By Greg Soukup
As seems to happen every year during the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Nationals, presented by Precise Racing and NMC/The Cat Rental Store, Mother Nature tried to throw a wrench into the works. An approximate 1 hour rain delay after the second NAPA IMCA Sport Modified Features could not stop the racing action at Eagle Raceway however.
Matt Etzelmiller’s #17 made contact with the 77D of Keith Dragoo in the third Racesaver IMCA Sprint Heat and went flipping in turn 4. In the H Feature for the class Charlie Ware went for a nasty tumble in turn 1. He was transported to the hospital for observation. His condition was unknown at the time of this article. The last incident in the preliminary racing came in the B Feature for the sprints when Ty Williams’ 911 flipped down the front stretch. On the restart, Gregg Bolte got sideways and went for a ride in his 00B. Other than Ware, no serious injuries were noted.
The Racesaver IMCA Sprint A saw Tyler Drueke lead lap #1 in the 12, followed by Brandon Horton’s 1BH, the 7KX of Toby Chapman and Mike Boston in the 51. Boston passed Chapman on lap 3 and Stu Snyder’s 23BC also got around Chapman for fourth the next time around. Boston advanced another position after another lap, with Snyder following him into third the next time around. But, Zachary Newlin spun the 11Z in turn 4. Chapman again moved to fourth on the restart, then took third the next lap. Lap 11 saw Snyder pass Chapman yet again for fourth. Jimmy Grasso’s 8G spun in turns 1 and 2 the next time around. After the yellow lights went out Snyder moved to second with Chapman taking over third after another lap. The last change in the top 4 came with 6 to go when Jake Bubak put the 9X into fourth, making the final top 4 Drueke, Snyder, Chapman and Bubak.
“I’m going home to bed! I was up until 3:30 taking apart a junked race car last night, then up at 7:30 to go to Speedway for parts to fix the junked race car. The win tonight was a real 180. I get to start 10th tomorrow night, but with it being 35 laps, you could start anywhere and win. Our performance in the Race of Champions was really encouraging. I started 12th and got up to 6th. I moved around a lot, trying some things but I was still going the same speed as last year’s winner of the finale. There is so little difference in the talent of the drivers here and the ones who come for the Nationals. I will just race the track, hope for some yellows and see what we can do. Thanks to Matt, Dad, Dustin, Ben and Zach for all of their extra work this week ” said Drueke. Drueke’s sponsors include Drueke Trucking and Ranch, Zoz Farms, Jeffrey’s Trucking, Reid’s Farmacy and Agri-Builders.
The Midwest Lightning Sprints were up next. Tadd Holliman’s 9S hit the front stretch wall very hard on the start, resulting in injuries to his hand. The first official lap saw Scotty Bradley’s 1X, the 8 of Brandon Johnson, Presley Truedson in the 2 and the 49 of Ryan Secrest out front.
Lap 4 saw Jim Kennedy pass Secrest, putting the 14 into fourth. Bradley slowed dramatically on lap 9, moving Devin Feger’s 40 into fourth, and moving the other three up one spot. With 2 laps left Truedson spun in turn 2, giving the fourth spot to Kobe Alison. On the restart Kennedy went to the infield and the 42 of Ty Tilton moved into fourth. The last lap saw Tilton move up to third. The final top 4 were Johnson, Feger, Tilton and Alison.
This was the first time for Johnson to visit Eagle Raceway, in his 10th year of racing with the series. “This is a beautiful establishment! I want to thank Alan and Valerie Truscinski, Jim and the entire Truscinski family” related Johnson.
The finale for the evening was the Jake Ita Memorial Race of Champions. Jason Martin in the 5X led lap 1 with Ty Williams in the 911, Blake Robertson’s 15X and the 91BC of Adam Gullion close behind. Lap 2 saw Jack Dover put the 84 into fourth. The next lap Robertson moved up to second with Dover following suit and taking over third after another circuit. Lap 7 saw Zach Blurton’s 2J move to fourth. With 3 laps remaining Blurton lost fourth to the 74B of John Carney II. Dover advanced to second on the last lap. The top 4 were Martin, Dover, Robertson and Carney.
“We’ve been making a lot of improvements this year. These are the best drivers in the class here, but my crew and I can hang with the best. I start fifth in the A tomorrow night, but it’s 35 laps. That’s a long race. If the track gets the way it is now, and gets slick, I can be right there on top at the end” said Martin.
Sunday’s racing action sees the pit gates open at 3 P.M. to allow the teams to prepare for the driver autograph session and car show from 4:30 to 5:30 in the courtyard. Pit passes will be $25.
The front gates open at 4:30. Adult admission is $15, youths 6-12 are $5 and children 5 and under are free. Hot laps begin at 5:30 and racing kick off at 6:30. Miss Eagle Raceway will be crowned at intermission.
