By Greg Soukup
Thanks to some afternoon clouds and a nice southerly breeze, the weather guessers were wrong about the extreme heat for American Dream Night presented by Nebraska Realty, Nebraska Septic and Hippo Equipment.
Since last week got rained out, extra money was up for grabs in all classes. The top IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car A Feature prize was boosted to $1300 thanks to Nebraska Septic. The FAB402 Steel the Show and the Gatsby Party On awards were both doubled to $200 and Ripp Racing kicked in a $50 prize to a mystery position in the Valentinos IMCA Hobby Stock A Main.
The young fans also got a chance to fatten their piggy banks with a $1500 Money Grab on the front stretch at intermission sponsored by One Shot Auto Repair.
There were two serious incidents in the preliminary action. The first coming in the first heat for the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver. Battling for position in turns 3 and 4, Cody Ledger’s #47 right rear wheel contacted the left rear tire of the #91 of Adam Gullion, sending Ledger flipping. He was not seriously injured, but his mount was too badly damaged to continue. The other was also in the IMCA Racesaver Sprints.
The finale for the evening was for the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars. Lap 1 went to the 4W of Nate Weiler, with Brett Combs’ 4, the 53L of Ty Ledger and Jake Galusha in the 8G hot on his push bumper. Ledger passed Combs for second on lap 4 with Galusha following him into third. Cole Vanderheiden also got around Combs on lap 6 to put the 15V into fourth. Galusha passed Ledger for second on lap 9 for second with Vanderheiden moving to third the next lap. Alex Salzman spun his 2A out in turn 2 on lap 12, bringing out the caution flag and negating a 3 second lead for Weiler. Vanderheiden moved up to second on the restart with Jason Danley advancing to third the next circuit in the 4X. Danley passed Vanderheiden with 10 to go but the move was called back when Tyler Hendrickson spun the 14T at the bottom of turn 2. The restart saw Trevor Grossenbacher put the 35 into fourth. The red lights came on in the corners the next lap when the 63 of Jack Thomas flipped in turns 3 and 4. He walked away but his car was towed to the pits. Vanderheiden snagged the lead on the restart with Grossenbacher jumping up to second, Weiler falling to third with Danley fourth. Danley passed Weiler for third the following circuit. Ty Ledger flipped in turns 1 and 2 with 8 to go after contact with the 91 of Adam Gullion. He was okay, but his car was done for the night. Galusha moved back up to fourth on the restart. Danley advanced to second with 5 to go as Cole Wayman put the 18W into fourth the next lap. Danley passed Vanderheiden with 2 to go for the lead. The 2 made contact in turn 3 on the final circuit with Danley hopping Vanderheiden’s left rear and spinning to the infield. Grossenbacher made a mad slide job on Vanderheiden in turn 4 but failed to hold on. Vanderheiden won, Grossenbacher finished second, Wayman moved up to third with Galusha coming home fourth.
This was Cole’s first win at America’s Home Track after several years of trying. He related “Oh yeah, it’s been a long time coming. Over the past 3 years we’ve been second, had thirds and fourths all year. It just feels amazing to finally get a win here at Eagle”. I asked him about the final lap of the race, to which he replied “That’s the longest lap I’ve ever experienced in my 3 years of racing. Going down the back stretch I couldn’t see him. I hopped his wheel going into 3, but luckily my car didn’t break and I didn’t pop a tire. I kept going into 4 and Trevor threw a nasty massive slide job on me in 4 but I turned down on him to get the win. We’ve got so many great people that help out with our team. I have to thank my Mom and Dad. They’ve been there for me all of my life, taking me to every race, racing go karts and now it’s finally paid off”. Cole’s sponsors include Bradco Companies, Twisted Thunder Fireworks, Chariots 4 Hope, Josh Flanagan, Gina V Physical Therapy, Arose Mental Health, Vanderheiden Trucking, Young Chiropractic, Electric Express, 316 Strategy Group.
Monday is a special evening at Eagle Raceway as the Lucas Oil Late Models invade America’s Home Track, presented by Malvern Bank. This is the very first time that the tour has visited Eagle and hopefully there are many more stops here in the future. Also on the card are the A1 Iron IMCA Stock Cars.
Front gates open at 5 PM with adult admission being $35, youths 6-12 are $15 with children 5 and under free. Hot laps start at 5:30 with racing kicking off at 6:30 with racing at 6:30.
Pit gates open at 2:00 with pit passes costing $50.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
1. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 2. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 3. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 4. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 5. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 6. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 7. Chad Koch Murdock, Ne. 8. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 9. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 10. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 11. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 12. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 13. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 14. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 15. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 16. Brett Combs Tipton, Mo. 17. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 18. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne. 19. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 20. Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 2. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 3. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 4. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 5. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 6. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 7. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne. 8. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne. 9. James Reed Kearney, Ne. 10. Tige Jensen Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 1
1. Nathan Weiler Omaha, Ne. 2. Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne. 3. Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne. 4. Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne. 5. Jay Russell Wathena, Ks. 6. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 7. Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne. 8. Tige Jensen Lincoln, Ne. DQ. Andrew Jackson Fremont, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 2
1. Brett Combs Tipton, Mo. 2. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 3. Ty Ledger Omaha, Ne. 4. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 5. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 6. Bret Klabunde Omaha, Ne. 7. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 8. Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo. 9. James Reed Kearney, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat 3
1. Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne. 2. Chad Koch Murdock, Ne. 3. Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne. 4. Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne. 5. Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne. 6. Trevor Grossenbacher Panama, Ne. 7. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 8. Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne.