Pike, Berry, Andrews, Stutzman & Carter win at Jr Fan Club Night

Story by Greg Soukup

Photos by Joe Orth

A large crowd braved mid-90’s heat to enjoy an evening of racing Saturday night at Eagle Raceway as Village Pointe Toyota and Great Clips presented Junior Fan Club Night. At intermission $1500 in coins was spread out across the front stretch thanks to Village Pointe Toyota and Verbeek Racing/One Shot Auto Repair. All kids in attendance 12 and under were divided into three age groups and were then allowed to scramble to grab as much of the loot as possible. This is an annual event held at Eagle Raceway and is always a crowd favorite.

The racing was awesome as always, but 2 of the A Feature finishes were definitely for the record books as far as excitement.

There were no serious incidents throughout the evening’s competition.

The A1 Iron IMCA Stock Car A Main’s first circuit was led by Jeremy Down in the 6 followed by Bob Ruisinger’s 7, the 3AM of Dan Jackson and Dylan Haney in the 12X. Shane Stutzman made a huge move on lap 2, vaulting all the way up to second in the 22s with Matt Boucher’s 5B taking third and Jackson holding onto fourth. Boucher got past Stutzman the next time around and Marty Steinbach put the 5ELI into third as Stutzman dropped back to fourth. Nick Beckman got past Stutzman on lap 4 to put the 22 into fourth. Boucher grabbed the lead from Down on lap 7. The first caution of the race came with 9 to go when Jerod Bussen looped the 71JJ in turn 2. Stutzman used the restart to once again move to second. 2 laps later Brandon Conkwright took over the fourth spot in the #24. Stutzman got around Boucher with 6 laps to go for the lead. There were just 5 circuits left when Ruisinger spun out in turn 4. Dillon Richards passed Conkwright for third with 2 to go. The top 4 remained unchanged with Stutzman winning, Boucher second, Steinbach third and Richards fourth. Steinbach failed post-race tech inspection and was disqualified. That moved Richards to third and Conkwright to fourth.

Stutzman left without being interviewed.

The Avid Realty IMCA Sportmod feature saw Breanna Pfanstiel put the 33B out front with the 31R of James Hines, Lauren Cook’s 7X and Dana Deeke in the 36 rounding out the top 4. Lap 2 saw Hines pass Pfansteil for the lead as McLain Reed jumped the 44 up to third, putting Cook into fourth. Hines got extremely high in turns 3 & 4 on lap 4, falling back to third and allowing Reed to grab the lead with Pfansteil holding onto second and Cook in fourth. Noah Williams moved up to third on lap 5 in the 27W as Matt Andrews took over the fourth spot. Williams then advanced to second the next time around with Andrews grabbing second. One more lap was in the books when Andrews passed Williams for second. There were 10 circuits remaining when Andrews moved to the lead but the pass was negated when debris was spotted in turn 4. Andrews got past Reed for the lead on the restart.1 lap after the restart Adam Armstrong advanced to fourth in the 6A. Andrews began stretching out his lead to a straightaway until Trevor Noonan looped the #66 in turn four, bringing out a green/white/checkered finish and bunching up the field. Armstrong moved up to third on the restart. The final change in the top 4 came on the final lap when Reed fell off the pace. The top 4 were Andrews, Armstrong, Williams and Adam Vrbka moving up to fourth in the 7v.

This was Matt’s fourth win at Eagle this year, coming from 11th at the start. He stated “The first lap I didn’t bide my time and the middle opened up, so I shot it. I got into a couple of guys and we sandwiched each other. After that, I decided to run a line that I liked. I couldn’t get in on the top of 1 & 2; I think I was a little too snug. I tried it a couple of times but didn’t like it so I moved back to the bottom and tried to work my way through and pick them off one at a time”. Matt’s sponsors include John Bonta Skytop Towers, Raymond Contracting, Big Red Lawn Care, JM Billiards, All Pro, PBS Rentals and Strategic EMS.

