Eagle July 12: Dover, Alcorn, Wulf and Rhiley Win Musical Mini's Night

By Greg Soukup

Eagle Raceway, “America’s Home Track”, had “Musical Mini’s Night” presented by Round the Bend Steakhouse tonight. Clear, sunny skies greeted the fans who showed up to see the night’s racing action. A shower Friday night and a sprinkle Saturday morning led to a very fast track. Lap times in the heats were close to the track records. The quick times were an omen for the fabulous action in the features later on.

In the preliminary events the only bad incident began after the green flag dropped for the Budweiser Championship 360 sprints. Mark Pace came past the flag stand and was forced high going into turn one. This resulted in Mark launching his #31 sprinter over the implement tire at the pit entrance. His race car came to a rest caught up in the catch fence. Mark not only wasn’t hurt, he bowed to the fans after exiting his car as a thank you for the applause from the stands.

The first A Feature showcased the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts. First back to the start/finish line was the #5 of Larry Cronin with Matt Moyer’s #29 in second, the #72 of Ben Simpson and Garret Rech’s 55. Maynard Kinnersley moved past Rech on the second lap in his #18. Cronin’s lead was short-lived however as he rolled his car in turns 1 & 2 on the third lap. This put Moyer into the lead with Rech in second, Kinnersley in third and the #31 of Chris LaChapelle’s #31 in fourth. It took only 2 more laps for Dan Rhiley to bring his #2 up to the third spot and then into first on the next circuit. Simpson followed Rhiley into second and Kinnersley advanced to third on the same lap. There was a stoppage on lap #8 when Joey Danley lost his right front tire in turn two. The running order stayed the same until with just three laps left LaChapelle got around Kinnersley for third. On the very last lap Simpson advanced all the way to second.

“Well, the birthday boy won tonight” Rhiley said. “The Honda ran really great tonight, but it has been. This is my third win in a row so far this week. I want the fans to wish me luck tomorrow night. I fell a little behind in national championship points this week, but I’m trying to make a charge” he continued. “I need to send out a special thanks to ‘Big Joe’ at 2 Men and a Shop. He makes this thing run when I can’t” he finished. Dan’s sponsors include Ray’s Quality Towing, Max I Walker, 2 Men & a Shop and R & M Roll Cages.

Next was the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock Feature. Rick Bradley held the lead at the end of the first lap in his #28B with Eric Hanson’s 33, Nick Beckman’s 22 and the 14 of Ron Novak close on his heels. Beckman got around Hanson on lap #2 for second but was passed the next lap by Don Hall Jr. in the #92. Hall then moved past Bradley on the next lap with Justin Wulf moving up to second in the #86 and Beckman in third. With 5 laps in the books, Jerry Keaton moved his #3K under Beckman to take the third spot. The very next lap Wulf got past Hall Jr. to grab the lead. Wulf then began to pull away from the field, but a red flag came out with 2 laps left when Shane Hiatt’s #21H had an engine fire as he exited into the pits. At the finish it was Wulf, Keaton, Beckman and Hall Jr.

Justin said “The track was really good tonight. It turned slick just the way I like it for the feature”. “It was a great win for us, but getting claimed kind of ruined it” he continued. “I want to say thank you a lot to Napa for adding the purse money, and a special thank you to my grandpa for letting me use his shop to work on the car” Justin finished. Justin’s sponsors include J & J Grading, Renegade Seeding, Ken’s Smoke House, Traeger Grills, Team G Spot and Wulf & Sons Farms.

The Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds then came out for the A Main. Scott Bivens’ S56 was in first at the end of the first lap. Close behind him were the #22J of Justin Jurgens, Doug Deterding’s 13 and Aaron Pella’s 3A. Jurgens got loose going into turns 3 & 4 on the second lap and was tapped by Deterding which resulted in him spinning in front of the remainder of the field. A huge pile-up ensued with Pella having to take his racer to the pits for repairs. On the restart Chris Alcorn advanced all the way to the third spot in his #3. On lap 7 Deterding overtook Bivens for the lead. Alcorn also got around Bivens on the ensuing lap to take second. It took Chris only 1 more lap to pass Deterding for the lead. With 14 to go Rik Gropp moved his #V45 into the third spot past Bivens. Four laps later Stacey Wilhelm also passed Bivens to take over fourth position. From there to the finish it was a fantastic back and forth battle between Deterding and Alcorn, with Deterding drawing alongside numerous times. But at the finish line Alcorn managed to hold off Deterding for the win.

