By Greg Soukup
The 2016 version of The Rumble In The Bullring had the heat, the breeze and the action that the fans came out for. The rare Friday night event saw the dirt-flinging, fire-breathing 410 cubic inch wingless sprint cars of the Amsoil USAC National Tour.
The excitement began in time trials for the USAC drivers as CJ Leary blistered the 1/3 mile high banks of Eagle Raceway with a new 1 lap track record for the class with a 13.247 second circuit.
All of the preliminary races were held with no significant incidents, but plenty of fantastic racing.
Next the Sprint Series of Nebraska rolled out for their A Feature. Jason Martin’s 5X, the 91 of Adam Gullion, Joey Danley in the 14 and the 7KX of Toby Chapman were the first four after the initial circuit. There was a big mess in turns 1 & 2 on the second lap as the 0 of Chase Weiler ended going up and over. Weiler was not seriously injured. Gullion went to the pits for repairs, putting the 51 of Mike Boston in fourth and moving Danley and Chapman up one spot. Trevor Grossenbacher passed Boston on lap 3, putting the #35 into fourth and Danley took over the lead. Zach Blurton put the 2J into fourth on lap 11, but gave the position back to Grossenbacher 2 laps later. Jason Danley’s 4X spun in turn 3 with 8 to go; having suffered wing damage in the turn 2 incident. Blurton again got into fourth with 7 to go. 1 more lap was in the books when Martin stole the top spot back, only to give up the position to Joey Danley the next time around. Joey Danley, Martin, Chapman and Blurton were the top 4.
Joey stated “I got lucky starting toward the front, and made the move past Jason. I was running up top, but the cushion started going away and he got under me. I did get back by Martin finally and just held on. This win was really sweet; it was awesome”. Danley’s sponsors include Heiserman Flooring, Shoulders Race Engines, Automotive Services, Nissen Hardwood Floors, Super Saver and Onyx Wraps.
The finale was for the Amsoil USAC wingless 410 sprints. Chad Boesplug’s 98E took the lead on lap 1 with the 52 of Isaac Chapple, Bret Mellenberndt’s 97 and the 32 of Chase Stockton hot on his push bumper. Stockton moved up to third on lap 2. Thomas Messeraul also passed Mellenberndt to put the 66 into fourth, but Stockton got loose on the backstretch on lap 3, Max McGhee’s 17 plowed into Stockton and the yellow lights were lit. Brady Bacon moved the #69 into fourth on lap 4. Chapple and Mellenberndt made contact on the front stretch the next time around, damaging Mellenberndt’s front axle. Leary, with no place to go ran head-long into Mellenberndt. Landon Simon’s #24 jumped the left side tires of the #1 of Robert Ballou as they come on the incident, sending Simon flipping. Nobody was seriously injured. After the red lights were extinguished Boespflug held the top spot, Chapple was second, Brady Bacon’s 69 held third and the fourth spot went to Messeraul. Bacon took second on the restart. One more lap saw Ryan Kitchen’s 21 stop just before the turn 1 pit entrance for another slowing of the racing action. Dave Darland used the restart to put the 11 into third as Chapple held fourth.
Brandon Stevenson’s 0 spun in turns 1 and 2 on lap 9 and the caution flag flew again. Darland moved to second on the restart as Chris Windom put the #5 into fourth. Windom did a 360 degree spin on lap 17 after contact with Messeraul, sending Windom to the rear after the ensuing yellow flag. That put Messeraul back to fourth. McGhee hit one of the tires guarding the infield with 7 to go for another caution. From there to the finish it was a 3-way battle as Bacon and Darland closed on Boespflug. Boespflug on the cushion, Bacon on the bottom of the track and Darland running anywhere he had an opening made for a thrilling conclusion. Bacon closed on the final circuit, but Boespflug held on for the win. Bacon, Darland and Messeraul rounded out the top 4.
This was Boespflug’s first Eagle Raceway victory, and came in just his second ever visit to the track. “I got a second place here I think it was 3 years ago, but it was great to get the win tonight. I wish the race would have stayed green, instead of so many cautions and reds. I just had to be sure to hit my marks. That made them think too hard. The top in 1 and 2 got really treacherous, and I got out of shape up top a couple of times. This is my first full season with USAC. I used to just run locally back home in Indiana in my own car, but I always wanted to do the tour. I’m still in my own stuff, running it out of my garage at home. I have a few small product sponsors, but pretty much it’s just me. I have help from a couple of great guys who work on the car, and that makes it possible to do this” said Boespflug.