Next up on the high banks was the finale for the Nebraska Lottery IMCA Modifieds. Rookie Brett Berry put the 09B in the lead of lap 1 with the 12 of Reed Payne, Nate Thompson’s 3T and the 3J of Jeremy Back in hot pursuit. Cole Wayman’s 18W came to a halt in turn 1 on lap 3 and was towed back to the pits. Thompson moved past Payne for second on the restart and Shawn Harker took over the fourth spot in the 40. Harker advanced to third the next lap with Payne falling to fourth. Anthony Roth passed Payne the next time around to advance to fourth. Harker took over the second spot on lap 6. Roth moved up to third with 8 to go. Chad Andersen took over the fourth position with four to go and moved to third 2 laps later The top 4 were Berry, Harker, Andersen and Roth.

This was Berry’s first ever win at Eagle Raceway in this, his rookie season in a modified. He said “The track was really good and the track had a little character. This is my rookie year and just my second time ever being here at Eagle. To be able to run around with some of these guys that I watched race all my entire life, and to pull off a win I couldn’t be more thankful! I just tried to hit my marks and keep my head on my shoulders and it paid off”. Brett’s sponsors include Augie’s Repair and Towing- Cole Pfeifer, B.A.M. Beauty- Zach and Bri McLaughlin, Braxton Berry, Capital Signs, C&H Construction, Gearhead INC- Gordon and Tiffany French, G5 Farms- Curt Gabel, Hunter Well Service- Jeff Hunter, Jamie Miller, L&A Trucking, Midstate Machines, Mom and Dad, Rage Chassis , Richie and Meg Berry and 21H Motorsports.

I told you earlier about 2 fantastic A Feature finishes, well here they are!!

Tyler Smith’s 22, the 00J of John Martinez, Tanner Dowty in the 7T and Dave Carter’s 2C were the first four back to the flag stand on lap 1 of the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock A. Tyler Jackson made a big move on lap 2, jumping up to third in the 13T. Dowty spun out in turns 3 & 4 on lap 2 for a caution. That made the top 4 Smith, Martinez, Jackson and Carter. The 62 of Sam Blanton and Dowty spun in turns 1 & 2 on the restart, slowing the action. Dowty spun on lap 4, heading into the infield and hitting the implement tire guarding the turn 2 light pole for yet another caution. Carter advanced to third on the restart but lost the spot back to Jackson the next lap. The next circuit saw Ryan Gilland pass both Jackson and Carter to take over third with Jackson falling back to fourth. Gilland advanced to second the next time around. Jackson regained the third spot with 10 to go. 2 laps later there was debris on the track, bringing out the caution flag again. Carter moved back up to fourth with 7 circuits left but lost the spot to Martinez 2 laps later. Smith spun out at the bottom of turn 2 after Gilland made contact with him. Gilland was sent to the rear of the field for rough driving. Jackson was in first, Martinez in second, Carter third and Adam Wasserman held fourth in the 41. A big pileup in turns 3 & 4 with just 3 laps left saw the 53T of Trenton Dowty, Jeff Watts’ 66, Tanner Dowty and the 39 of Khrysta Stransky coming to a halt. The competition had been fierce the entire race and the final laps were to be no exception, and the decision was made that the next flag would end the race. As the white flag was displayed Martinez attempted a big move, sliding from the bottom of the racetrack to the top but failing to clear him. He collided hard with Jackson and in the ensuing melee both of them spun out, Brad Schreiner’s 10 contacted Jackson and ended up smacking the front stretch wall and collecting Watts. Officials determined that since Gilland caused the last caution that he would be scored last. After review, Carter was determined to have crossed the finish line first with Wasserman second, the 26L of Brint Lemke third and Neil Pella’s 3N fourth.

When I caught up to Dave I told him ‘Better lucky than good’ to which he replied “Yeah! I got lucky tonight for sure. When the accident happened I just kept in the gas and snuck in for the win. I was just running the bottom and hoping that I didn’t get collected, kept in the gas and barely snuck through. I hope that everyone is okay, but I’ll take it”. Dave’s sponsors include Village Pointe Toyota, T3 Fabrications and Baker Boys Suspension.

