Dover, Smith, Haglund and LaChapelle Win Eagle's Nebraska Cup

By Greg Soukup

The Nebraska Cup was held on a Sunday this year, and a total of 117 cars signed into the pits to try and take home the crystal trophies and the winner’s purse from Eagle Raceway, America’s Home Track. A large crowd was on hand to witness the events on a cool September evening.

13 heat races were run in the 4 classes, and all went off without major incidents. Next up was the Sprint Pole Dash, which would set the lineup for the A Feature. The top 2 finishers from the 4 heat races vied to grab the pole position and the $600 check that went with it. Brad Krutz took the lead in his #91 with the 24B of Frank Galusha and the 23 of Terry Holliman behind. It didn’t take long for young Jack Dover, “The Gas Man” to jump into the 3rd spot after passing Holliman on the very first lap. From there to the finishing 5th lap it was Krutz, Galusha, Dover and Holliman.

After a short intermission it was time for the B Features.

The Stereo West Auto Toys IMCA Sport Compacts were first. At the end of the 1st lap it was Amanda Rhiley’s #51 in the lead followed by the 61J of Russell Johnson, Jack Prall Jr. in the 67 and the 20T of Steve Shepard. Shepard moved around Prall Jr. for 3rd after the 67 dropped back rapidly through the pack. Shortly thereafter Russell Johnson’s 61J also dropped from the event. At that time, it was Rhiley, Shepard and the #3 of Harry White. With just 2 laps remaining Mike Rice got around White to take over the 3rd spot. At the finish line it was Rhiley, Shepard, Rice’s #24, Adam Vrbka’s 7V and the 22 of Elliot Halvorsen transferring to the A Feature.

Next on the card was the Valentino’s Pizza IMCA Hobby Stocks. The early advantage was grabbed by the 4R of Kurt Phelps followed by Murray Haugen in the #8 and Rick Bradley’s 28B. On the 3rd lap Danny Lane moved his #17J past Bradley to snag the 3rd spot. With 7 laps left Phelps dropped back, making the running order Haugen, Lane and Bradley. Just 2 laps later Haugen dropped out of the race, giving the lead to Lane. At the checkered flag it was Lane, Bradley, Shane Hiatt’s 21H and the 53 of Don Kros.

The Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds then rolled out onto the 1/3 mile. On lap #1 Cliff Turner looped his #51 in turns 3 & 4, causing a complete restart. When the race began again it was the Anderson’s in the top two positions with Chad Anderson’s #8A in front followed by Chad Anderson’s 8C and the 3T of Tom Spanel. On the 3rd lap Darren Hosick leapt around both Spanel and Chad Anderson to snag 2nd. On the very last circuit Mike Stearns got around Spanel for the 3rd position. Transferring to the A Feature were Chad and Dusty Anderson, Stearns, Hosick and Spanel.

In the first Budweiser Championship 360 Sprint B Feature, 2-time and defending track points champion Mike Boston took the point in his #51 followed by Adam Gullion’s 96KX and Stu Snyder in the 2D. The running order remained the same with Boston winning, Gullion in 2nd, Snyder in 3rd, Ken Klabunde’s 28B in 4th and the 10 of Dennis Moore Jr. in 5th.

The 2nd Sprint B saw John Klabunde’s #77 in the lead followed by Jeff Griffis’ #3 and Jeff Lowery holding 3rd position in his #45. It took Lowery only 2 laps to move around Griffis for 2nd. 3 laps later Lowery passed Klabunde to take the point. With 3 laps remaining Griffis also passed Klabunde and made a valiant try for the win coming out of turn #4 on the last lap, but was forced to settle for 2nd.

