Boston Wins Eagle's Backrow Challenge

Anderson, Miller, Prall winners on gorgeous night

By Greg Soukup

The Back Row Challenge, presented by the Blaze and Jack Daniels saw the track records in jeopardy for most of the evening. The cool evening and fast track gave the crowd exciting action all night.

The only serious incident of the card occurred in the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock B Feature when Troy Mencke rolled his #4 Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock several times. Mencke and 2 other racers went into the corner three wide and the ensuing contact caused Mencke to come to a rest on his top. Mencke was uninjured, but was unable to continue racing.

The Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compact A Main #1 saw the #55 of Garrett Rech in the lead, followed by the #4 of David Tadlock and Matt Moyer’s #29. Justin Busboom lost the steering in his #62 and attempted to pull off the track but came to a rest on the berm, bringing out the yellow flag. Shortly after that, Tadlock began to drop back through the field and Moyer moved around Rech to take the point. Ron Frank advanced to the third spot in his 18R with Jack Prall IV’s #44 behind him. With just 6 laps left Prall IV got around Frank to take third with his son, Jack Prall IV following him into fourth. 2 laps later Rech slowed and Prall III overtook him for the lead. 2 laps were left in the race when Prall IV advanced to the second position. As they came out of turn 4 to the checkers Prall IV moved to the high line and passed his father for the win.

“Honestly, after last week, I was just glad the car didn’t catch on fire again” Prall IV said. “I want to give a really big thanks to the Eagle Fire and Rescue squad for saving my car. I also need to thank my dad for giving me the car, because without him doing that, I wouldn’t be able to race” he continued. “Getting around my dad tonight was the most fun I’ve had racing. I really had to work for it, but I forgive him” he finished. Prall IV’s sponsors include Beaver Lake Marina, Jay Spencer of Innovative Vinyl Designs, Cut Rite Services and Peterson Trailers.

In the second Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compact A Feature Mike Rice’s #24 moved to the point after the first lap with Jason Miller’s 77 in second, the #6 of Roger Elliot in third and Maynard Kinnersley’s 18 in fourth. Kinnersley took only 2 laps to advance to third with Chris LaChappelle’s 31 taking over the fourth spot. On the very next lap Miller got inside of Rice to snag the lead. Rice retired 4 laps later, moving Kinnersley to 2nd, LaChapelle to third and the #21 of Jake Sells to the fourth spot. Hard and tight racing continued throughout the rest of the contest with LaChapelle, Sells and the #29 of Matt Moyer going three wide at times for the third position. Only three laps were left when a caution was thrown for debris on the racing surface. Again a last lap pass for position was made as Sells got past LaChapelle for the third spot.

“It was a really good track tonight. I tried all sorts of different lines, and no matter where I went the car ran great” Miller said. “I finally managed to figure out the invert for the feature races, and that helped a lot” he continued. “I need to give a huge thank you to Bushwhackers. They and my other sponsors make it possible to be out here each week. Without Exhaust Pros, Three Points electric, Advanced Drywall, Moss Racing, Ambassador Home Improvement, RM Roll Cages, Union Jack Screen Printing and 2 Men & A Shop I wouldn’t be able to race at all” he finished.

The Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks were the next feature event. Don Hall Jr. attempted to duplicate last week’s win by going to the point in his #92. Hall was followed by the #98 of Daniel Jackson, the 22 of Nick Beckman and Rick Munson in the M70. There was a yellow flag for debris on lap two, slowing the action momentarily.

On the restart, Beckman got under Jackson, making contact, and Jackson ended up leaving the racing surface. By lap 3, Kevin Anderson had advanced his #22 all the way to second after having started 12th, with Munson close on his heels in third. Four laps later Beckman got squirrelly, allowing the 1R of RJ Macku to take over the fourth position. Anderson got past Hall Jr. on lap #8. The next lap, Macku moved into the third slot. On the 12th circuit, defending track champion Justin Wulf moved his #86 past Macku for third. The positions remained unchanged to the finish with Anderson winning, Hall Jr. in the runner-up spot, Wulf in third and Macku in fourth.

“It was a great track tonight. And, we did something right tonight….but I won’t say what it was because it’s top secret” Anderson joked. “I love racing out here. This class has a bunch of great guys and good, clean racers” he finished. Anderson’s sponsors include Lincoln Lawn Guys, The Garage Sports Bar and Grill and The Auto Connection.

The last A Feature saw the Budweiser 360 Championship Sprints move onto Eagle’s high banks for the Back Row Challenge. Chris Roseland had drawn the #1 chip, giving him the pole position, but when offered the opportunity to start dead last for a possibility of winning another $1000 for coming home first, he quickly accepted.

Gene Acklund’s 14G came back to the start/finish line with the lead with Jason Danley’s #82 in second, the 51 of Mike Boston in third and Jack Dover’s 53 in fourth. The racing was halted on lap #2 when Frank Galusha flipped his sprinter in turns 1 and 2. Galusha was uninjured. On the restart Boston moved into second with the #91 of Brad Krutz following him to take over third with Dover holding onto fourth. Lap #4 saw Boston get around Acklund for the lead. Dover moved into third, only to be repassed by Krutz.

