By Greg Soukup
The crowd at Combustion Chamber Night, presented by the Lincoln Saltdogs and The Ticket Saturday night, enjoyed great racing and fantastic weather.
Joey Danley took a wild ride in the second Racesaver IMCA Sprint Car heat when he jumped the cushion, tried to correct and ended up snap-rolling five and a half times. He would make repairs and return for the B Feature. Chad Fegley had an almost identical ride in the same turns 3 and 4. He would not return to action. Neither racer received significant injuries.
Chase Weiler’s 0 stopped on the initial attempt at a start for the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Car finale. When a lap was finally official it was Dan Satriano’s 17, the 51 of Mike Boston, Doug Lovegrove in the #1 and the 20P of Shon Pointer the top 4. Shayle Bade jumped the 03 up to third on lap 2 before losing the spot to Pointer the next lap. Lovegrove moved back to fourth on lap 8 and Pointer took second the next time around. Boston advanced back to third on lap 12, only to lose the spot to Lovegrove after another lap. Bade again cracked the top 4 with 9 to go, moving back into fourth. Lovegrove moved up to second with 3 laps remaining. Toby Chapman looped the 7KX with 1 to go, setting up a green/white/checkered finish. Jason Martin jumped his 36 up all the way to third on the restart. Again, there was 1 lap left when Pointer and the 14G of Gene Ackland got together, ending up with Pointer’s racer rolling onto its side. Martin was also towed to the pits during the red flag. It was Satriano, Lovegrove, Bade and the 12 of Tyler Drueke the top 4. The racers were warned at that time that the next flag would end the race. On the ensuing restart Jimmy Grasso’s 8G and Chapman got together on the back stretch. That made the race official with Satriano winning, Lovegrove second, Bade third and Drueke fourth.
Satriano has been racing at Eagle Raceway since 2008, but this was his first win at the track. “I didn’t think that it was ever going to happen. We’ve had so many ups and downs at this place. I mean, one week you can run fantastic and think that you’re on to something and then the next week you show up here and you can’t even get out of your own way; or at least that’s what it feels like. I can’t thank everybody enough that helps me and who bears with the pain of doing so bad. They stick with us, and then we finally get one. We finally get one at Eagle Raceway. I used to come here when I was 8 or 9 years old, and my dad worked on a car. One day we were here in the stands and I was like ‘One day I’m going to race on that race track’. Not only have I raced on it, I’ve won on it! They don’t come easy here. I feel like I’ve beat the best Racesaver drivers in the country. That’s what the Racesaver class is about. A lot of nights I don’t feel like I’ve got
enough motor, or good enough tires, or I feel like my equipment is good enough to run with these guys. I get discouraged. We needed this, we needed this really badly! Our whole team needed this really badly. We got down to one to go, and I told myself ‘Just stay calm, and stay focused’. Then after the restart I got thewhite flag and all of a sudden, I saw the red lights come on and knew that I’d won. I want to thank Matt Zoz number one. If it wasn’t for him, I would have given up a long time ago. I have to thank my brothers John and Dave for helping out as much as they can. My pit crew guy Steve; I don’t know what I’d do without Steve right now. He shows up every week and puts up with me whether I’m in a good mood or bad. He’s always optimistic and positive. My daughter Juliana who wins more than I do, but is the drive and inspiration to go as hard as I could possibly go. My girlfriend Theresa who has been coming out here for the last month or so. I make her nervous as all hell every time I go out there. She’s an extremely positive person, and doesn’t care if I finish dead last or if I win. I have nothing to prove to her. Thanks to Speedway Graphics for always doing the vinyl on my car and having it look good. A Coating Enterprises for always doing the powder coating after I crunch all of these parts up. Lil’ Hands Daycare for coming on board; I needed some tires and they bought us some tires. I’m probably missing somebody to thank, but we’ll get them on the next one” stated the happy winner.
Next Saturday is Fan Appreciation Night, presented by the Nebraska Lottery, Kaplan University, Miller Lite and The Eagle. Front gate admission for those 6 and up is just $5! Twinky the Clown will be there from 5:30 to 7:30. The Nebraska Lottery will also be in the courtyard. Eagle Raceway’s famous Fire Hose Rodeo will be held after the features are complete.
