Hudson O’Neal & Kyle Vanover steal the show at Eagle’s High Bank Heist
By Greg Soukup
The heat index was well over 110 Monday as the Lucas Oil Late Models made their way to Eagle Raceway for the Malvern Bank High Bank Heist, but the intensity was far above that!! This was the very first visit by the tour ever and a big crowd braved the heat knowing that this was something incredibly special.
The evening kicked off with time trials for the Late Models. Garrett Alberson set the track 1 lap record with a blazing time of 13.392 seconds. That garnered him the All-star Performance Quick Time Award for the evening.
The preliminary racing saw no serious incidents. Heat race wins in the Late Models went to Garrrett Alberson, Ricky Thornton and Hudson O’Neal. Valentinos IMCA Hobby Stock heats were grabbed by Gary Laflin, Larry Robinson and Jordan Grabouski.
First up was the A Feature for the Lucas Oil Late Models. Hudson O’Neal put the #71 out front of the field on lap 1 with Garrett Alberson’s 58 second, the20RT of Ricky Thornton third and Jonathon Davenport’s 49 in fourth. Clay Harris spun the #6 coming out of turn 4 on lap 2 for a caution. Thornton passed Alberson for second on the restart. Lap 4 saw Davenport also get by Alberson to move up to third. Thornton grabbed the lead the next time around as Daulton Wilson put his 18D into fourth the next lap. O’Neal retook the lead on lap 13 with Wilson advancing to third. As O’neal passed Cory Lawler on lap 22 Lawler slowed, backing up those behind him and spinning out in turn 4 and collecting Wilson. At that time, the top 4 were O’Neal, Thornton, Davenport and the 20 of Jimmy Owens. The ensuing restart was called back when Mike Marlar stowed in turn 2 because the hood on the 157 had flipped up over the windshield. Tim McCreedie took over fourth place on lap 24 in the #1. There were just 6 laps remaining when Dylan Sillman slowed in turn 4 and the yellow lights were lit in the corners. Boom Briggs’ 99B stopped on the front stretch on the restart for yet another caution. Devin Moran moved up to fourth with 3 to go in the 99. It was green from there to the checkers with O’Neal winning, Thornton second, Davenport third and Moran fourth.
O’Neal’s victory came from third on the starting grid and earned him the $10,000 winner’s check. He stated “I don’t think I breathed the last 15 laps!! It was a good race. We got lucky and found the bottom and just kept rolling, rolling, rolling. Ricky passed me on the top that one time and I just tried to stay calm and patient, trying to just run my best and not hurt my tires or anything. We were able to work past the lapped traffic. It turned out to be really, really good and hopefully we’ll be able to build on this win. The track ended up racing really good. It was really fast early for me and ended up with a heck of a feature, and you can’t ask for anything more from the track than what we had. I’m hoping that we can come back”. O’Neal’s sponsors include Sub-Surface of Indiana, Big River Steel, Dyno-One, Wheeler Metals, Professional Concrete Cutting & Drilling, O’Neal’s Salvage & Recycling, Merrill Bonding, Bobcat of Batesville, Bob & Tammy Burton, Indiana USSSA, Bilstein Shock Absorbers, Sunoco Race Fuels, High Performance Lubricants, West Side Tractor Sales, Paragon Speedway, Longhorn Chassis, Slicker Graphics, Schoenfeld Headers, AfterBurner Performance, FK Rod Ends, Hoosier Midwest, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Performance Bodies, Winning Edge Carbs, Winters Rearend, Jones Racing Products, Strange Oval, Behrents, Quick Car, Brown + Miller, Ultra Shield Race Products, LLC, Sharp Advantage Safety Products, LLC, Keyser Manufacturing, Napa of Morgantown, Barnes, Swift Springs, Earnhardt, Tire Demon, Wiles Racing Driveshafts, Simpson Race Products, Buzze Racing, Dirtcarlift, Outerwears, Allstar, Mt. Zion Machine, Midwest Sheet Metal, and Clements Motors.
The A1 Iron IMCA Stock Car Feature saw Kyle Vanover put the #18 out front followed by the 51 of Mike Scheinost, Nate Thompson’s 3 and the 53R of Larry Robinson. The red flag was thrown on lap 6 when Travis Patterson’s 17TK ended up on its side on the backstretch after contact with the 84 of Benji Legg. Also involved were Dan Jackson’s 3 and the 5J of Jakob Boucher. No one was seriously injured, but all 4 went to the pits. The top 4 remained Vanover, Scheinost, Thompson and Robinson. Both Robinson and the 5ELI of Marty Steinbach passed Thompson for third and fourth respectively on lap 8. The yellow flag flew on lap 10as Jerod Bussen stopped in turns 1 and 2. Cole Wayman used the restart to put the 45R into fourth place. Thompson spun to the infield on the back stretch with 8 laps remaining for a caution. Jordan Grabouski passed Wayman on the restart to put the #30 in fourth. Grabouski moved up to third on the restart. Wayman passed Robinson for fourth the next lap. Grabouski took over the second spot with 4 to go and Wayman also passed Scheinost for third. Robinson regained the fourth position the next lap. Vanover held on to win, Grabouski was second, Wayman finished third and Robinson came home fourth.
Kyle is a regular at Eagle Raceway. This was his third victory of the season, and he was all smiles after taking home the top prize for the stock cars in the amount of $1005. He related “It definitely doesn’t hurt to start out front, especially on a track like this. There really wasn’t a defined line where I felt like I needed to be. I didn’t really know where to run, but on that red flag my crew guy said to just keep it rolling. Tonight, the biggest thing was making it out of the heat race. If you drew #90 out of 100 you started in the back row. We made it out of the heat race and had a cool photo finish and that was fun. Obviously I was rewarded to draw the pole. I want to thank Mel for all that he does for the team, especially after a night like last night”. Vanover’s sponsors include Speedway Engines, Cadillac Chassis by Big Johnson, Speedway Shocks, Wichita Dyno, Green’s Furnace and Plumbing, Ron and Deedee Sardeson. Andenbruns Construction, Schlake Farms and Exotic Customs.
This Saturday Speedway Motors and Tommy’s Express present Dirt Track Hero Salute. All drivers will receive a pit pass to use at any remaining event.
After racing concludes there will be a party in the pits for all Eagle Raceway employees and staff. The Melon Bar will be open for the first time this season. Live music will be supplied by Twisted Chrome.
Front gates open at 5:15, hot laps start at 5:30 and racing begins at 6:30. Admission will be $15 for adults, $5 for youths 5-12 and kids 5 and under are free.
Pit gates open at 3:30 with pit passes costing $30.
The Nebraska Septic Sprint Cars, Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, Avid Realty SportMods, A1 Iron Stock Cars & Valentino’s Hobby Stocks will all be in action.
