Eagle Raceway: Becker, Jurgens, Hall, Rice and Busboom Soak up the Track!

By Greg Soukup

EAGLE, Neb. (June 7, 2008) - The folks who decided to skip tonight’s racing due to the threatening weather missed a fantastic night of racing on the best track so far this year. Despite over 4 inches of rain on Thursday, Eagle’s track prep crew hit another home run thanks to numerous hours of work during the week. Although no track lap records were broken, times closely approaching them were run throughout the evening. The fast track also led to all of the A Features being won by drivers snagging their first regular season victories.

In the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compact A Feature #1 Mike Rice took the point in his #24 with the #45 of Jack Prall IV in second, the 5 of Larry Cronin in third and Jeremy Noonan’s #33 in fourth. It took last week’s feature winner Dan Rhiley only 3 laps to advance into the 5th spot, and he then got around Cronin for fourth on the ensuing lap. Lap 5 saw Jack Prall III’s #44 move up to 5th, but he was then passed by the 77 of Jason Miller on lap 6. Three laps later, Miller moved around Cronin for fourth. By lap 10 Rice had all but checked out, but the racing was fast & furious behind him. On lap 13 Rhiley got under Prall IV in traffic, followed by Miller. The checkered flag saw Rice first by a wide margin, with Rhiley, Prall IV, Miller and Prall III battling to the very end. As Prall IV came out of turn #4 on the cool-down lap the rear of his race car was enveloped in flames that were quickly extinguished by Eagle’s wonderful Fire & Rescue crew.

Mike Rice’s comments were similar to all of this evening’s winners, in that he was thrilled to have finally gotten a victory. “Roger and the crew did one heck of a job prepping the track this week, considering all of the rain we had. It was nice and smooth, and that made all of the difference this week” he stated. “I’ve only been racing for 2 years now, and to win at Eagle is really sweet” he continued. “I want to thank my pit crew, who are my Dad Dan and Greg Winningham; and a big thanks to Scott Bumgardner for selling me this car” he finished. Mike’s sponsors include Big Dan’s Auto Body & Paint, Low Budget Customs Chassis and Graphics, KFC & Long John Silver’s, The Naked Canvas, Body Art Studio, The Car Wash, Fliechman Farms, Pro Power Washing, M & M Construction and Auggie’s Performance Shop.

Joey Danley’s #14 lead the way at the end of the first lap of the action-packed second Sport Compact A Main, followed by Brian Haller’s #T32, the 22 of Elliot Halvorsen and Chris LaChappelle in the #31. On the second circuit Ben Simpson shot his #72 into the second position from 5th. At that time the running order was 14, 72, 31 and the 51 of Amanda Rhiley who had advanced into fourth. The action continued with passes on nearly every lap among the top 5 spots. LaChappelle got into 2nd on lap 3 and Simpson advanced to first on the next lap. The next lap saw Amanda get up to the second position followed by the #62 of Justin Busboom in third. Two laps later, Busboom moved to second behind Simpson with LaChapelle in third and Rhiley in fourth. With just 4 laps remaining Danley got around Rhiley for 4th, only to have her pass him back later in the lap to retake fourth position.

Busboom began his interview by joking that “My wife says my biggest challenge in winning is just getting into the car every ”. “Even though I managed to win the Icebreaker Challenge this year, this is my first regular season win ever. I want to thank Roger and the crew for all of their hard work and the great job they did, giving us such a fantastic track tonight. I also want to give special thanks to my mother and father, I just wish he could have been here to see this” he finished.

Busboom’s sponsors include Reddick Plumbing, Mobile Soda Blasting, All Care and JCM Electric.

Next up was the Valentino’s MICA Hobby Stocks. Don Hall Jr. led the pack back to the start/finish line with the 9ER of Charlie Bartels, Derick Noonan’s #21 and the 12 of Dan Noonan in hot pursuit. On lap #2 Lee Kracht got around Dan Noonan to grab fourth and then pressured Derick Noonan into bobbling, allowing Kracht to move into third. Four laps later Derick shot past both Kracht and Bartels to take over second, followed by Kracht who moved back into the third spot. Kevin Anderson advanced to the fourth position on lap 11 in his #22K. Derick Noonan got loose on the very last lap, allowing Kracht to take over the second spot. At the finish it was Hall Jr., Kracht, Derick Noonan, Anderson and the #38C of Casey Moyer in fifth.