The preliminary action will set up the final 9 drivers for the big show.
RESULTS:
IMCA Sprint A-Feature 1. Tyler Drueke 12 2. Stuart Snyder 23S 3. Toby Chapman 7KX 4. Jake Bukak 9X 5. Clint Benson 100 6. Mike Boston 51 7. Shayle Bade 03 8. Mark Watkins 36 9. Luke Cranston 20C 10. Brandon Horton 1BH 11. Matt Richards 1R 12. Nate Weiler 4W 13. Chad Koch 35K 14. Cody Ledger 47 15. Zachary Newlin 11Z 16. Mike Stien 33G 17. Gene Ackland 14G 18. Chris Kelly 32K 19. Dan Satriano 95 20. Jimmy Grasso 8G
IMCA Sprint B-Feature 1. Luke Cranston 20C 2. Nate Weiler 4W 3. Matt Richards 1R 4. Zachary Newlin 11Z 5. Cody Ledger 47 6. Chad Koch 35K 7. Ethan Fleetwood 7F 8. Jeff Radcliffe 21R 9. Darren Berry 12X 10. Joey Starnes 11J 11. Ron Love 5 12. Nate Eakin 4SN 13. Monty Ferriera 45 14. Dj Estes 74 15. Chase Brewer 1B 16. Colin Smith 05 17. Gregg Bolte 00B 18. Ty Williams 911
IMCA Sprint C-Feature 1. Luke Cranston 20C 2. Joey Starnes 11J 3. Chase Brewer 1B 4. Ethan Fleetwood 7F 5. Michael Day 2K 6. Michelle Melton 21 7. Dave Brown Jr. 44 8. Dusty Ballenger 2D 9. Jaremi Hanson 35PA 10. John Ricketts 5R 11. Kevin Ramey 7M 12. Cj Hulsey 77C 13. Terry Richards 18 14. Colby Estes 71 15. Robert Vetter V8 16. Jason Howell 72 17. Ethan Barrow 14S 18. Tom Humphries 39
IMCA Sprint D-Feature 1. Terry Richards 18 2. Dave Brown Jr. 44 3. Ethan Barrow 14S 4. Kevin Ramey 7M 5. Justin Melton 11M 6. Austin Mundie 4 7. Koby Walters 33 8. Tyler Russell 8KK 9. Jason Danley 4X 10. Ryan King 93 11. Dustin Woods 00 12. Claud Estes 74E 13. Junior Jenkins 23 14. Joey Danley 14D 15. Mike Moore 69 16. Russell Shoulders 21S 17. Tim Fricke 62 18. Danny Nekolite 22D
IMCA Sprint F-Feature 1. Zach Blurton 2J 2. Joey Danley 14D 3. Robby Wolfgang 429 4. Brandon Allen 05A 5. Nick Bryan 52 6. Ben Woods 11B 7. Elliot Amduhl 51A 8. Brian Lawson 14 9. Jeremey Schultz 33S 10. Brant Obanien 147 11. Jeff Day 95X 12. Daren Bolac 44V 13. Boyd Peterson 57B 14. Steve Richardson 0Z 15. Drew Ritchey 880 16. Tyler Thompson 21X 17. Rick Hansen 36K DNS Doug Lovegrove 1
IMCA Sprint G-Feature 1. Jeff Day 95X 2. Boyd Peterson 57B 3. Steve Richardson 0Z 4. Rick Hansen 36K 5. Jed Werner 50 6. Bart Kendell 77X 7. Mike Houseman 4L 8. Michael Johnston 14J 9. Keith Dragoo 77D 10. Dwight Carter 4U 11. John Webster 9 12. Mike Leraas 77 13. Bob Hildreth 55KC 14. Erin Statler 2 15. Bruce Allen 55 DNS Adam Trimble 34
IMCA Sprint Heat 1 1. Gene Ackland 14G 2. Colin Smith 05 3. Joey Starnes 11J 4. Terry Richards 18 5. Tony Everrhart 55T 6. Tyler Thompson 21X 7. Boyd Peterson 57B 8. Jason Becker 17B
IMCA Sprint Heat 2 1. Tyler Drueke 12 2. Dj Estes 74 3. Michelle Melton 21 4. Ethan Barrow 14S 5. Blaine Peterson 68+1 6. Zach Blurton 2J 7. Bart Kendell 77X 8. Mark Klis Jr. 09
IMCA Sprint Heat 3 1. Jake Bukak 9X 2. Nate Eakin 4SN 3. Michael Day 2K 4. Koby Walters 33 5. Samantha Lieberman 23X 6. Ben Woods 11B 7. Keith Dragoo 77D 8. Matt Etzelmiller 17