It was then time for the Main Events to be run. First up was the Stereo West Auto Toys IMCA Sport Compacts. Joey Danley was first back to the flag stand in his #14 with Chris LaChapelle’s 31 in 2nd, the #2 of Dan Rhiley in 3rd and Jack Prall III’s #44 in 4th. It took LaChapelle only 4 laps to grab the lead as he moved around Danley. After the leaders cleared the finish line on that lap Jared Deterding’s 13J was spun out by the #4 of Bob McCloud. McCloud and Deterding both took up positions at the rear of the field. 2 laps later Rhiley got around Danley for 2nd. With 11 laps left Justin Busboom moved his #62 into the 3rd spot, followed 4 laps later by Barry Kinnersley’s 00 moving into 4th just 4 laps later. Busboom wasn’t settling for 3rd though, as he moved around Rhiley with 5 laps left. 2 circuits later Rhiley and Danley both suffered tire problems and were forced to retire to the pits. Chris LaChappelle held on for the victory followed by Busboom, Kinnersley and Prall III.

Although this was Chris’ very first racing victory, he managed it in only his 7th week of competition. “I need to thank my pit crew Dave and Jason Tadlock for both talking me into racing and for getting the car so good tonight” Chris said. “I also need to thank my sponsors, Grandmother’s Restaurant and Bull’s Eye Pest Control. But most of all I want to thank the fans for coming out to watch us. I’ve had a blast every night that I’ve been here and I’ll definitely be back next year,” Chris added.

The top 20 Valentino’s Pizza IMCA Hobby Stocks were next. 2-time and defending track champion Justin Wulf moved into the lead in his #86 at the drop of the green flag. Close behind Wulf were the 14 of Ron Novak, the 31M of Mark Haglund and the 1R of R.J. Macku. There was a scary moment on the 2nd lap as Kyle Bond rolled his #0 in turn 2, but he emerged unscathed and even made an attempt to restart the race after a visit to his pits but dropped out for good soon after. Nick Beckman moved his #22 around Novak on the restart and then passed Wulf on the next lap. With 5 laps in the books Beckman pulled into the 4th spot. There were 13 laps left when Nic Topil’s 7T moved into 4th around Beckman. 6 laps to go in the race Topil‘s 7T suffered a flat right front tire, sending him into the wall in turns 1 & 2. The victory was taken home by Mark Haglund, with Wulf 2nd, Beckman in 3rd and the 3k of Jerry Keaton in 4th.

It was then the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modified’s A Main taking to the track. Bob Zoubek’s 5S grabbed the early point with the 95 of Dylan Smith, the 4X of Chevy Hadan and the #3 of Chris Alcorn in hot pursuit. Hadan and Alcorn got together in turn #4 sending Alcorn spinning into the infield. On lap 4 Tom Svoboda passed Hadan to take over 3rd and Hadan dropped out of the contest on the following lap. That made the running order Smith, Zoubek, Svoboda and the #13 of Doug Deterding. Svoboda got around Zoubek for the 2nd position on the restart. Chris Alcorn had not given up however and moved into 4th spot with just 10 laps left, taking over 3rd 2 laps later and moving past Svoboda for 2nd with 5 laps left. Try as he might, Alcorn could not overtake Smith who crossed the finish line first.

This is Smith’s 2nd year racing a modified, following 1 year in a street stock. Despite this victory, Smith stated that “This has been a bad year for us, and it’s so good to finally grab a win”. “I knew Chris was coming, because I could see him moving up the leader board when I checked it while running down the back stretch. I wasn’t worried about him taking me out, because Chris is a great driver. He always runs you hard but clean, and I’ve learned an awful lot from him about driving this year” Dylan continued. “I need to thank my crew for giving me such a great car tonight. Mike & Lisa Gocke, ‘Heavy’, Gary and Jaime do a wonderful job. They got the car so I could do anything I wanted with it and go anywhere with it. Also I need to send out a big thanks to Damian & Joni Smith, Ryan Fjell and Kramer Watts; Austin & Shelbie, Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandma always come out to support me too. The fans are great here, and are always there to root on all the racers. Lastly, I need to thank my sponsors” Smith finished. Dylan’s sponsors include Phil’s Steakhouse, Marquardt Plumbing Inc., Burke Show Cattle, Eckley Racing Engines, Fitness together, Super Wash, Hot Rods by Todd, Augustine Electric, The Alley Bar, Tonniges Chevrolet, Team Heavy, Vrbka Ag Solution, Cappy’s Hot Spot Bar & Grill, Active Life Family Chiropractic and White Eagle.