“I have to credit my starting position for the win tonight. All it took was to hit my marks, miss the ruts in turn 1, stay in the lead and not get airborne by hitting the tires in the infield” Hall Jr. said. “The track was so tacky and fast all night that it was a pretty smooth race, and it helped that we went Green/White/Checkers” he continued. “I need to send a big thank you out to my wife, my daughters, my father Don Hall Sr. and all of my friends and crew. They make it a lot of fun to come out to Eagle and race every week” he finished. Don’s sponsors include Techmasters, Fred’s Auto Electric, Ogden Insurance, Moon Light Ranch, Matt and Amy Stephens, J & M Technologies, AA Precision Pressure Washing and Bob’s Auto Body.

The Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds took to Eagle’s high banks next for their feature race. Bob Ruisinger’s #7 grabbed the early lead, followed by Dan Wayman in the 5ST, Ed “Doc” Raines in the 11AA and Justin Jurgens in the 22J. On the second lap Wayman, Raines and Jurgens all passed Ruisinger, relegating him to the fourth position. Two laps later Jurgens moved into first, followed by Raines for second on the next lap. By lap 6, Dylan Smith had moved all the way up to the third position. With 8 laps left Rik Gropp got around Smith to take the third position with Chevy Hadan moving his #4 around Gropp for third with just 3 circuits remaining. The finishing order was Jurgens, Raines, Hadan and the #3 of Chris Alcorn.

“This is my second year at Eagle, and finally my first win in an ‘A Mod’. I started out racing mini-sprints for four years, and then 1 year in an ‘E Mod’ before moving up last year out here” Justin said. “It was so nice to finally get over the bad luck we’ve had all year. We made some really big changes on the car after a lot of discussion and planning this week, and they paid off in a big way” he continued. When asked about tonight’s track conditions, Jurgens stated “All I can say is that it was BAD FAST!!! Roger and everyone did a whale of a job, and thankfully we avoided the rain.” “I need to thank my Dad Jim, Cory Jensen, my sister Ashlea and Dan for all of their help. I also need to send out a special thanks to Lorene Fielder and Ray & Sue Parde” he finished. Justin’s sponsors include Tobe’s clock Repair, Plymouth Industries, Rollarena Skate Center, Carriage Motors and Midwest Livestock.

Last on the evening’s card was the Budweiser Championship 360 Sprints. Brad Wright’s #27, Bobby Becker Jr.’s #8B and the 23 of Terry Holliman were first at the completion of the first lap. The yellow flag flew on lap #3 when Josh Riggins hooked a rut in turns 1 # 2, flipping his #14 sprinter. On the restart, Becker got around Wright, only to have the pass negated when Trevor Grossenbacher spun and made contact with the back stretch wall forcing yet another restart. It took 2-time defending track champion Mike Boston 5 more laps before he could advance into the third position behind Becker. On the next lap, Becker got around Wright to take a lead he never relinquished. Boston pressured him continuously after moving into the second spot on lap 11, with Holliman retaking third on the same lap. Despite several valiant efforts, Becker held off Boston to grab the victory.

“Last year the Lincoln Journal/Star did a story about Jeff Griffis and I and how we’d been racing forever out here at Eagle. I ran 1 year of IMCA sprints at I-80 in 1999 before coming here in 2000. I just never left I guess” Becker said. “My car ran really great tonight, although I almost lost the header in my heat race. Honestly, I was so squirrelly at times I think Mike was just afraid to pass me” Becker joked. “Before that last restart, I think I was kind of dozing off, but when Mike hit me from behind that woke me up and I just took off” he continued. “I want to thank my 2 sons, Jason and Kevin, Brian, Larry, Mike Jorgenson and Skip Smith. My boys have been pushing me so much the last couple of years that I HAD to win. Now I’ll spend the next four weeks trying not to mess up and erase this great win” he finished. Becker’s sponsors include L.L. Motorsports, Dairy Queen, Egan Equipment Company, Steel Fabricators and most of all my wife Lyn.

Special thanks to OP Seven for the entertainment in the Eagle Pavilion after the races!

Don’t miss out on next weekend’s double-barreled excitement as Eagle Raceway, America’s Home Track brings you a 2-day racing extravaganza. Friday night, June 13th is the Back Row Challenge, featuring the Budweiser Championship 360 Sprints, Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks and the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts.
Post race event: Following the races in the Eagle Pavilion, the Psycho Midget Mania begins! Also, the Dirt Track Hotties will be steaming it up with some oil wrestling of their own. If you love wrestling and comedy…this is a must see event.

Then, Saturday June 14th is the Eagle Nationals featuring the Advanced Auto Parts World of Outlaw Sprints only trip to the track this year, along with the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds. Advanced tickets are still available by calling the Eagle Raceway office at 402-238-3766, or you can purchase them the day of the show.

