Eagle Raceway 5-16-09

By Greg Soukup

Despite unusually cool May temperatures and a brisk north wind a good crowd
showed up for McDonalds Junior Fan Club Night at
"America's Home Track" Eagle Raceway. Each class had drivers close to the
track records all night as the action served to warm the crowd through the
evening.

The members of the McDonalds Junior Fan Club were featured during
intermission as a "Candy Grab" was held on the front stretch. Local area
dentists will be busy as every youngster walked away with quite a haul of
sweets.

The first A Main saw the Valentino's IMCA Hobby Stocks challenge Eagle
Raceway's high banked 1/3 mile. The early going saw a top 4 of Jeff Reed's
29, the 21 of Derick Noonan, RJ Macku in the 1R and Don Hall Jr. in the 92.
Defending track champion Kevin Anderson moved his 22K up to 4th by lap 4 as
Macku vaulted into the lead. As lap 5 began Hall Jr. spun out in turn 1,
bringing out the yellow flag. On the restart Adam Armstrong, last week's
feature winner moved up all the way to the third spot. On lap 6 Josh Kennell
moved his 71K up into the 4th position just before a car lost its right rear
tire in turn #4 for the second caution. During the slow-down Anderson was
penalized 3 spots. That made the running order Macku, Armstrong, Reed and
Kennell with Anderson now relegated to 5th. Anderson moved back to third on
lap 8 as Armstrong slowed to a stop in turn 3. That moved Anderson back into
second ahead of Reed and Kennell. On the restart lap Reed headed into the
pits with a flat tire, with Nick Beckman's 22 moving up to fourth. The
running order stayed the same until with 3 laps left Anderson passed Macku
for the lead. The pass was negated when Hall Jr.'s engine expired setting up
a 3 lap dash to the finish. Anderson did manage to pass Macku again with 2
to go and held on to take the checkers in first. After the IMCA officials
completed their inspections in the tech area however, Anderson was
disqualified for excessive engine setback. The results were Macku, Kennell,
Beckman and Roy E. Armstrong in the 6R.

Macku's first words were "I'll take a win at Eagle any way I can get it". He
continued by saying "I need to thank my dad first of all, and of course all
of my sponsors". RJ's sponsors are Wollen Racing, Pillsworth Remodeling, B &
B Lawn Service, World of Roofs and "The Handsome" Chad Fegley of The Shop
Inc.

Scott Bivens held the point in his #10 as the Monster Energy Drink IMCA
Modifieds came around the first time in their feature event. He was followed
by Justin Wulf's 86, the 94 of Dan Nelson and the 3W of Stacey Wilhelm.
Wilhelm brought out the first caution of the race when he spun out in 1 and
2. That moved Clint Homan's 27 into fourth. Wulf spun out in turn 4 on the
fifth lap, collecting 2 other racers, as Nelson was moved to the rear of the
field for the contact. That moved the 1R of Matt Richards to second as he
had passed Homan prior to the yellow coming out. He was followed by Homan
and Bob Zoubek's 5S. The next lap saw Homan drop back and Zoubek head to the
pits with a flat. Both Johnny Saathoff in the 96J and Sean Burkland in the
B9 moved past Homan. 3 laps later Burkland moved around Saathoff for third
and then passed Richards the next time around. Saathoff moved into third
with 9 to go, and Homan was sent to the rear after debris from his car
brought out the yellow on the next circuit. Dustin Anderson's 8A stopped in
turn 2 shortly after that. This caused a green/white/checkered finish as the
time limit for the race was fast approaching. The finishing order was
Bivens, Burkland, Saathoff and Richards the top 4.

When asked for comments Scott stated "I really don't know what to say; this
is the first time you've been here to interview me". When reminded of all of
the times he was forced to load a wrecked car, or had to drop out of a
feature race Scott said "I really wasn't expecting to get my first win at
Eagle this year, due to all of the competition we have here. Honestly
there's probably 20 guys capable of winning any night out here. I just can't
believe it". Bivens' sponsors include Circle Track Magazine, Bert
Transmissions and The Fuel Sports Bar.

