Ackland fourth.
Tyler was the 2023 points champion at Eagle. He raced Friday night at Knoxville Raceway in his 410, but they cancelled for Saturday so his first thought was Eagle Raceway. He said, “It’s always good to come back home”. He started from sixth and got the win, but it wasn’t that easy for him. “With all of the cautions in the beginning it was tough. I finally got going pretty good and I think I was going to take the lead coming off of turn 4 but the caution came out and put me back to fourth. Then on the next restart I got kind of pinballed around and fell back to sixth. I wasn’t very good on the top because I was too tight. I knew that I had to move around and find something that worked. I finally did find a good line and just stuck with it”. Tyler’s sponsors include Forbes Motorsports, MySalesman.com, Empire Fence and Netting, The Wave, Cherney Enterprises LLC and American Trailer Co., Zoz Farms, Drueke Trucking, Jeffries Trucking, Johnson Farms, Speedway Racing Engines, Angels Energy Services and J&J Auto Racing.
Next week kicks off the regular season at Eagle Raceway as Pepsi presents Start Your Engines!
Front gates open at 5:15 with adult admission is just $15, youths 6-12 are $5 and children 5 and under are free.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with pit admission being #30.
All 5 classes will be competing, including the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprints, Nebraska Lottery IMCA Modifieds, Avid Realty IMCA Sportmods, A1 Iron IMCA Stock Cars and Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks.
RESULTS:
Sprint-Icebreaker A-Feature
1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 3. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 4. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 5. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 6. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 7. Bill Johnson St. Peter, Mn. 8. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 9. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 10. Matt Johnson Saint Peter, Mn. 11. Nick Barger Madison, Sd. 12. Bayley Ballenger Harrisburg, Sd. 13. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 14. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 15. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 16. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 17. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 18. John Klabunde Fort Calhoun, Ne. DNS. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. DNS. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-Icebreaker B-Feature
1. John Klabunde Fort Calhoun, Ne. 2. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 3. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 4. Bill Johnson St. Peter, Mn. 5. Michalob Voeltz Madison, Sd. 6. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 7. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 8. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 9. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 10. Kyle Magnuson 11. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 12. Tanner Anderson Wynot, Ne.
Sprint-Icebreaker C-Feature
1. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 2. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 3. Tanner Anderson Wynot, Ne. 4. Kyle Magnuson 5. Cole Cloud Fairbury, Ne. 6. Dan Jackson Ceresco, Ne. DNS. James Reed Kearney, Ne. DNS. Nate Thompson Fremont, Ne. DNS. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne.
Sprint-Icebreaker Heat 1
1. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 2. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 3. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 4. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 5. Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia. 6. Bill Johnson St. Peter, Mn. 7. Kyle Magnuson 8. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 9. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne.
Sprint-Icebreaker Heat 2
1. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 2. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 3. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 4. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 5. John Klabunde Fort Calhoun, Ne. 6. Michalob Voeltz Madison, Sd. 7. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 8. Cole Cloud Fairbury, Ne.
Sprint-Icebreaker Heat 3
1. Bayley Ballenger Harrisburg, Sd. 2. Matt Johnson Saint Peter, Mn. 3. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 4. Nick Barger Madison, Sd. 5. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 6. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 7. James Reed Kearney, Ne. DNS. Dan Jackson Ceresco, Ne.
Sprint-Icebreaker Heat 4
1. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 2. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 3. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 4. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 5. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 6. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 7. Tanner Anderson Wynot, Ne. 8. Nate Thompson Fremont, Ne.