Eagle: Hanson, Smith, Thornton and Dover take home wins

By Greg Soukup

June 14th, 2009

Saturday night was “Fan with a can” night at “America’s Home Track” Eagle Raceway, and the track was lightning quick thanks to the diligence of Eagle’s track prep crew following yesterday’s rains. As a testament to that Trevor Grossenbacher broke the track record set just 1 week before by Tige JensEn. Grossenbacher turned a lap on the 1/3-mile high banks in 11.815 seconds in the first Budweiser 360 sprint heat.

Mike Simpson was unable to back up his win the previous evening at Beatrice as his night ended when his #63 IMCA Sport Compact rolled in turn 2 during his B Feature.

The first A Feature saw the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks competing. Eric Hanson was at the point in his #33 at the end of the first lap followed by the 23 of Mark McKinney, Josh Kennell’s 71K and RJ Macku’s 1R. The first of 4 yellow flags flew on lap 2 when the 6B of Travis Burger stopped on the entrance road to the pits. Kennell was sent to the rear of the field for having spun McKinney to the infield that lap. Hanson was still in first with Macku in second, Joe Ryan’s 32 in third and the 94 of Mike Hansen in fourth. On lap 6 Dan Jackson’s 98 slowed to stop in turn 1 and the yellow flag was displayed, but not before Kevin Anderson moved up to the fourth spot in his #22K. Anderson overtook Ryan on the restart. There was another yellow as a car stopped sideways in turn 2 on lap 9. With 6 laps left Jesse Vanlaningham came up to fourth in his #72. The next lap the 12 of Dan Noonan brought out the last yellow of the race when his #12 stopped on the entrance road to the pits. Despite heated battles for the top four positions, they remained unchanged to the finish. Hanson managed to hold the lead to the checkers with Macku, Anderson and Vanlaningham close behind. Hanson had to be taken to the tech area as he lost a tire on the cool-down lap.

Hanson could not be located for an interview.

The Monster IMCA Modifieds were next on the track. Dustin Anderson’s 8A was first back to the flag stand with the S56 of Scott Bivens, Lance Borgman’s 76 and Dan Nelson in the 94 in hot pursuit. Lap 3 saw Bivens snare the lead and Nelson move up to third. The next circuit Borgman overtook Nelson, only to relinquish the spot back to Nelson on lap 6. Bob Zoubek also passed Borgman that lap to grab fourth. Dylan Smith shot past both Borgman and Zoubek on lap 7, making the running order Bivens, Anderson, Smith and Nelson. The race’s first caution happened on lap 9 as the 07 of Tony Orender spun in turns 1 & 2. Smith used the restart to grab second and then went past Bivens for the lead the next time around. Zoubek moved up to third on the next lap and Jordan Grabouski advanced to fourth the lap after. Doug Deterding’s 13 lost a wheel & tire on the front stretch with 6 to go and the yellow flag was out again. Zoubek and Grabouski both moved up a spot on the restart. Nelson got back to fourth with 5 laps left. The yellow came out again with 3 to go as the 16B of Randy Brown, Mike Boston in the 30B and Justin Wulf’s 86 spun coming out of turn #4. Grabouski moved around Zoubek on the restart lap and the top 4 remained unchanged to the checkers.

“I just missed all the spins and wrecks and moved up to the front slowly. I managed to hold on for the win even though my right upper A-arm broke with just a few laps left. Thanks for this win go to Grandpa and Grandma, Mom and Dad, my car owners Mike & Lisa Goecke, Damian & Joni and all of my sponsors” Dylan said. Dylan concluded the interview by relating “Roger and the crew gave us another good, fast, racy track tonight”. Dylan’s sponsors include Jet Racing, Active Life Family Chiropractic, Marquardt Plumbing, Cappy’s Hot Spot Bar and Grill, KRE Enterprises and Eckley Racing Engines.

The Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts took to the track next. John Irvine’s 97 held the lead on the first lap, Jeff Davis’ 32 was in second and Brandon Thornton’s 21T and the 18K of Barry Kinnersley rounded out the top 4. Thornton, Kinnersley and Matt Moyer’s 29 all passed Davis on lap 2, moving up to 2nd through 4th. Bob Cigelman’s 95C stopped in turn 2 on the 3rd lap for the first caution. Elliot Halvorsen’s 22 spun in turn 2 with 12 laps left. After the laps reverted it took Thornton just 2 laps to snare the point as Jeremy Noonan flew up to fourth in the 33. 2 laps later Garrett Rech’s #55 hit the turn 1 wall and the yellow came out again. Noonan passed Kinnersley for third with 10 to go and Kinnersley fell from the top 4 two laps later when Joey Danley advanced his #14 to fourth. With 5 to go Noonan got around Irvine for second and Danley also passed Irvine 2 laps later. At the finish it was Thornton, Noonan, Danley and Irvine. Noonan was disqualified after the IMCA techs found that he did not have 4 matching wheels during the post-race inspection. The DQ moved Kinnersley up to fourth.

“I need to thank my wife and kids first of all. My son can’t think of much besides that big check. It’s nice to get things together after flipping early in the year and then missing the feature the last 2 weeks” Brandon related. “Also, I want to thank Roger and the crew for giving us a great track to race on tonight” he continued. When asked about sponsors Brandon stated “I don’t have any, but in case there’s anyone out there looking to sponsor a car we’d be thrilled to have them”.

The A Main for the Budweiser 360 Sprints finished out the evening’s festivities. The racing was brought to a quick halt shortly after the green when the red flag flew after Bobby Becker’s 8B got together with the 3 of Jeff Griffis coming to the flag stand, resulting in Griffis flipping along the front stretch wall. Becker’s car was able to be pushed to his pit, but Griffis’ racer was damaged too severely to continue. Gage Dorr in the 17, Trevor Grossenbacher’s 35, Ken Klabunde’s 28 and the 14G of Gene Acklund held the top 4 spots. The action was again halted on the restarted lap 2 when Jay Jordan spun the 19J to the infield in turn 2. Grossenbacher began his charge when he passed Dorr on the restart and set sail, moving to nearly a straightaway lead. Lap 6 saw Dan Wayman’s #5 get high going into turn 1 and hit the wall hard, resulting in a rollover. Grossenbacher came around as Wayman’s sprinter came to a stop on it’s wheels, but was unable to stop before hitting Wayman. The new track record holder’s sprinter was damaged too severely to be repaired and he was through for the evening. That put Dorr back in the lead with Klabunde second, Acklund third and the 23R of Tadd Holliman in fourth. Jack Dover had come up from his 6th row starting position to grab fourth from Holliman with 12 to go. Dover advanced to third the next lap and then to 2nd the next time around. It took Dover only 2 more laps to grab the lead from Dorr, a lead which he would not relinquish to the end of the race. The final finish was Dover, Klabunde, the 88 of Mike Boston who had to come through the B and Dorr.

“Knoxville had a lot of rain yesterday, so we made Eagle our back-up plan in case they rained out and they did. My beautiful mother’s birthday is tomorrow, and all she wanted for a present was to see me win tonight. I guess I didn’t have much choice but to give her what she wanted” Jack said. He concluded by stating “I owe this win to my crew, Alex Johnson and Greg McCormick. And I need to thank my mom and dad again, for making all of this possible”. Jack’s sponsors include Trail Performance, Thorpe’s Body Shop, Home Pride, ATV Motorsports, Eckley Racing Engines and Eagle Chassis.

A Father’s Day Tribute will be held next Saturday night at Eagle with a present to the first 300 fathers through the front gate. There will also be spectator drags at intermission. Pits open at 4:00 with the front gate swinging open at 5:30 and racing at 7:00. The Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts, Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks and Budweiser 360 sprints will be racing.

It’s less than 3 weeks away from the World of Outlaws Sprint Car event sponsored by Sailor Jerry’s Spiced Rum at America’s Home Track. Tickets are available by calling (402) 238-2595 and may also be purchased at the track every Saturday evening.