The next A Main was for the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sports Compacts. Brett
Saathoff took the lead in his #11B followed by Mary Lenz in the 17, Amanda
Rhiley's 51 and the 5 of Larry Cronin. Adam Vrbka wasted no time as he moved
his 7V all the way up to third on lap #2 and Cronin passed Rhiley to remain
fourth. The yellow came out on lap #4 as Trevor Noonan lost his right rear
off of the #66. The order remained unchanged until with 7 to go Vrbka got
around Lenz, following it up by taking the lead the next go-around as
Saathoff fell back. Lenz moved to 2nd with Cronin taking third. Cronin
advanced into second with 4 laps remaining and followed Vrbka to the
checkers with Lenz in third and Jack Prall IV grabbing fourth on the final
lap.

"My car handled really good tonight. I was disappointed last week, because I
thought that I should have won. So, I had to make up for it tonight" Vrbka
said. Adam's sponsors include Eagle Automotive, Big Dan's Auto Body & Pain
and Low Budget Customs.

The Budweiser 360 Sprints were the last feature to be contested on the
night. The worst incident of the evening occured as the field came around
through turns 1 and 2 on lap #1. Ken Klabunde's 28 went through a series of
flips through turn 2, causing the red flag to fly. Thankfully, Klabunde was
unhurt. As the cars came to the line after a complete restart Tadd
Holliman's 23R was at the point with Jack Dover having made a fantastic
charge around the top to grab second, Gage Dorr's 17 in third and the 3 of
Jeff Griffis in fourth. Dover grabbed the lead from Holliman on lap #2.
Griffis moved up to third on the 5th circuit. The yellow was displayed on
lap 6 as Regan Kitchen's 21 and the 44 of Doug Lovegrove came to a halt in
turn 4. One lap after the green flew again Jason Danley came up to fourth.
Two-time defending track champion Mike Boston was on the move also, taking
his 51 sprinter into third with 11 to go as Dover had checked out to over a
1/2 lap lead. That made the running order Dover, Holliman, Boston and
Griffis. Three more laps were in the books when Boston passed Holliman for
second, but before the leaders passed the flag stand Danley spun in turn
four after contact with the 9J of Mark Schmidt. Danley's racer was
sufficiently damaged that it was taken to the pits behind a wrecker. The
restart had 4 lapped cars between Dover and Holliman, giving him clear
sailing. With 7 laps left Josh Riggins advanced his 4J to fourth as Boston
got past Holliman to garner 2nd. Riggins also moved around Holliman on the
last lap as Tige Jensen completed his run from the back, having come from
the B Feature to finish 4th. At the checkers it was Dover, Boston, Riggins,
Jensen and Holliman.

"I want to thank Greg McCormack, Alex Johnson and especially my wonderful
mother and my dad for all of their hard work this weekend. We finished
second behind Terry McCarl last night up in Jackson, Minnesota and then
hauled all the way home so we could run at Eagle tonight. "The car was
really, really good tonight; actually, it was perfect. And the track was in
good condition, considering the wind all day" Dover said. Jack's sponsors
include Thorpe's Body Shop, Homepride, Trail Powder Coating, Eckley Engines,
Eagle Chassis, Butler and Keizer.

Next week will be the first Family Appreciation Night this year with $5
admission for those 5 and up. The U.S. Air Force Monster Truck will be on
display with the Air Force Honor Guard also in attendance. Front gates open
at 5:30 with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7. The Budweiser 360 Sprints,
Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds, Valentino's IMCA Hobby Stocks and Auto
Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts will be featured.

And be sure to come out on Memorial Day May 25th as NASCAR stars Casey
Mears, Dave Blaney, Jimmy Spencer and Rusty Wallace join Casey's father
Roger Mears of Indy 500 fame to compete in 2 Late Model races. Complete
event information can be found at http://www.eagleraceway.com/?page_id=1288
Also racing will be the Monster Energy Drink IMCA Modifieds. This will be a
points race for regional and national IMCA points for the modifieds.