By Greg Soukup
It seemed almost chilly Saturday night as Nebraska Septic, Southeast Community College and The Lincoln Stars presented Work Hard, Play Hard night at Eagle Raceway.
Temperatures in the mid-70’s greeted the very large crowd that filled the grandstands in anticipation of a great night of racing.
I personally want to thank Roger Hadan and the whole Eagle Raceway staff for the fabulous job that they do every week. What other dirt track can pack the pits with 120 teams, throw the first green flag at 6:25, have a 15 minute intermission for track rework and see the final checkered flag thrown at 9:30??
After the races were done there was a battle of Hooptie Hockey on the front stretch to give everybody a little bonus action.
There was one very scary incident in the preliminary action, occurring in the first heat for the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks. Robert Salts in the 10-4 slid up the track in turn 2, made contact with the 39 of Khrysta Stransky that got him sideways and sent him barrel rolling twice before coming to a halt on all 4 wheels. Salts was not seriously injured but the same could not be said for his car.
Billy Alley’s 7C, the 14J of Josh Riggins, Mike Boston’s 51 and the 14T of Tyler Hendrickson were the top 4 after 1 lap of the Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car A Feature. Jack Thomas passed Hendrickson on lap 2 to put the 63 into fourth and moved up to third the next lap. Lap 8 saw Adam Gullion’s 91 and the 47 of Cody Ledger make contact with Ledger parking his right it sideways near the pit entrance in turn 1. Gullion headed to the pits with a flat right rear tire but Ledger pushed off to rejoin the battle. Gullion also came back out to tag the rear of the field. Boston passed Thomas for third on the restart but Thomas got back by him the next lap. Hendrickson spun out in turns 1 and 2 on lap 10 for another caution. The restart saw Shayle Bade do a 360 degree spin and keep going but the caution flag flew to slow the action. A lap after that restart Cole Vanderheiden put the 15V into the fourth spot. Stu Snyder passed Vanderheiden for fourth the next lap in his #5. One more lap was in the books when Ledger spun again, this time in turn 4 and the yellow lights were lit in the corner. Snyder passed Thomas and Riggins on the restart to take over the second position with Riggins falling back to fourth. Vanderheiden again moved up to fourth the following lap but lost the spot to Gene Ackland’s #14G the next time around. Ackland advanced to third the next lap. Riggins passed Thomas with 9 circuits remaining to grab third. Thomas slowed dramatically with 8 to go, allowing Jason Danley to take over the 4th spot. Hendrickson spun in turn 4 with 1 lap left and a green/white/checkered finish was set up. Alley pulled away from Snyder for the win, relinquishing Snyder to second, Ackland held on for third with Danley fourth.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Billy Alley, he was a fixture at Eagle Raceway and other tracks until his father passed away in 2020. Billy decided to step away from the sport he loved and just came back to Eagle last week, finishing 11th in the B Feature. But Saturday proved to be the triumphant return of ‘Rock and Roll’ Billy Alley. I’ve known Billy and his father Stewart for many, many years and seeing the smile on his face when I interviewed him is a memory I will hold dear forever. He said “It’s a tough deal out here, racing against the cars at Eagle Raceway. When I stepped away I never thought I would be back. I tried to figure out how many years I’ve been away from Eagle but I never thought I was going to win a sprint car race again in my life, let alone here at Eagle Raceway. It’s a pretty proud moment for me. I’m happy and grateful that Toby Chapman drug me out and said, ‘Let’s go do it’. I think I fed the itch and we’ll get after it a little more next year”. I asked if he planned on sticking around the rest of the season and taking on the IMCA Racesaver Nationals, and he replied “I think so. I’m taking it one race at a time. There’s no plans, but Toby’s having fun I think and we haven’t torn much up yet so we’ll just keep going as it comes”. Billy’s sponsors include Buda Concrete and Toby Chapman Painting.
There are just 2 regular season race nights left this year. Next week is Buckets of Fun Night, presented by Mom’s Popcorn and Great Clips. It’s also Junior Fan Club Night and those fans 12 and under receive free admission. There also will be free race car rides for the kids at intermission.
Front gates open at 5:15 with hot laps starting at 5:30, Adult front gate admission is just $15.
Pit gates open at 3:00 with pit admission being $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.
RESULTS:
Sprint-IMCA A-Feature
Work Hard Play Hard
1 7C 1 Billy Alley Bennet, Ne.
11 5 2 Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne.
7 14g 3 Gene Ackland Martell, Ne.
16 4x 4 Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne.
9 15V 5 Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne.
15 25 6 Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne.
5 51 7 Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne.
12 10 8 Trevor Serbus Olivia, Mn.
6 31 9 Koby Werkmeister Armour, Sd.
10 91 10 Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne.
19 18W 11 Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne.
20 1B 12 Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne.
14 47 13 Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne.
8 03 14 Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne.
18 77x 15 John Klabunde Fort Calhoun, Ne.
3 14T 16 Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne.
17 23 17 Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia.
4 63 18 Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo.
13 11R 19 Cade Richards Lincoln, Ne.
2 14J DQ Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA B-Feature
1 4x 1 Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne.
2 23 2 Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia.
4 77x 3 John Klabunde Fort Calhoun, Ne.
7 18W 4 Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne.
6 1B 5 Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne.
9 20D 6 Jacob Dye Albany, Mo.
8 2A 7 Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne.
5 3G 8 Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne.
3 8B 9 Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne.
Sprint-IMCA Heat
2 14T 1 Tyler Hendrickson(r) Lincoln, Ne.
4 31 2 Koby Werkmeister Armour, Sd.
1 7C 3 Billy Alley Bennet, Ne.
7 91 4 Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne.
3 11R 5 Cade Richards Lincoln, Ne.
8 4x 6 Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne.
5 77x 7 John Klabunde Fort Calhoun, Ne.
6 18W 8 Cole Wayman Lincoln, Ne.
3 51 1 Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne.
4 14g 2 Gene Ackland Martell, Ne.
6 15V 3 Cole Vanderheiden Papillion, Ne.
8 10 4 Trevor Serbus Olivia, Mn.
7 47 5 Cody Ledger Omaha, Ne.
5 23 6 Brandon Bosma Rock Rapids, Ia.
1 3G 7 Bill Garrow Lincoln, Ne.
2 2A 8 Alex Salzman Lincoln, Ne.
2 63 1 Jack Thomas Bates City, Mo.
1 14J 2 Josh Riggins Lincoln, Ne.
5 03 3 Shayle Bade Raymond, Ne.
7 5 4 Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne.
4 25 5 Gunnar Pike South Bend, Ne.
3 8B 6 Jake Galusha Lincoln, Ne.
6 1B 7 Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne.
8 20D 8 Jacob Dye Albany, Mo.