The Budweiser Championship 360 Sprints were the final A Feature of the evening. Brad Krutz took advantage of his pole position start, taking the point at the drop of the green; he was pursued by Jack Dover, Frank Galusha and Jay Russell. On the 2nd lap Chad Meinholtz drove his #69M around Russell for 4th. 2 laps later Dover got around Krutz for the lead in heavy traffic. 3 laps after that Meinholtz got around Galusha to take 3rd with Russell following him into the 4th spot. Rodney Droud tried to make his last sprint car race a memorable one by getting all the way up to 4th with 5 laps remaining, but Mike Boston passed him the following lap. With just 2 laps left in the contest Adam Gullion suffered an injury to his left leg when his engine expired. The restart saw Dover still in the lead, Krutz 2nd, Meinholtz 3rd and Boston in 4th. Meinholtz made a hard charge coming out of the 4th turn on the very last lap and finished ahead of Krutz for 2nd by the slimmest of margins.

This is the 2nd win of the season for Jack, having taken the victory on the 18th of August also. Jack regularly runs a 410 sprint at Knoxville on Saturdays, where he finished 14th in the points and 3rd for the Rookie of the Year. Jack said, “My folks wanted to go somewhere else to race tonight, but I insisted that we come back to Eagle.” “It turned out great, because before I went out for the feature my mom said ‘You need to bring home that $2000 so that we can get you a new helmet’. I always listen to my mom, so I had to win,” he added. “The track was really good tonight, but it was confusing. I like that, because it makes you work to find out where you’re best line is,” he stated. Jack continued by saying “I need to thank all of my sponsors. They let me do this every week and I really appreciate all that they do for us”. Jack’s sponsors include Trail Performance, Eckley Racing Engines, 3D Auto Transport, Keizer Wheels, Langfeldt Overhead Doors Thorpe’s Body Shop and RMS. “I need to thank my pit crew too because Mike, Paul, Jason, Dave, Derrick and ‘Tracker’ do a great job for us every week. Also, a special thanks to Layne Priddy for all he does” Jack finished.

Although the regular weekly shows have come to an end, there’s still plenty going on at America’s Home Track. This coming Friday, September 7th you’ll be able to see “Full Pull Frenzy NPTA Tractor Pulls” and don’t forget October 28th when CD105.9’s Stephen King presents the Enduro Spook-tacular featuring Sport Compacts.

Thanks for supporting Eagle Raceway…America’s Home Track!

Eagle Raceway Results September 2nd, 2007:

Budweiser 360 Championship Sprints-
A Feature
1) 53 Jack Dover
2) 69m Chad Meinholdt
3) 91 Brad Krutz
4) 51 Mike Boston
5) 2 Rodney Droud
6) 24b Frank Galusha
7) 76 Jay Russell
8) 24a Toby Chapman
9) 35 Trevor Grossenbacher
10) 44 Larry Pinegar
11) 82 Jason Danley
12) 14 Josh Riggins
13) 8b Bobby Becker
14) 3 Jeff Griffis
15) 36 Rick Hansen
16) 45 Jeff Lowery
17) 96kx Adam Gullion
18) 5 Rick Ideus
19) 23 Terry Holliman
20) 4 Mike Chadd (DNS A)

B Feature #1
1) 51 Mike Boston
2) 96kx Adam Gullion
3) 2d Stu Snyder
4) 28 Ken Klabunde
5) 10 Dennis Moore Jr
6) 17 Gage Dorr
7) 24j Jeff Reiman
8) 3g Bill Garrow
9) 27 Brad Wright
10) 6 Nick Bryan

