Eagle 6-28-08: Boston, Richards, Beckman and Rice Win Freedom Fest

By Greg Soukup

Thanks to a couple of gifts of Mother Nature's 'Liquid Love' during the
week, coupled with cloudy skies and cooler than normal June temperatures,
Freedom Fest 2008 at "America's Home Track" Eagle Raceway was held on a very
tacky track which only got faster as the night wore on. The large crowd was
treated to fantastic racing all evening, topped by a fabulous fireworks
display celebrating those who serve us and our country daily.

After the balloon salute, the heat races in all classes went without a
hitch.

At intermission, Mike Cacak was notified that he would be receiving the
Gordie Shuck Award for Sportsmanship and his contribution to the racing
community over the years. As you know, Mike suffered critical injuries just
1 year ago this weekend but has returned to his duties at Eagle Raceway. The
formal presentation will be done at the Nebraska Racing Hall of Fame banquet
in October.

The first A Feature was for the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts. Joey
Danley took the lead in his #14 with Mike Rice's 24, Maynard Kinnersley's 18
and Mike Simpson's 63 right behind him. Simpson relinquished the fourth spot
on lap 2 when Barry Kinnersley moved his 00 around Simpson on the high side.
Danley held the lead until lap 4 when his right front tire and wheel came
off in turns 1 and 2. This caused a major pileup and allowed Matt Moyer to
take fourth. At that time the running order was Rice, Maynard Kinnersley,
Barry Kinnersley and Moyer. Although the top four remained unchanged to the
checkers, there was a fierce battle between father and son for second as
Barry attempted to move past Maynard. Despite all of his efforts, Maynard
managed to hold him off.

"Although the track was slick, I had fun. But, I always have fun racing out
here at Eagle" Rice stated. Mike's sponsors include M & M Construction, Pro
Washing, the Naked Canvas Body Art, Auggie's Performance Shop, Big Dan's
body & Paint, Long John Silvers & Kentucky Fried Chicken, Low Budget
Customs, Derrick Noonan and The Car Wash.

The Valentino's IMCA Hobby Stocks were next on the card. The 71K of Josh
Kennel came back to the flag stand with the lead on the first lap. Eric
Hansen's #33, Rick Bradley's 28B and the #94 of Mike Hansen were in second
through fourth. It took only 1 lap for Nick Beckman to move his #22 past
Hansen for the fourth position, and the next lap he got around both Kennell
who slowed to fourth and Bradley to take over second. As the leaders came
around through turns 3 & 4 a car stopped against the front stretch wall,
causing a melee behind him. This brought out a red flag which Hansen failed
to heed, causing him to be disqualified. This put Beckman in first, Kennel
back in second, Bradley in third and the #42 of Rob Brown in fourth. At the
restart Bradley moved around Kennell for second and Brown lost his right
rear wheel and tire. Brown limped his racer into the pits so the action
continued. Shane Hiatt moved up to third in his 21H. Kevin Anderson got his
22K around Kennell for fourth with just 9 laps to go and moved up to third
with just 2 laps remaining. For the last two laps Bradley, Anderson and
Hiatt waged a fierce battle. At the checkered flag it was Beckman, Bradley,
Anderson and Hiatt.

"I really needed this one after all of the bad luck and flat tires I've been
having lately. I should have won last week if it wasn't for a popped tire,
so this felt really great tonight" Beckman said. "First of all, I want to
thank the fans, my friends and my family for coming out and cheering us on.
I also need to thank my parents and of course my wife. Last, I need to thank
everyone I race with every week. They all make this whole thing fun and make
it possible for me to race" he continued. "I need to send a special thanks
to Speedy Steve's High Performance for this great motor. That helped us win
this thing tonight" Nick finished. Beckman's sponsors include Denny's Auto
Sales, Clouse Trucking, Athey Painting, Dickey & Burham, Terry's Body Shop
and spider Race Cars.

The Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds then took to the track. Mannix
Winningham took his #1M to the front with the 73 of James Oaks, the 5p of
Bob Philipps and Brian Cudly's 57 close on his heels. Cudly took second on
the second circuit and was followed by both the 18 of Terry Richards and the
7 of Bob Ruisinger on lap three. It took 3 more laps before Ruisinger
relinquished the fourth spot to Dylan Smith's 95. On the same lap Richards
advanced to second behind Winningham. At that time it was Winningham,
Richards, Smith and Ruisinger. With 11 laps left Chris Alcorn moved up to
fourth and then to third on the next lap. With 8 laps remaining Winningham
dropped back to fourth with Richards in the lead, Smith in second and Alcorn
in third. With just 2 laps left Smith advanced to second, and although he
gave it his all he couldn't pass Richards.

"To be honest, we weren't even going to come tonight. We raced at Rising
City last night and ran fourth behind Chris Alcorn. Then we took our kids to
Yankton South Dakota this morning and didn't get back until 2:30 this
afternoon. But, we got a phone call saying "You want to go to the track
tonight and race? The car hadn't been touched since last night; we hadn't
washed it or change anything. So we just hooked up the trailer and left,"
Richards said.

"What helped me win was that last yellow flag. I'm not sure I could have
held Dylan off, but I had gotten to see where he was running. So, I changed
my line. That yellow really paid off in the long run." he finished.
Richards' sponsors include TR's Tool Service, Razor Chassis, Demon Decals,
Core Financial, Wachovia Securities and JR Motorsports.

The Budweiser 360 Championship Sprints A Feature was the finale of the
racing. Trevor Grossenbacher hit the turn 1 wall during buzz laps and rolled
his #35. Trevor was unhurt, but could not continue. Gage Dorr snagged the
lead from his pole position in his #17 followed by the 28 of Ken Klabunde,
the 77 of John Klabunde and Kevin Danley's 7X. The top four remained
unchanged until lap 8 when Mike Boston got around Danley to take fourth. 2
laps later Nick Bryan hit nearly the same spot that Grossenbacher had in
turn one and rolled his #6. Boston took advantage of the restart, getting
around John Klabunde for third and then 2 laps later passing John Klabunde
to take second. With 10 laps left Boston went high around Dorr and began to
pull away, winning by over a half of a lap.

"The track was really great tonight. It just kept getting faster and faster
the more we raced on it" Boston stated. When asked if he thought he could
have passed Dorr had it not been for the red flag brought out by Bryan, Mike
said "I didn't even know where he was until I was right behind him. That's
the advantage of not leading. When you're ahead, you have to worry about
hitting your marks every lap. But when you are coming from behind, you can
see where the drivers ahead of you are running and then change your line.try
different ones. That's pretty much what I did" he continued. "Everyone out
here is a great racer. They all run you clean and you never have to worry
about any of them. That's why I love Eagle" he said. "I want to thank most
of all Rick and Michele Bowers for giving me the chance to run their
sprinter. It's great equipment, and that makes it easy to end up front" he
finished. Boston's sponsors include Eckley Racing Engines, Trade Center
Automotive, CMart of Crete, Vision Sports, Lincoln Drywall and One Eyed Dog
Saloon.

Next week at Eagle Raceway features two nights of racing action. First, on
Thursday July 3rd, the Super Late Model Mixer featuring the WDRL/NCRA Late
Models as well as Wingless Sprints take to the high banks. Front gates open
at 5:30, with time trials at 6:30 and racing at 7:30.

Then on Saturday July 5th Colby Ridge and the Brew present Christmas in July
Fan Appreciation Night. Adult fans will receive $5 off of their general
admission with a donated NEW toy. All toys collected will be given to Toys
for Tots which is coordinated by the US Marine Corp volunteers. These
volunteers will be on site collecting the toy donations. Hot laps will start
at 6:00 with racing at 7:00.

