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By Greg Soukup
Buckets of Candy Night-Junior Fan Club Night, presented by Mammoth Station, Avid Realty and S&L Trenching was held Saturday at Eagle Raceway. The very large crowd that flowed through the front gates were greeted by a fabulous day and evening with mid-80’s temperatures, a cloudless sky and a slight northerly breeze.
There were 3 serious incidents in the preliminary action. In fact, one of them occurred before the racing even got started. Gunnar Pike flipped the #25 Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver sprint in turn 3 during his hot lap session. His racer was towed to the pits where repairs were made, allowing him to return for his heat. Next, in Heat 3 for the Nebraska Lottery IMCA Modifieds, Tyler Harr got sideways going into turn 3. His right side tires dug in and he snap-barrel rolled several times into turn 4. His vehicle was too severely damaged to return. Lastly, in the second heat for the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars, Dan Jackson went very high coming out of turn 3 and ended up smacking the turn 4 wall and rolling over slowly. His car was damaged badly enough that he did not return. None of the three drivers were significantly injured.
Intermission saw a melee of young fans on the front stretch where the Sam’s Club Candy Dash was held. The entire front stretch was strewn with candy and the kids were unleashed to grab as much as they could.
The final race of the evening was for the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars. The first 4 back to the flag stand were Alex Salzman’s 2A, the 53L of Ty Ledger, Josh Riggins’ 14J and the 91 of Adam Gullion. Riggins grabbed the lead on lap 2 with Ledger also passing Salzman to grab the second position with Salzman and Gullion third and fourth. The next lap saw Ledger get very high in turn 4, come down and make contact with Gullion and end up spinning to a stop coming to the front stretch. That made the top 4 Riggins, Gullion, Tige Jensen in the 24 and the 77 of Bret Klabunde. Gullion passed Riggins on the restart for the lead only to lose it back to Riggins the following lap. Jensen passed Gullion for second after another circuit and grabbed the top spot on lap 8. Lap 11 saw Mike Boston move up to fourth in the 51. The final change in the top 4 came with 3 to go when Gullion advanced to second, making the top 4 Jensen, Gullion, Riggins and Boston.
Last week marked Tige’s return to competitive racing after his horrible accident at Junction Motor Speedway. I kiddingly asked if he thought he was his father, the Black Bandit back in the day to which he replied “Once in a while. I mean, it was his idea to get the car back going, so yeah! The last time I raced was back in 2013, so it’s been a while. It was great to get the old crew back together and it’s been a bonding time for all of us. It’s been a long time coming. The car was quick tonight. Toby Chapman helped us out tonight setting the car up and said to just rip the lip and that’d what we did. I just had to keep it on top. It was fun to race like that, but I’m out of shape. I need to get back to the gym or something. Last week I just wanted to finish because we had some steering issue so I was just putting around the bottom out of everyone’s way. But tonight, we let it all hang out. Big thanks to my Dad. This was his idea and he helped get everything together ”. Tige’s sponsors include Carpetland, Studio 48, Mahlco, Wolfgang Body Shop and Mark Burch Motorsports.
Next Saturday is the Memorial Day Extravaganza, presented by Pepsi Cola and Celerion. There will be a Mini E Gokart show in the courtyard and a Mini E Gokart exhibition at intermission.
Front gates open at 5:15 with adult admission being $15, youths 6-12 are just $5 and kids 5 and under are free.
Hot laps start at 5:30 with racing action kicking off at 6:30. All 5 classes will be competing including Nebraska Septic Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, A1 Iron Stock Cars & Valentino’s Hobby Stocks.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with pit admission being $35.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Tige Jensen Lincoln, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 4. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 5. Jeremy Huish Ness City, Ks. 6. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 7. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 8. Chad Koch Murdock, Ne. 9. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 10. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 11. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 12. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 13. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 14. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 15. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 16. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 17. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 18. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 19. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 20. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 2. Jeremy Huish Ness City, Ks. 3. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 4. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 5. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 6. Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 8. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 9. Nate Thompson Fremont, Ne. DNS. Dan Jackson Ceresco, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne. 2. Chad Koch Murdock, Ne. 3. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 4. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 5. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 6. Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 8. Nate Thompson Fremont, Ne. 9. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 2. Tige Jensen Lincoln, Ne. 3. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 4. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 5. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 6. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 7. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 8. Dan Jackson Ceresco, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne. 2. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 3. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 4. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 5. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 6. Alex Davenport Lincoln, Ne. 7. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 8. Jeremy Huish Ness City, Ks.