The last event of the evening was the A Feature for the Twin Rivers IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars. Clint Benson put the 100 out front of lap 1 with Chase Weiler’s 0 second, Alex Davenport in the 25A third and the 23 of Brandon Bosma in fourth. Bosma and Gunnar Pike in the 25 both passed Davenport on lap 2 for third and fourth. Bosma continued his march to the front, moving up to third on lap 3. Pike then also passed Weiler to take over third the next circuit. Cole Vanderheiden got past Weiler for fourth on lap 8 but lost the position to Tyler Drueke’s #12 on lap 12. Bosma took over the lead the next lap. Pike advanced to second with 5 to go, with Drueke moving up to third the following circuit. With Bosma and Pike running low in 1 & 2 while Drueke ran the top it was going to be a fantastic battle over the final 3 laps. Unfortunately, the battle was temporarily suspended when a 4 car pileup happened in turns 1 & 2 with just 2 laps left with Vanderheiden, Gene Ack;land’s 14G, the 14J of Josh Riggins and the 77 of Bret Klabunde all coming to a halt. With the way that the top 3 had been running, it was sure to be a great Green/White/Checkered finish. The finish was put off a little longer as Ryan Kitchen’s 21 slowed to a halt in turn 3 on the restart. That just heightened the anticipation for the final 2 circuits. Coming out of turn 4 for the final time with Pike low and Bosma up high on the track the 2 got together coming to the checkered flag with Pike eking out a miniscule lead at the flag stand. Pike, Bosma, Drueke and Benson were the final top 4.

This was Pike’s very first Eagle Raceway sprint car victory after having won the sportmod championship a few years ago. He was still out of breath when I caught up with him but wearing a smile the size of his top wing. He said “This was a long, long, long, long, long, long time coming! I really don’t know what to say right now. The car was really great all night. We won the heat race and then the feature. That caution with 2 to go killed me. Once we got going, the bottom cleaned out really good but it was tough. I’m kind of speechless right now. The car was running pretty hot before that last caution; we got going and it got hotter and on the second restart it just wouldn’t go. Once we got going it was fine, but there was only so much we could do. That final corner was pretty entertaining. I wasn’t sure who got it and then I looked up at the screen and saw that we had won”. Gunnar’s sponsors include Taylored Computers, S&L Trenching LLC, Avid Realty, Grass Assassins, Larson Motors, VOG Performance, Meyers Racing Engines, Maxim Chassis, Continental Battery Systems and Trevor Window Wings.

Next Saturday is Freedom Fest, presented by A1 Iron and Twin Rivers. Front gates open at 5:15 with adult front gate admission is $15, youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free. All 5 classes will be competing including the Twin Rivers Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, A1 Iron Stock Cars & Valentino’s Hobby Stocks. Track, State, Regional & National Points for all classes.

Hot laps kick off at 5:30 with racing at 6:30.

Pit gates open at 3:45 with pit admission being $30.

RESULTS:

Hobby Stock-IMCA A-Feature

1. David Carter Fremont, Ne. 2. Adam Wasserman Fairbury, Ne. 3. Brint Lemke Lincoln, Ne. 4. Neil Pella Adams, Ne. 5. Trenton Dowty Fremont, Ne. 6. Brad Schreiner Weeping Water, Ne. 7. Khrysta Stransky Lincoln, Ne. 8. Ryan Gilland Sterling, Ne. 9. Tyler Jackson Lincoln, Ne. 10. Jeff Watts Beatrice, Ne. 11. John Martinez Beatrice, Ne. 12. Tanner Dowty Fremont, Ne. 13. Tyler Smith Sioux City, Ia. 14. Ian Roschewski Beatrice, Ne. 15. Troy Dowty Fremont, Ne. 16. Kyle Gannon Lincoln, Ne. 17. Sam Blanton Bellevue, Ne.