With 15 laps to go Bobby Becker took a nasty ride in turn four. As Dover came upon the scene he attempted to brake and miss Becker but ended up snapping the car to the right, contacting the wall in turn four and doing a gentle rollover himself. He was towed to the work area where his crew was able to make repairs to the car and allow him to get back onto the track as the race went back to green. Unfortunately the restart saw Danley and the #44 driven by Larry Pinegar II get together and come to a halt, bringing out yet another yellow flag. On the restart Roseland moved into fourth position, within sight of the victory. It took him only 3 more laps to take over third, and 2 laps later he got into second.

With 10 laps to go, the planned red flag was thrown, allowing the crews to make adjustments to the sprinters. Roseland was forced to settle for the runner-up spot as he was unable to get around Boston who was, at times running within 2/10ths of his own track record. At the end of the race it was Boston winning, Roseland in second, Krutz in third and Dover up to fourth.

When asked if he was glad that Roseland had taken the Back Row Challenge, Boston said “Heck no. I wish I could have gotten to do it. Chris had his chance when we restarted with 10 to go, but we were just faster tonight” Boston stated. “The car was just awesome all night. It was so good we barely made any changes the whole program” he continued. “I need to thank Rich and Michele Bowers, my car owners. They give me a great car every week,” he finished.

Boston’s sponsors include Select Auto, Select Auto Body, Eckley Racing Engines, Rains Hardwood Floors and Moock Trucking.

Don’t miss the Eagle Nationals, featuring The World of Outlaws Saturday night June 14th. The Greatest Show on Dirt makes it’s only appearance at Eagle Raceway this year. Top drivers including Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Joey Saldana, Terry McCarl, Jason Meyers and many more will hurl their 800+ horsepower sprinters around Eagle’s high banks. Also appearing are the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds.

Front gate opens at 4:00, with hot laps at 6:00 and racing at 7:00. Great seats are still available, so don’t miss out.

Race Results for June 13th, 2008:

Budweiser 360 Sprints-
A Feature-
1) 51 Mike Boston
2) 32 Chris Roseland
3) 91 Brad Krutz
4) 53 Jack Dover
5) 24a Don Droud Jr
6) 14g Gene Ackland
7) 99c Nick Clifford
8) 28 Ken Klabunde
9) 17 Gage Dorr
10) 9j Mark Schmidt
11) 31 Mark Pace
12) 82 Jason Danley
13) 35 Trevor Grossenbacher
14) 44 Larry Pinegar II
15) 8b Bobby Becker
16) 7x Kevin Danley
17) 77 John Klabunde
18) 24b Frank Galusha
19) 71 Tige Jensen (DNS A)
20) 14 Josh Riggins (DNS A)

B Feature-
1) 35 Trevor Grossenbacher
2) 8b Bobby Becker
3) 24a Don Droud Jr
4) 14 Josh Riggins
5) 7x Kevin Danley
6) 3 Jeff Griffis
7) 27 Brad Wright
8) 6 Nick Bryan
9) 7 Bob Ruisinger
10) 1x Rodney Droud
11) 71x Lonnie Jensen
12) 33 Terry Cadwallader (DNS B)
13) 17a Austin McCarl (DNS B)

Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks-
A Feature-
1) 22k Kevin Anderson
2) 92 Don Hall Jr
3) 86 Justin Wulf
4) 1r RJ Macku
5) m70 Rick Munson
6) 3k Jerry Keaton
7) 38c Casey Moyer
8) 10k Lee Kracht
9) 21 Derick Noonan
10) 28b Rick Bradley
11) 94 Mike Hansen
12) 71k Josh Kennell
13) 22 Nick Beckman
14) 42 Rob Brown
15) 14 Ron Novak
16) b4 Ben Becher
17) 20t Steve Shepard
18) 12 Dan Noonan
19) 98 Dan Jackson
20) 17h Craig Hetfless

B Feature-
1) 3k Jerry Keaton
2) 14 Ron Novak
3) b4 Ben Becher
4) 71k Josh Kennell
5) 17h Craig Hetfless
6) 32h Harold Silvey
7) 4 Troy Mencke
8) 99 Jason Tadlock
9) 33 Eric Hanson
10) 1j Jason Edwards
11) 9er Charlie Bartels

Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts-
A Feature #1-
1) 45 Jack Prall IV
2) 55 Garrett Rech
3) 44 Jack Prall III
4) 18r Ron Frank
5) 14 Joey Danley
6) 00 Barry Kinnersley
7) 39 Eric Kline
8) 4 David Tadlock
9) 63 Mike Simpson
10) 26t Tyler Drueke
11) 88 Everett Watkins
12) 29 Matt Moyer
13) 5 Larry Cronin
14) 61j Russell Johnson
15) 59 Jessica Tadlock
16) 33s Andrew Smith
17) 62 Justin Busboom
18) 33 Jeremy Noonan

A Feature #2-
1) 77 Jason Miller
2) 18 Maynard Kinnersley
3) 21 Jake Sells
4) 31 Chris LaChapelle
5) b32 Brian Haller
6) 22 Elliott Halvorsen
7) 6 Roger Elliott Jr
8) 21t Brandon Thorton
9) 95c Bob Cigelman
10) 28h Jeremy Conkel
11) 29j Josh Trail
12) 26 Derek Dreamer
13) 1 Sean Manning
14) 0c Mike Cheers
15) 24 Mike Rice
16) 10st Kevin Staack
17) 88m Meloney McVicker
18) 7v Adam Vrbka (DNS A)