Eagle Raceway Race Results for 6-7-08-

Budweiser 360 Sprints:
A Feature-
1) 8b Bobby Becker
2) 51 Mike Boston
3) 44 Doug Lovegrove
4) 32 Chris Roseland
5) 23 Terry Holliman
6) 96kx Adam Gullion
7) 76 Jay Russell
8) 71 Tige Jensen
9) 27 Brad Wright
10) 99c Nick Clifford
11) 17 Gage Dorr
12) 7x Kevin Danley
13) 14g Gene Ackland
14) x29 Roger Sluka
15) 9j Mark Schmidt
16) 24b Frank Galusha
17) 6 Nick Bryan
18) 91 Brad Krutz
19) 82 Jason Danley
20) 14 Josh Riggins
21) 31 Mark Pace
22) 35 Trevor Grossenbacher
23) 23r Tadd Holliman (DNS A)
24) 3 Jeff Griffis (DNS A)

Monster IMCA Modified:
A Feature-
1) 22j Justin Jurgens
2) 11aa Ed Raines
3) 4 Chevy Hadan
4) 3 Chris Alcorn
5) v45 Rik Gropp
6) 95 Dylan Smith
7) 13 Doug Deterding
8) 95r Lucas Robinson
9) 11x Steve Devitt
10) 3a Aaron Pella
11) 7 Bob Ruisinger
12) 12x George Haney
13) 21t Tracy Harr
14) s56 Scott Bivens
15) 11n Nathan Landauer
16) 5st Dan Wayman
17) 42k Jan Korth
18) 4t Jerry Trejo
19) 8c Chad Andersen
20) 00 Tim Pickens

B Feature-
1) 3a Aaron Pella
2) 11x Steve Devitt
3) 42k Jan Korth
4) 00 Tim Pickens
5) 11n Nathan Landauer
6) 57 Brian Cudly
7) 1m Mannix Winningham
8) 24x Darren Hosick
9) 73 James Oaks
10) 0 Jim Krupicka
11) 49 Ross Engel
12) 51 Cliff Turner
13) 29 Jeff Mazza
14) 10 Kenny Danley
15) 41 Clint Hummer (DNS B)
16) 3w Stacey Wilhelm (DNS B)

Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature-
1) 92 Don Hall Jr
2) 10k Lee Kracht
3) 21 Derick Noonan
4) 22k Kevin Anderson
5) 38c Casey Moyer
6) 86 Justin Wulf
7) 12 Dan Noonan
8) 21h Shane Hiatt
9) 20t Steve Shepard
10) 14 Ron Novak
11) 98 Dan Jackson
12) 22 Nick Beckman
13) 4 Troy Mencke
14) 3k Jerry Keaton
15) 9er Charlie Bartels
16) 42 Rob Brown
17) 25 Brady Fernau
18) 17h Craig Hetfless
19) 1r RJ Macku
20) 53 Don Kros (DNS A)

B Feature-
1) 22 Nick Beckman
2) 4 Troy Mencke
3) 14 Ron Novak
4) 25 Brady Fernau
5) 53 Don Kros
6) 94 Mike Hansen
7) b4 Ben Becher
8) 32h Harold Silvey
9) 99 Jason Tadlock
10) 71k Josh Kennell (DNS B)

Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts:
A Feature #1-
1) 24 Mike Rice
2) 2 Dan Rhiley
3) 45 Jack Prall IV
4) 77 Jason Miller
5) 44 Jack Prall III
6) 21 Jake Sells
7) 18r Ron Frank
8) 33s Andrew Smith
9) 5 Larry Cronin
10) 18 Maynard Kinnersley
11) 55 Garrett Rech
12) 95c Bob Cigelman
13) 88m Meloney McVicker
14) 6 Roger Elliott
15) 2m David White
16) 4 David Tadlock
17) 7v Adam Vrbka
18) 59 Jessica Tadlock

A Feature #2-
1) 62 Justin Busboom
2) 31 Chris LaChapelle
3) 72 Ben Simpson
4) 51 Amanda Rhiley
5) 29g Josh Trail
6) 14 Joey Danley
7) 26 Derek Dreamer
8) 00 Barry Kinnersley
9) 22 Elliott Halvorsen
10) 26t Tyler Drueke
11) 33 Jeremy Noonan
12) 29 Matt Moyer
13) b32 Brian Haller
14) 63 Mike Simpson
15) 49 Nick Semmerfeld
16) 10st Kevin Staack
17) 16j Hailey Jackson
18) 4r Ray Graef (DNS A)