IMCA Sprint Heat 4 1. Dan Satriano 95 2. Cody Ledger 47 3. Jaremi Hanson 35PA 4. Mike Moore 69 5. Chase Weiler 0 6. Joey Danley 14D 7. Rick Hansen 36K 8. Steve Richardson 0Z
IMCA Sprint Heat 5 1. Jimmy Grasso 8G 2. Gregg Bolte 00B 3. Ethan Fleetwood 7F 4. Tim Fricke 62 5. Austin Mundie 4 6. Brant Obanien 147 7. John Webster 9 8. Tom Belsky 28
IMCA Sprint Heat 6 1. Brandon Horton 1BH 2. Jeff Radcliffe 21R 3. Chase Brewer 1B 4. Junior Jenkins 23 5. Jason Danley 4X 6. Doug Lovegrove 1 7. Erin Statler 2 8. Dalyn Cody 11
IMCA Sprint Heat 7 1. Mark Watkins 36 2. Nate Weiler 4W 3. Cj Hulsey 77C 4. Dustin Woods 00 5. Scott Meisner 72K 6. Elliot Amduhl 51A 7. Dwight Carter 4U 8. Charlie Ware 90
IMCA Sprint Heat 9 1. Stuart Snyder 23S 2. Zachary Newlin 11Z 3. Dusty Ballenger 2D 4. Russell Shoulders 21S 5. Troy Severin 7 6. Daren Bolac 44V 7. Mike Leraas 77 8. Blake Scott 56K
IMCA Sprint Heat 10 1. Shayle Bade 03 2. Ron Love 5 3. Luke Cranston 20C 4. Ryan King 93 5. Dave Brown Jr. 44 6. Nick Bryan 52 7. Michael Johnston 14J
IMCA Sprint Heat 11 1. Mike Stien 33G 2. Ty Williams 911 3. Tom Humphries 39 4. Kevin Ramey 7M 5. Ryan Hall 79V 6. Robby Wolfgang 429 7. Adam Trimble 34
IMCA Sprint Heat 12 1. Chris Kelly 32K 2. Monty Ferriera 45 3. Robert Vetter V8 4. Justin Melton 11M 5. Randy Sterling 00S 6. Jeremey Schultz 33S 7. Mike Houseman 4L
IMCA Sprint Heat 13 1. Toby Chapman 7KX 2. Matt Richards 1R 3. Colby Estes 71 4. Tyler Russell 8KK 5. Jerald Harris J9 6. Brian Lawson 14 7. Bruce Allen 55
IMCA Sprint Heat 14 1. Mike Boston 51 2. Darren Berry 12X 3. John Ricketts 5R 4. Claud Estes 74E 5. Austin McLean 83 6. Drew Ritchey 880 7. Bob Hildreth 55KC
IMCA Sprint H-Feature 1. Steve Richardson 0Z 2. Jeff Day 95X 3. Jason Becker 17B 4. Mark Klis Jr. 09 5. Dalyn Cody 11 6. Matt Etzelmiller 17 7. Charlie Ware 90 8. Blake Scott 56K DNS Tom Belsky 28
Lightning Sprint A-Feature 1. Brandon Johnson 8 2. Devin Feger 40 3. Ty Tilton 42 4. Kobe Allison 22 5. Andy Bradley 86 6. Alex Truscinski 10 7. Justin Lewis 77 8. Brad Strunk 23S 9. Presley Truedson 2 10. Anthony Haas 81H 11. Alan Truscinski 13T 12. Dexter Dvergsten 11 13. Ryan Secrest 49 14. Jason Woods 50 15. Jim Kennedy 14 16. Scotty Bradley 1X 17. Jason Billups 2J 18. Austin Archdale 2X 19. Roland Bernard 2R 20. Tadd Holliman 9S
Lightning Sprint B-Feature 1. Justin Lewis 77 2. Brad Strunk 23S 3. Tadd Holliman 9S 4. Anthony Haas 81H 5. Jason Woods 50 6. Blake Vermillion 73 7. Jesse Vermillion 5 8. Jesse Ferandz 61 9. Bj Sauer 0Z 10. Tyler Miller 25M
Lightning Sprint Heat 1 1. Andy Bradley 86 2. Brandon Johnson 8 3. Jim Kennedy 14 4. Alan Truscinski 13T 5. Roland Bernard 2R 6. Justin Lewis 77 7. Anthony Haas 81H 8. Jason Woods 50 9. Tyler Miller 25M
Lightning Sprint Heat 2 1. Scotty Bradley 1X 2. Presley Truedson 2 3. Jason Billups 2J 4. Ryan Secrest 49 5. Dexter Dvergsten 11 6. Bj Sauer 0Z 7. Blake Vermillion 73 DNS Brad Strunk 23S
Lightning Sprint Heat 3 1. Devin Feger 40 2. Kobe Allison 22 3. Alex Truscinski 10 4. Ty Tilton 42 5. Austin Archdale 2X 6. Tadd Holliman 9S 7. Jesse Vermillion 5 8. Jesse Ferandz 61