Saturday night is “Race On Mania” sponsored by Great Clips. There will be a free kids Color Run at intermission sponsored by Accelerated GraphX. Blinky the Clown will be there from 5:30 to 7:30. Front gates open at 5:15 with hot laps at 5:30 and racing at 6:30. The Racesaver IMCA Sprints, Kaplan University IMCA Modifieds, NAPA IMCA Sport Modifieds, Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks and Mountain Dew Kick Start IMCA Sport Compacts will be racing. Front gate admission is $10 for adults, $5 for youths 6-12 and children 5 and under are free.
Pit gates open at 4 P.M. and pit passes cost $25.
USAC 410 Wingless Sprints Heat 1
Driver Nbr Start Finish
1 Brady Bacon 69 4 1
2 Dave Darland 11 2 2
3 Cj Leary 17GP 6 3
4 Bret Mellenberndt 97 5 4
5 Rob Caho Jr 78 3 5
6 Brandon Stevenson 0 7 6
7 Clinton Boyles 77 1 7
USAC 410 Wingless Sprints Heat 2
Driver Nbr Start Finish
1 Ryan Kitchen 21 1 1
2 Landon Simon 24 2 2
3 Aaron Farney 15F 4 3
4 Isaac Chapple 52 5 4
5 Chase Stockton 32 6 5
6 Alex Schriever 0X 7 6
7 Chris Windom 5 3 7
USAC 410 Wingless Sprints Heat 3
Driver Nbr Start Finish
1 Robert Ballou 1 2 1
2 Chad Boespflug 98E 5 2
3 Thomas Meseraull 66 6 3
4 Max McGhee 17 4 4
5 Terry Richards 18 1 5
6 Joe Bares 19 3 6
USAC 410 Wingless Sprints A Feature
Driver Nbr Start Finish
1 Chad Boespflug 98E 6 1
2 Brady Bacon 69 1 2
3 Dave Darland 11 4 3
4 Thomas Meseraull 66 9 4
5 Robert Ballou 1 3 5
6 Rob Caho Jr 78 13 6
7 Ryan Kitchen 21 2 7
8 Chris Windom 5 20 8
9 Aaron Farney 15F 8 9
10 Joe Bares 19 18 10
11 Isaac Chapple 52 11 11
12 Alex Schriever 0X 17 12
13 Cj Leary 17GP 7 13
14 Chase Stockton 32 14 14
15 Max McGhee 17 12 15
16 Clinton Boyles 77 19 16
17 Brandon Stevenson 0 16 17
18 Terry Richards 18 15 18
19 Bret Mellenberndt 97 10 19
20 Landon Simon 24 5 20
IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car Results
Driver Nbr Transponder Start Finish PayOut
1 Joey Danley 14 50162 4 1 $ 700.00
2 Jason Martin 5X 50180 1 2 $ 500.00
3 Toby Chapman 7KX 50159 3 3 $ 400.00
4 Zach Blurton 2J 50251 7 4 $ 350.00
5 Doug Lovegrove 1 50258 14 5 $ 350.00
6 Trevor Grossenbacher 35 50252 10 6 $ 325.00
7 Shon Pointer 1/0/1900 50259 11 7 $ 300.00
8 Stu Snyder 23S 50143 16 8 $ 295.00
9 Jason Danley 4X 50156 13 9 $ 290.00
10 Mike Boston 51 50194 6 10 $ 285.00
11 Terry Richards 18 50190 12 11 $ 280.00
12 Ryan King 93 50144 17 12 $ 275.00
13 Adam Gullion 91 50150 2 13 $ 270.00
14 Gene Ackland 14G 50257 8 14 $ 265.00
15 Nate Weiler 4W 50276 20 15 $ 260.00
16 Ron Love 5 50177 18 16 $ 255.00
17 Shayle Bade 3 50161 19 17 $ 250.00
18 Blain Petersen 68+1 50212 15 18 $ 250.00
19 Nick Bryan 52 50155 5 19 $ 250.00
20 Chase Weiler 0 50250 9 20 $ 250.00
B main
Driver Nbr Transponder Start Finish PayOut Advance To
1 Stu Snyder 23S 50143 1 1 A-Feature
2 Ryan King 93 50144 4 2 A-Feature
3 Ron Love 5 50177 2 3 A-Feature
4 Shayle Bade 3 50161 3 4 A-Feature
5 Nate Weiler 4W 50276 6 5 A-Feature
6 Roger Sluka 77X 50146 7 6
7 Keith Dragoo 77D 50261 9 7
8 Boyd Peterson 57B 50157 10 8
9 Jason Becker 17B 50242 5 9
10 Tyler Drueke 12 50240 8 DNS
11 Tim Fricke 62 50133 11 DNS
12 Jack Dover 84 50273 12 DNS