Interview with 2022 Track Champion Jordan Grabouski, COUNTDOWN-6 Days till Raceday!
By Greg Soukup
This time I got to interview a young man whose name is familiar to all dirt track fans, both locally and around the country, Jordan Grabouski. He took home the crown in 2 divisions at Eagle Raceway last year, topping the points in both the Nebraska Lottery Modifieds and the A1 Iron Stock Cars.
I kidded him when we spoke, saying he was greedy as always; referring to the several times he won both divisions in a single night. I laughed and he laughed along. He also had won both divisions at Beatrice Speedway on the way to winning the national points in the Modified. “It wasn’t easy, believe me! With the competition around here, it was a fight”.
I mentioned that he was either winning or at least right up front in the mix for the victory and he stated “We had a really good year, especially at Eagle. We had a phenomenal year there!”.
We talked about last time’s interviewee Dillon Richards becoming a part of Grabouski Racing and he related “He is. We kind of joined forces a little bit and he’ll run one of our stock cars this year. We’re excited about that. It’s good to have a little bit of young blood on the team. I don’t know how much I will be able to race anymore, but Dillon will make more of the races than I will. It takes young guys to keep our sport rocking and rolling! I talked to John Saathoff the other day and he told me that he was turning 60 this year and that made me feel old because I remember when he turned 40! I was working for him at the time and remember the day it happened”.
I told him that he was always consistent whether in a modified or a stock car and then asked him what made him so successful in both classes. “I think a lot of it is the fact that I’ve been racing since I was 11 years old. That’s a lot of years. It’s not John Saathoff years, but it’s still a lot of years. I’ve had great mentors too. Lots of laps around Eagle Raceway and other tracks”. All told, Jordan has taken home 6 national championships, 5 in the modified class and 1 in the stock car class.
I noted that he had a lot of great people on his crew as well as great sponsors. “Absolutely!!“ he said. “I’ve got a lot of good people who help me out, including lots that have been with me since I started racing and that means a lot to me. My crew guys like Josh, Merle, Durham and Scooter along with my wife and kids are all a big part of my racing. Big time sponsors like Twin Rivers, Friesen Crate Engines and Integra Racing Shocks by CPD really help as well”.
When asked about his plans he said “No set in stone plans. We’re just going to go race around and see what happens in both the stock car and modified. We also plan on racing a couple of late model races this year and that will be a lot of fun. We plan on being out at Eagle the 1st of April, God and weather willing”.
April 1st of course is the Topless Late Model Nationals presented by Leiting Motorsports. The night will feature all 3 classes Topless Nebraska Lottery Modifieds, topless Avid Realty Sportmods and Topless Late Models are on the card. All cars will be without roofs, allowing the fans to see right into the car as the drivers battle it out on the high banks of Eagle Raceway.
Front gates open at 4:45. Admission is $18 for those 13 and up, $5 for kids 6-12 and children 5 and under free.
Pit gates open at 3:00 with pit fees being $35.