Front gates open at 5:15, hot laps are at 5:30 with racing beginning at 6:30. The Racesaver IMCA Sprints, Kaplan University IMCA Modifieds, Hoosier Tire IMCA Sport Modifieds, Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks and Mountain Dew Kick Start IMCA Sport Compacts will all be racing.
Pit gate open at 4:00 with pit admission being $25.
RESULTS:
IMCA Sprint A-Feature
Driver Nbr
------------------------------ -----
1. Dan Satriano 17
Papillion, Ne
2. Doug Lovegrove 1
Waverly, Ne
3. Shayle Bade 03
Lincoln, Ne
4. Tyler Drueke 12
Eagle, Ne
5. Adam Gullion 91
Lincoln, Ne
6. Mike Boston 51
Lincoln, Ne
7. Trevor Grossenbacher 35
Hickman, Ne
8. Clint Benson 100
Papillion, Ne
9. Jason Danley 4X
Lincoln, Ne
10. Nathan Weiler 4W
Lavista, Ne
11. Matt Richards 1R
Lincoln, Ne
12. Jimmy Grasso 8G
Omaha, Ne
13. Toby Chapman 7KX
Panama, Ne
14. Nick Bryan 52
Lincoln, Ne
15. Jason Martin 36
Lincoln, Ne
16. Shon Pointer 20P
Grand Island, Ne
17. Gene Ackland 14G
Martell, Ne
18. Ryan King 93
Bennet, Ne
19. Brandon Horton 1B
Omaha, Ne
20. Chase Weiler 0
Lincoln, Ne
IMCA Sprint B-Feature
Driver Nbr
------------------------------ -----
1. Gene Ackland 14G
Martell, Ne
2. Matt Richards 1R
Lincoln, Ne
3. Chase Weiler 0
Lincoln, Ne
4. Brandon Horton 1B
Omaha, Ne
5. Neil Nickolite 12N
Bellwood, Ne
6. Paul Hendrickson 19JR
Lincoln, Ne
7. Boyd Peterson 57B
Ithaca, Ne
8. Jason Miller 77
Omaha, Ne
9. Dwight Carter 4U
Lincoln, Ne
DNS Keith Dragoo 44
Lincoln, Ne
DNS Joey Danley 14
Lincoln, Ne
DNS Chad Fegley 77D
Eagle, Ne
DNS Ron Love 5
Lincoln, Ne
IMCA Sprint Heat 1
Driver Nbr
------------------------------ -----
1. Trevor Grossenbacher 35
Hickman, Ne
2. Shon Pointer 20P
Grand Island, Ne
3. Jason Martin 36
Lincoln, Ne
4. Jimmy Grasso 8G
Omaha, Ne
5. Matt Richards 1R
Lincoln, Ne
6. Paul Hendrickson 19JR
Lincoln, Ne
7. Keith Dragoo 44
Lincoln, Ne
8. Ron Love 5
Lincoln, Ne
IMCA Sprint Heat 2
Driver Nbr
------------------------------ -----
1. Toby Chapman 7KX
Panama, Ne
2. Clint Benson 100
Papillion, Ne
3. Mike Boston 51
Lincoln, Ne
4. Nathan Weiler 4W
Lavista, Ne
5. Brandon Horton 1B
Omaha, Ne
6. Boyd Peterson 57B
Ithaca, Ne
7. Jason Miller 77
Omaha, Ne
IMCA Sprint Heat 3
Driver Nbr
------------------------------ -----
1. Shayle Bade 03
Lincoln, Ne
2. Tyler Drueke 12
Eagle, Ne
3. Doug Lovegrove 1
Waverly, Ne
4. Nick Bryan 52
Lincoln, Ne
5. Dwight Carter 4U
Lincoln, Ne
6. Neil Nickolite 12N
Bellwood, Ne
7. Joey Danley 14
Lincoln, Ne
IMCA Sprint Heat 4
Driver Nbr
------------------------------ -----
1. Jason Danley 4X
Lincoln, Ne
2. Dan Satriano 17
Papillion, Ne
3. Adam Gullion 91
Lincoln, Ne
4. Ryan King 93
Bennet, Ne
5. Gene Ackland 14G
Martell, Ne
6. Chase Weiler 0
Lincoln, Ne
7. Chad Fegley 77D
Eagle, Ne