“It’s good to be back in the winner’s circle. It’s been quite awhile. But, we’ve found the way to win again this week it seems. We won at US-30 on Thursday, Butler County last night and now at Eagle tonight. I’ve never done that before; I’ve gotten two in a row, but never three” Chris stated. “It was a lot of fun racing tonight, especially side-by-side with Doug for the lead” he said. Chris’ sponsors include Independent Equipment, Heavy Company, Midwest Unlimited, Spanel Racing Engines and Onyx Digital Group.

The last feature race of the evening was for the Budweiser Championship 360 sprint cars. Nick Bryan took advantage of his starting position on the pole to lead the first lap in his #6. Behind him were the #3 of Jeff Griffis, Kevin Danley’s 7X and the 82 of Jason Danley. A nasty flip by Frank Galusha’s 24B in turn #4 brought out the red flag however. On the restart Jason Danley overtook Kevin Danley to snag third. The next lap Griffis got around Bryan for the lead. After the cars passed the start/finish line Jay Russell spun his 76 sprinter between turns 1 and 2, resulting in the yellow flag being thrown. On the restart Jason Danley and Jack Dover’s #53 both got around Bryan to snag the second, third and fourth spots. On lap 4 Jason Danley moved past Griffis to take the lead away with Dover following him into second on the next lap. That same lap Gene Acklund advanced into the fourth spot behind Griffis. Dover managed to use the high side to grab the lead the next time around, but Bryan and Acklund got together causing another yellow flag situation. On the restart Mike Boston advanced his #51 to third and Josh Riggins followed him into fourth. The next caution period was a result of Toby Chapman spinning the #32X in turns 1 and 2 with 12 laps down. As the field came around on the restart Adam Gullion’s 96KX and Griffis’ 3 made contact in turn three, bringing out an open red flag period as the track was nearly blocked. Dover used a slide job coming out of turn four with 11 laps remaining to snare the lead. 6 laps later Boston also got past Jason Danley to take over second. From there to the finish it was a terrific fight between Boston and Dover as they began to encounter lapped traffic, with Dover coming home first.

“The car was just alright before the second red flag. We switched shocks and from there on the car was almost perfect” Dover said. “This was a good tune-up for next week’s ASCS race out here at Eagle. I really wanted to follow the ASCS national tour this week, but 9 days straight on the road just isn’t something we can do right now. I promised my dad that if we stayed home and raced here tonight, that I’d win” he finished. Dover’s sponsors include 3 D Auto Transport Inc., RMS, Trail Performance Powder Coating, Thorpes Auto Body, Eckley Racing Engines, Eagle Chassis, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, ATV Motorsports, Speedway Motors, Bell Racing, Butler Built Professional Seat Systems, Design 500 Racewear, FK Rod Ends, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, CMET Excavating, NOS Energy Drink and BA Photos.

Don’t forget that this coming Thursday, July 17th Eagle Raceway will have the first ever Nebraska appearance of the Bootlegger’s Run Race of Champions. NASCAR stars Ken Schrader, Matt Kenseth, Sterling Marlin and Clint Bowyer will run two 8 lap races in their late models. Kenseth and Schrader will also bring along their modifieds to try and beat the locals. Details and ticket information are available under the schedule tab to the left.

Next Saturday, Jack Daniels and The Eagle 92.9 will present the ASCS North-South Sprint Showdown and Man Cave Night. Also on the card will be the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds, Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks and the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts.

Eagle Raceway Results for 7-12-08:

Budweiser 360 Sprints:
A Feature-
1) 53 Jack Dover
2) 51 Mike Boston
3) 82 Jason Danley
4) 14 Josh Riggins
5) 8b Bobby Becker
6) 23 Terry Holliman
7) 77 John Klabunde
8) 7x Kevin Danley
9) 27 Brad Wright
10) 32x Toby Chapman
11) 7g Mike Gabelhouse
12) 99c Nick Clifford
13) 14g Gene Ackland
14) 76 Jay Russell
15) 28 Ken Klabunde
16) 6 Nick Bryan
17) 3 Jeff Griffis
18) 96kx Adam Gullion
19) 71 Tige Jensen
20) 24b Frank Galusha