B Feature #2
1) 45 Jeff Lowery
2) 3 Jeff Griffis
3) 77 John Klabunde
4) 23r Tadd Holliman
5) 21 Ryan Kitchen
6) 9j Mark Schmidt
7) 17b Jason Becker
8) 20d Dan Neokolite
9) 7x Kevin Danley
10) 18 Ryan Roberts (DNS Heat or B)

Pole Dash
1) 91 Brad Krutz
2) 24b Frank Galusha
3) 53 Jack Dover
4) 23 Terry Holliman
5) 76 Jay Russell
6) 69m Chad Meinholdt
7) 35 Trevor Grossenbacher

Monster IMCA Modifieds-
A Feature
1) 95 Dylan Smith
2) 3 Chris Alcorn
3) 16 Tom Svoboda
4) 5s Bob Zoubek
5) 8c Chad Andersen
6) 12x George Haney
7) 3a Aaron Pella
8) 57 Brian Cudly
9) 13 Doug Deterding
10) 5p Bob Phillips
11) s56 Scott Bivens
12) 24x Darren Hosick
13) 81 Melvin Densberger
14) 3t Tom Spanel
15) 8a Dusty Andersen
16) 2x Mike Stearns
17) 4d Pat Donovan
18) 4 Chevy Hadan
19) 5st Dan Wayman
20) 7 Bob Ruisinger (DNS A)

B Feature
1) 8c Chad Andersen
2) 8a Dusty Andersen
3) 2x Mike Stearns
4) 24x Darren Hosick
5) 3t Tom Spanel
6) 93 Rick Germar
7) 44 Tom Lenz
8) 11x Wade Easton
9) 29 Jeff Mazza
10) 73 James Oaks
11) 19 Scott Anderson
12) 21t Tracy Harr
13) 51 Cliff Turner

Valentino’s Hobby Stocks-
A Feature
1) 31m Mark Haglund
2) 86 Justin Wulf
3) 22 Nick Beckman
4) 3k Jerry Keaton
5) 20 Chad Borgman
6) 21h Shane Hiatt
7) 28b Rick Bradley
8) 12 Dan Noonan
9) 4 Troy Mencke
10) 94 Mike Hansen
11) 1r RJ Macku
12) 14 Ron Novak
13) 53 Don Kros
14) 10 Brad Schreiner
15) 7t Nic Topil
16) 01 Kent Husted
17) 17j Danny Lane
18) 92 Don Hall Jr
19) 0 Kyle Bond
20) 75 Kyle Olberding

B Feature
1) 17j Danny Lane
2) 28b Rick Bradley
3) 21h Shane Hiatt
4) 53 Don Kros
5) 75 Kyle Olberding
6) 38c Casey Moyer
7) 38 Ray Moyer
8) x9 Trevor Thornton
9) 8 Murray Haugen
10) 9 Rex Schreiner
11) 4r Kurt Phelps
12) 34 Dustin Forsberg (DNS B)

Stereo West Auto Toy’s IMCA Sport Compacts-
A Feature
1) 31 Chris LaChapelle
2) 62 Justin Busboom
3) 00 Barry Kinnersley
4) 44 Jack Prall III
5) 0 Rich White
6) 33 Jeremy Noonan
7) 22 Elliot Halverson
8) 51 Amanda Rhiley
9) 20t Steve Shepard
10) 6 Roger Elliot
11) 63 Mike Simpson
12) 13j Jared Deterding
13) 24 Mike Rice
14) 7v Adam Vrbka
15) 2 Dan Rhiley
16) 14 Joey Danley
17) 23 Ole Olson
18) 4 Bob McCloud
19) b32 Brian Haller
20) 45 Jack Prall IV

B Feature
1) 51 Amanda Rhiley
2) 20t Steve Shepard
3) 24 Mike Rice
4) 7v Adam Vrbka
5) 22 Elliott Halverson
6) 18r Ron Frank
7) 12 Danni Rhiley
8) 61j Russell Johnson
9) 21 Jake Sells
10) 35t Travis Schneider
11) 57 Autin Kurtzen
12) 3 Harry White