Beatrice Spring Nationals This Weekend

BEATRICE, Neb. (March 14) - IMCA's version of March Madness is on track this weekend at Beatrice Speedway.

Basketball takes a back seat to dirt track racing as nearly 150 entries are already in hand for the 19th annual Spring Nationals. Drivers representing eight states hit the highway enroute to Beatrice for the season-opening special.

Feature events are on Friday and Saturday, March 16-17 race programs for IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars, Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMods and IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks.

Mach-1 Sport Compacts vie in a single main event on Saturday.

The updated list of pre-entered Spring Nationals drivers, as of Wednesday morning, included:

IMCA Modifieds -

Mike Albertsen of Audubon, Iowa; Bubba Alvarado of Kersey, Colo.; Brent Alverson of Oskaloosa, Kan.; Chad Andersen of Fort Calhoon; Dustin Anderson, Bill Bader II and Larry Goertz, all of Omaha; Lance Arneson and Kyle Lentz, both of Green Bay, Wis.; Bob Aspenleiter and Zach Schultz, both of North Platte; Clayton Christensen of Spencer, Iowa; Troy Cordes of Dunkerton, Iowa; Brian Cudly and Mike Densberger, both of Lincoln; Brian Foote of Essex, Iowa; Jeremy Frenier and Brett Smith, both of Fort Morgan, Colo.; Jordan Grabouski, Dan Nelson and Johnny Saathoff, all of Beatrice; Andrew Hille of Hickman; Kyle Krampe of Baxter, Iowa; Jim Krupicka of Denton; Cole LaMontagne of Bismarck, N.D.; Jim Lynch of Bloomfield, Iowa; Darren Meinke of Crete; Chris Mills of Sioux City, Iowa; Jordy Nelson of Marysville, Kan.; Steve Reynolds of Springfield, S.D.; Randy Sandvick of Killdeer, N.D.; Scott Smith of Davenport; Jon Snyder of Ames, Iowa; Rick Speck of Garwin, Iowa; Ricky Stephan of South Sioux City; Mike Van Genderen of Newton, Iowa; Jeff Welsh of Abilene, Kan.; Andy Wilkinson of York; and Bob Zoubek of Dorchester.

Stock Cars -
Andrew Altenburg of Truman, Minn.; Tony Arnold of Sloan, Iowa; Wes Baier of Max Bass, N.D.; Cody Clark of Yorktown, Iowa; Greg Deters, Eric Weyer and Leif Weyer, all of Centralia, Kan.; Michael Jaennette of Newton, Iowa; Trent Jeanes of Chariton, Iowa; Michael Murphy and Trent Murphy, both of Jefferson, Iowa; Darin Racek of Lexington; Ernie Reiss, Kyle Vanover and Lisa Wagner, all of Beatrice; Todd Reitzler of Grinnell, Iowa; Jay Schmidt of Tama, Iowa; Jesse Taylor of Fort Morgan, Colo.; Dustin Wannarka of Winnebago, Minn.; Jedrek Williams of Deshler; Bill Wood of Mahaska, Kan.; and Elijah Zevenbergen of Ocheyedan, Iowa.

Hobby Stocks -
Adam Armstrong, Roy Armstrong, Travis Blythe, Ryan Gillard, Jacob Harms, Mark Saathoff and Brent Schlake, all of Beatrice; Benjamin Arvdal and Brendon Stigge, both of Fairbury; Brandon Baker of Omaha; David Carter of Fremont; Keith Dragoo, Thom Marsh and Shane Slezak, all of Lincoln; Roy Eakins of Grinnell, Iowa; Mike Hansen of Weeping Water; Jeremy Hoskinson of Norfolk; Scott Husted of Sioux City, Iowa; Mike Johnston of Des Moines, Iowa; Austin Luellen of Minburn, Iowa; Jason McIntyre of Colby, Kan.; Blain Petersen of Essex, Iowa; Scott Pippert of Elberon, Iowa; Brandon Pruitt of Dexter, Iowa; and Brandon Wergin of Milford.

Northern SportMods -
Shelly Anderson, Derek Hall, Trevor Noonan, Jeremy Noonan, Jeremy Peckham, Don Rinke and Joe Schidler, all of Lincoln;
Denny Berghahn of Plattsmouth; Alvie Christofferson of St. Joseph, Mo.; Jayme Duinink of Pella, Iowa; Scott Eaton of York; Tyler Frye of Belleville, Kan.; Ethyn Hafner of Abilene, Kan.; Max Harder of Blue Springs; Tyler Heetland of Bancroft, Iowa; Nick Hermsen of Omaha; Cody Hillgartner of Harlan, Iowa; Todd Holliman of Beaver Lake; Racer Hulin of Laurel, Iowa; Daniel Jackson of Crete; Logan Jessen of Blair; Jeff Jones, Sean Tyson and Glenn Tyson, all of Council Bluffs, Iowa; Randy Krampe of Baxter, Iowa; Brian Langdale of Beatrice; Mary Lenz of Elmwood; Jerad Little of Malcolm; Brett Lowry of Montezuma, Iowa; Ty Luellen and Clinton Luellen, both of Minburn, Iowa; Greg Metz of Washington, Kan.; Kyle Olberding of Seneca, Kan.; Blain Petersen of Essex, Iowa; Kyle Prauner of Norfolk; Mike Pruitt of Redfield, Iowa; Josh Pruitt of Dexter, Iowa; Kevin Schmidt and Dustin Schmidt, both of Fairbury; Ben Schlutze of Algona, Iowa; Jesse Sobbing of Glenwood, Iowa; and Nelson Vollbrecht of Stanton.

Sport Compacts -
Chad Bassinger of Nebraska City; Aaron Betz of Avoca, Minn.; Justice Colson of Grand Island; Jeff Davis, Kevin Fearing, Josh Johnson, Kenneth Roberts and Travis Wray, all of Lincoln; Cory Flanigan of Lakeside, Iowa; Tyler Fralin and Nick Lindblad, both of Beatrice; Jason Kroeger of Manilla, Iowa; Brandon Lobdell of Salina, Kan.; Cameron Meyer of Pierce; Matt Moyer of Gretna; Dustin O'Brien of Carroll, Iowa; Allen Rice of Minneapolis, Kan.; Scott Spellmeier of Marysville, Kan.; Jordan Uehling of Norfolk; and Kevin Zeitner of Bellevue.

Modifieds features pay $1,500 to win and are Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifying events. Stock Cars and Northern SportMods both race for $400 to win, Hobby Stocks for $300 and Sport Compacts for a $200 top prize.

IMCA Speedway Motors Weekly Racing national, regional and Allstar Performance State points will be given both nights.

An open practice for all divisions runs from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday, March 15. Pit passes are $10 for that session and $25 for Friday and Saturday shows.

Pit gates open at 4:30 p.m. Friday, with hot laps at 6 p.m. and racing at 7 p.m. On Saturday, gates open at 2:30 p.m., hot laps are at 5 p.m. and racing is at 6 p.m.

Grandstand admission each race night is $14 for adults and $5 for kids 6 - 10 5 & Under FREE.

More information about Spring Nationals is available from promoter Toby Kruse at 515 231-5444 or Beatrice Speedway Business Office 402-223-3158

Rain date is Sunday, March 18.