B Feature-
1) 71 Tige Jensen
2) 24b Frank Galusha
3) 23 Terry Holliman
4) 76 Jay Russell
5) 7g Mike Gabelhouse
6) 17 Gage Dorr
7) 23r Tadd Holliman
8) x29 Roger Sluka
9) 57 Jayson Bogue
10) 9j Mark Schmidt
11) 3r Michael Beckerman
12) 33 Terry Cadwallader
13) 31 Mark Pace

Monster IMCA Modifieds:
A Feature-
1) 3 Chris Alcorn
2) 13 Doug Deterding
3) v45 Rik Gropp
4) 3w Stacey Wilhelm
5) 4 Chevy Hadan
6) s56 Scott Bivens
7) 11n Nathan Landauer
8) 3a Aaron Pella
9) 22j Justin Jurgens
10) 11x Steve Devitt
11) 12x George Haney
12) 5st Dan Wayman
13) 8c Chad Andersen
14) 95r Lucas Robinson
15) 7 Bob Ruisinger
16) 72 Mike Lineberry
17) 00 Tim Pickens
18) 5p Bob Philips
19) 95 Dylan Smith
20) 4jr David Jewett Jr

B Feature#1-
1) 95r Lucas Robinson
2) 5p Bob Philips
3) 4t Jerry Trejo
4) 21j Jeremy Leiting
5) 1m Mannix Winningham
6) 33r Tim Richmond
7) 73 James Oaks
8) 41 Clint Hummer
9) 11aa Ed Raines
10) 21t Tracy Harr
11) 29 Jeff Mazza

B Feature#2-
1) 3w Stacey Wilhelm
2) 00 Tim Pickens
3) 42k Jan Korth
4) 49 Ryan Fuscher
5) 8r Nick Kepler
6) 2k Kyle Schamp
7) 1x Jeff Spring
8) 57 Brian Cudly
9) 81 Mike Densberger
10) 24x Darren Hosick
11) 19 Scott Anderson (DNS)

Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks:
A Feature-
1) 86 Justin Wulf
2) 3k Jerry Keaton
3) 22 Nick Beckman
4) 92 Don Hall Jr
5) 22k Kevin Anderson
6) 14 Ron Novak
7) 10k Lee Kracht
8) 38c Casey Moyer
9) 28b Rick Bradley
10) 21 Derick Noonan
11) 12 Dan Noonan
12) 17h Craig Hetfless
13) 53 Don Kros
14) 33 Eric Hanson
15) 21h Shane Hiatt
16) 94 Mike Hansen
17) 42 Rob Brown
18) 98 Dan Jackson
19) 9er Charlie Bartels
20) 52 Roger Timperley (DNS)

B Feature-
1) 21 Derick Noonan
2) 42 Rob Brown
3) 94 Mike Hansen
4) 17h Craig Hetfless
5) 53 Don Kros
6) b4 Ben Becher
7) 71k Josh Kennell
8) 99 Jason Tadlock (R)
9) m70 Rick Munson (DNS)
10) 91 Chris Brenning (DNS)
11) 20t Steve Shepard (DNS)

Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts-
A Feature-
1) 2 Dan Rhiley
2) 72 Ben Simpson
3) 21 Jake Sells
4) 18 Maynard Kinnersley
5) 24 Mike Rice
6) 44 Jack Prall III
7) 39 Eric Kline
8) 45 Jack Prall IV
9) 29g Todd Smiley
10) 00 Barry Kinnersley
11) 95c Bob Cigelman
12) 31 Chris LaChapelle
13) 55 Garrett Rech
14) 22 Elliott Halvorsen
15) 21t Brandon Thorton
16) 18r Ron Frank
17) 14 Joey Danley
18) 5 Larry Cronin
19) 51 Amanda Rhiley
20) 62 Justin Busboom (DNS)

B Feature-
1) 51 Amanda Rhiley
2) 18r Ron Frank
3) 31 Chris LaChapelle
4) 22 Elliott Halvorsen
5) 1 Sean Manning
6) 33s Andrew Smith
7) 33 Jeremy Noonan
8) 16t Tyler Saathoff
9) 29 Matt Moyer
10) 63 Mike Simpson
11) 32m Ray Harrington
12) b32 Brian haller
13) 77 Jason Miller