Eagle Raceway Results for 6-28-08:
Budweiser 360 Sprints:
A Feature-
1) 51 Mike Boston
2) 17 Gage Dorr
3) 28 Ken Klabunde
4) 77 John Klabunde
5) 7x Kevin Danley
6) 3 Jeff Griffis
7) 23 Terry Holliman
8) 31 Mark Pace
9) 8b Bobby Becker
10) 76 Jay Russell
11) 32 Chris Roseland
12) 14 Josh Riggins
13) 82 Jason Danley
14) 24b Frank Galusha
15) 23r Tadd Holliman
16) 57 Jayson Bogue
17) 6 Nick Bryan
18) 27 Brad Wright
19) 71 Tige Jensen
20) 35 Trevor Grossenbacher (DNS)

B Feature-
1) 24b Frank Galusha
2) 23r Tadd Holliman
3) 6 Nick bryan
4) 27 Brad Wright
5) 57 Jayson Bogue
6) 3r Mike Beckerman
7) 33 Terry Cadwallader
8) 17b Jason Becker

Monster IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature-
1) 18 Terry Richards
2) 95 Dylan Smith
3) 3 Chris Alcorn
4) 1m Mannix Winningham
5) 3w Stacey Wilhelm
6) 11aa Ed Raines
7) v45 Rik Gropp
8) 11n Nathan Landauer
9) 5p Bob Philipps
10) 3a Aaron Pella
11) 57 Brian Cudly
12) 11x Steve Devitt
13) 12x George Haney
14) 73 James Oaks
15) 7 Bob Ruisinger
16) 22j Justin Jurgens
17) 00 Tim Pickens
18) 4jr David Jewett Jr
19) s56 Scott Bivens
20) 4 Chevy Hadan

B Feature#1-
1) 11x Steve Devitt
2) 3a Aaron Pella
3) 5st Dan Wayman
4) 24x Darren Hosick
5) 21t Tracy Harr
6) 95r Lucas Robinson
7) 44 Tom Lenz
8) 41 Clint Hummer
9) 13 Doug Deterding
10) 48b Don Chilen
11) 29 Jeff Mazza
12) 75j Jesse Robinson (DNS)

B Feature#2-
1) 4 Chevy Hadan
2) v45 Rik Gropp
3) 0 Jim Krupicka
4) 81 Mike Densberger
5) 42k Jan Korth
6) 4t Jerry Trejo
7) 10 Kenny Danley
8) 8c Chad Andersen
9) 49 Ross Engel
10) 19 Scott Anderson
11) 2k Kyle Schamp

Valentino's IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature-
1) 22 Nick Beckman
2) 28b Rick Bradley
3) 22k Kevin Anderson
4) 21h Shane Hiatt
5) 38c Casey Moyer
6) 10k Lee Kracht
7) 3k Jerry Keaton
8) 71k Josh Kennell
9) 98 Dan Jackson
10) 21 Derick Noonan
11) 92 Don Hall Jr
12) 53 Don Kros
13) b4 Ben Becher
14) 12 Dan Noonan
15) 17h Craig Huffless
16) 86 Justin Wulf
17) 42 Rob Brown
18) 33 Eric Hansen
19) 94 Mike Hansen
20) 14 Ron Novak
21) 9er Charlie Bartels
22) 93x Phil Stransky
23) 20t Steve Shepard (DNS)
24) 32h Harold Silvey (DNS)

Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts:
A Feature-
1) 24 Mike Rice
2) 18 Maynard Kinnersley
3) 00 Barry Kinnersley
4) 29 Matt Moyer
5) 62 Justin Busboom
6) 63 Mike Simpson
7) 45 Jack Prall IV
8) 33s Andrew Smith
9) 18r Ron Frank
10) 51 Amanda Rhiley
11) 44 Jack Prall III
12) 26t Tyler Drueke
13) 95c Bob Cigelman
14) 77 Jason Miller
15) 72 Ben Simpson
16) 88m Meloney McVicker
17) 14 Kevin Danley
18) 21 Jake Sells
19) 26 Derek Dreamer
20) 22 Elliott Halvorsen

B Feature-
1) 77 Jason Miller
2) 51 Amanda Rhiley
3) 95c Bob Cigelman
4) 22 Elliott Halvorsen
5) 2 Dan Rhiley
6) 49 Nick Sommerfeld
7) 28h Jeremy Conkel
8) 10st Kevin Staack
9) 31 Chris LaChapelle
10) 5 Larry Cronin
11) 33 Jeremy Noonan (DNS)
12) 16j Hailey Jackson (DNS)
13) 7v Adam Vrbka (DNS)
14) 4u James Snelling (DNS)
15) 86 Scott Pascoe (DNS)
16) s6 Ryan McMahon (DNS)