Clauson, Anderson & Bayne win at the Rumble in the Bullring

A hot August day turned into a warm August night at Eagle Raceway Friday night as Bully Dog presented the 2012 edition of the Rumble in the Bullring, featuring the Amsoil USAC 410 non-winged Sprint Cars. Although there were only 3 classes competing, there was more than enough racing action to keep the fans’ minds off of the temperatures.

Although USAC midgets had previously raced in Nebraska 24 times before, this was the initial visit to the Cornhusker state for the 410 fire-breathers, and the first wingless sprint car racing at America’s Home Track in quite a few years.

Bryan Clauson kicked off the racing action by setting a new track record for the wingless sprinters with a fast time of 13.293 seconds.

The balance of the preliminary events went by without significant incidents. Levi Jones and Tracy Hines won the heat races for the sprint cars.

The first A Feature was for the MARS/NCRA Late Models. Jesse Stovall’s 00S led the first lap followed by the 56 of Tony Jackson Jr., John Anderson’s 2A and the 02 of Tommy Weder Jr. who moved past Anderson on lap 5. Jackson Jr. spun in turn 4 on lap 7, moving the 5J to fourth. The 07 advanced to fourth on lap 8, but was passed by the 22 of Craig Preble the next lap. A car spun in turns 1 & 2 for the first caution of the race on lap 10. The #11M of Brandon Morton rolled over coming out of turn 2 on lap 17 after he, the 77A of Justin Asplin and Jackson Jr. got together. That made the running order Stovall, Anderson, Weder Jr. and Preble. One lap after the restart the yellow flew again for 2 cars spun in turns 1 & 2. Anderson took the lead on lap 22 when Stovall slowed on the front stretch with a flat right rear tire. Clint Benson’s 00B rolled over in turn 1 after getting together with Alonzo Grosse’s 44, moving Kyle Berck’s #14B into fourth position. Berck moved up 1 spot to third on the restart. The 13 car brought out the final caution of the race shortly after that with a spin in turns 1 & 2. The final change in the top 4 came in the final corners of the last lap when Cory Zeitner moved the 26JR into fourth.

“I knew that I had to be patient and just wait my turn to take the lead” Anderson said. “That’s what I did. I just sat back, finally got the lead and my patience won the race” he concluded. Anderson’s sponsors include Shop Quik Racing, Tiger Rear Ends and Marcorp Electric.

The Outlaw Vintage Mod Lite A Main was next on the card. Ryan Colin’s 8, the 51 of Mark Bruder, Taylor Pollack’s 21T and Terry Vontine’s 5-0 were the first 4 back to the flag stand on lap 1. Brad Bayne wasted no time, vaulting the 3B into the 2nd spot on lap 2 as Vontine moved up to third and Pollack fell to fourth. Ben Bohuslavsky passed Pollack for fourth on lap 3, moving his #35 into fourth as Bayne took the lead. Bohuslavsky’s night ended shortly after that when the right front steering broke and he came to a stop at the top of turn 4 on lap 7. The final change in the top four came on the restart when Reed Lundstedt cracked the top 4 in his #55.

After coming all the way from Greeley, Colorado Bayne was all smiles during his interview. “I always wanted to run here at Eagle, and it was everything that I hoped for. Great people, a top-notch safety crew and high banks on a great track” he stated. “I used to live in Norfolk, so I couldn’t wait for the chance to run here” he continued, while flashing his Nebraska tattoo. He finished the interview by relating “I had a great time. Any time you can run high, that’s what I like and where I run best”. Bayne is sponsored by his father’s company, Nunnco Motorsports.

The finale on the evening was for the Amsoil USAC 410 non-winged sprinters. Dave Darland led the pack at the end of lap #1 in his #11 with the 21X of Jon Stanbrough, Chase Stockton’s 32 and the 71P of Justin Grant close behind. Bryan Clauson, running the cushion, moved his #7 into fourth on lap 3 and advanced to third 2 laps later. Lap 8 saw Kevin Thomas, who also had moved to the high line, put the 9K into the fourth spot. Clauson grabbed the lead on lap #10. Stanbrough moved up to second on lap 12. The only caution flag of the race flew on lap 13 when Hunter Schurenberg spun the #35 in turns 1 & 2. Thomas advanced to third on lap 16 and then took second 2 circuits later. From there to the finish Clauson was never headed, holding a straight-away lead at times. At the checkers it was Clauson, Thomas, Stanbrough and Darland.

“This was a great night! Coming from 6th to win against these guys is always nice” Clauson related. “It was an awesome track, and this is one of the best all-around facilities I’ve ever raced at. There was 2 great grooves; the track just speaks for itself” he said. Clauson’s sponsors include Curb, RW Motorsports and R & B Truckers.

Tonight the regular weekly action continues as Colby Ridge presents Junior Fan Club & Super Scout Night at Eagle Raceway. There will be free front gate admission for scouts in uniform. Front gates open and hot laps begin at 5:30 with front gate admission being $10 for adults, $5 for youths 6-12 and children 5 & under free. The Boy Scouts of America Cornhusker Council will be in the courtyard from 5:30 until 6:30, Happy D Klown will be on hand from 5:30 ‘til 7:30, and there will be kids car rides during intermission. Super Happy Hour will feature Miller Lite from 6 until 7. It is also Kick Ball Night. The first 250 kids to visit the Colby Ridge Junior Fan Club table will receive a free kick ball.

Pit gates open at 4 P.M. with pit passes costing $20.

AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: August 3, 2012 – Eagle, Nebraska – Eagle Raceway -“Rumble in the Bullring”

QUALIFYING: 1. Bryan Clauson, 7, CTR/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-13.293; 2. Justin Grant, 71p Phillips-13.376; 3. Kevin Thomas Jr., 9k, Black Jack-13.449; 4. Jon Stanbrough, 21x, Roberts/Tate-13.461; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-13.475; 6. Dave Darland, 11, Walker-13.487; 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-13.506; 8. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG-13.553; 9. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-13.593; 10. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-13.616; 11. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-13.658; 12. Stu Snyder, 21s, Snyder-13.967; 13. Jeff Lowery, 45, Lowery-14.186; 14. Roger Sluka, 29X, Sluka-14.433; 15. Brandon Stevenson, 0, Stevenson-14.465; 16. Joe Boyles, 4F, Boyles-15.240.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Thomas, 3. Clauson, 4. Boespflug, 5. Stockon, 6. Schuerenberg, 7. Lowery, 8. Stevenson. 1:53.44

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Hines, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Ballou, 4. Darland, 5. Grant, 6. Snyder, 7. Sluka, 8. Boyles. 1:53.00

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Kevin Thomas Jr., 3. Jon Stanbrough, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Levi Jones, 6. Chase Stockon, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. Justin Grant, 11. Chad Boespflug, 12. Brandon Stevenson, 13. Jeff Lowery, 14. Roger Sluka, 15. Stu Snyder, 16. Joe Boyles. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Darland, Laps 11-30 Clauson.

NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Stanbrough-1,262, 2-Jones-1,248, 3-Darland-1,172, 4-Clauson-1,084, 5-Damion Gardner-1,010, 6-Hineds-995, 7-Thomas-945, 8-Schuerenbverg-932, 9-Ballou-929, 10-Stockon-927.