RESULTS

360 Sprint 6/13/2009

A Feature:1. Jack Dover, 2. Ken Klabunde (Omaha, NE), 3. Mike Boston (Crete, NE), 4. Gage Dorr (Elmwood, NE), 5. Tadd Holliman (Beaver Lake, NE), 6. Gene Ackland (Lincoln, NE), 7. Doug Lovegrove Racing Inc (Waverly, NE), 8. Tige Jensen (Lincoln, NE), 9. Terry Holliman (Hamburg, IA), 10. John Klabunde (Fort Calhoun, NE), 11. Jeff Lowery (Lincoln, NE), 12. Mark Schmidt (Lincoln, NE), 13. JAY JORDAN (Lincoln, NE), 14. Roger Sluka (Lincoln, NE), 15. NICK CLIFFORD (Elkhorn, NE), 16. Josh Riggins (Lincoln, NE), 17. Trevor Grossenbacher (Holland, NE), 18. Dan Wayman (Lincoln, NE), 19. Bobby Jr Becker (Denton, NE), 20. Jeff Griffis (Council Bluffs, IA)

IMCA Hobby Stock 6/13/2009

A Feature:1. Eric Hanson (Scribner, NE), 2. Randall Macku (Lincoln, NE), 3. Kevin Anderson (Lincoln, NE), 4. Jesse Vanlaningham (Beatrice, NE), 5. Adam Armstrong (Beatrice, NE), 6. Derick Noonan (Lincoln, NE), 7. Ben Becher (Lincoln, NE), 8. Kevin Jochum (Roca, NE), 9. Rob Brown (Nebraska City, NE), 10. Nick Beckman (Lincoln, NE), 11. Josh Kennell (Bennet, NE), 12. Mike Goldfuss (Dwight, NE), 13. Mark McKinney (Omaha, NE), 14. Joe Ryan (Lincoln, NE), 15. Roy Armstrong (Beatirce, NE), 16. Keith Dragoo (Lincoln, NE), 17. Dan Noonan (Lincoln, NE), 18. Mike Hansen (Weeping Water, NE), 19. Dan Jackson (Crete, NE), 20. Travis Burger (Tecumseh, NE)

IMCA Modified 6/13/2009

A Feature:1. Dylan Smith (Osceola, NE), 2. Jordan Grabouski (Beatrice, NE), 3. Bob Zoubek (Dorchester, NE), 4. Dan Nelson (Beatrice, NE), 5. Lance Borgman (Beatrice, NE), 6. Matt Richards (Lincoln, NE), 7. Stacey Wilhelm (Martell, NE), 8. Scott Bivens (Ceresco, NE), 9. Chad Andersen (Omaha, NE), 10. Johnny Saathoff (Beatrice, NE), 11. Rik Gropp (Lincoln, NE), 12. Lacey Tuttle (Elmwood, NE), 13. Tony Orender (Lincoln, NE), 14. Dustin Andersen (Omaha, NE), 15. Randy Brown (Chowchilla, CA), 16. Mike Boston (Crete, NE), 17. Doug Deterding (Lincoln, NE), 18. Justin Wulf (Arlington, NE), 19. Chris Alcorn (Lincoln, NE), 20. Clint Homan (Bellevue, NE)

IMCA Sport Compact 6/13/2009

A Feature:1. Brandon Thornton (Nebraska City, NE), 2. JOEY DANLEY (Lincoln, NE), 3. John Irvine (Omaha, NE), 4. Barry Kinnersley (LaVista, NE), 5. Matt Moyer (Gretna, NE), 6. Amanda Rhiley (Bennington, NE), 7. Jack Prall III (Union, NE), 8. Jack Prall IV (Union, NE), 9. Brian Haller (Lincoln, NE), 10. Tyler Saathoff (Lincoln, NE), 11. Elliott Halvorsen (Eagle, NE), 12. Nick Lindblad (Beatrice, NE), 13. NIC HITZ (Lincoln, NE), 14. John Sedlachek (Eagle, NE), 15. Mary Lenz (Elmwood, NE), 16. Jeff Davis (Lincoln)