By Greg Soukup
EAGLE, Neb. (April 20-21) – Defending track champion Shane Hiatt raced his way to victory lane on opening night of Eagle Raceway’s Ice Breaker Challenge.
Former track champion Jordan Grabouski accomplished the feat twice on night two.
Hiatt earned $1,000 and a Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot berth along with Friday’s IMCA Modified main event. Grabouski, already on the ballot, was best in Saturday’s $2,000 to win headliner and pocketed another $500 for winning the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature.
The leader from the drop of the Friday night green, Hiatt ran ahead of Mike Densberger much of the distance before his challenger pulled into the infield with five circuits left.
After a couple late restarts, Hunter Marriott wrestled the second spot from Grabouski. Dylan Smith and Eddie Belec completed the top five.
Saturday featured another field filled with heavy hitters as Grabouski had to take the front spot away from Marriott and hold on.
The laps 12 laps saw Marriott try both high and low grooves but to no avail. Ricky Thornton Jr. and Kelly Shryock advanced to top four spots and early leader Tim Ward was fifth.
Not a newcomer to the class, Grabouski gained second following a restart and took the lead with eight laps to go in the Stock Car feature. Les Lundquist and Kyle Vanover rounded out the top three.
Jason Martin paced the IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car main event in a newly-built ride.
The leader from start to finish, Martin took the $1,000 win with Toby Chapman, Stuart Snyder and Tyler Dueke next across the stripe.
Lance Borgman proved up to the Ice Breaker Challenge, earning an extra $1,000 for sweeping the weekend’s Karl Chevrolet Northern SportMod features.
Borgman won by a straightaway ahead of Shawn Harker and Joe Feyen on opening night and ahead of Adam Armstrong and Feyen on night two. Borgman was also a double winner and $1,000 Ice Breaker Challenge bonus recipient in 2016.
Also on Friday, Corey Madden was the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock winner ahead of Chad Borgman and Shawn Slezak. Drake Bohlmeyer was first in the Mach-1 Sport Compact main event, with Trenten Fugett second and Ramsey Meyer third.
April 20 Feature Results
Modifieds – 1. Shane Hiatt; 2. Hunter Marriott; 3. Jordan Grabouski; 4. Dylan Smith; 5. Eddie Belec; 6. Jesse Dennis 7. Bob Zoubek; 8. Jacob Hobscheidt; 9. Randy Foote; 10. Clint Homan; 11. Chad Andersen; 12. Jesse Skalicky; 13. Terry Hurt; 14. Mike Densberger; 15. Nathan Landauer; 16. John Burrow Jr.; 17. Jordy Nelson; 18. Ethan Dotson; 19. A.J. Valim; 20. Josh Blumer; 21. Ricky Thornton Jr.
Hobby Stocks – 1. Corey Madden; 2. Chad Borgman; 3. Shawn Slezak; 4. Roy Armstrong; 5. Tyler Saathoff; 6. Jeff Ware; 7. David Carter; 8. Ben Becher; 9. Brett Saathoff; 10. Albert Kiihne; 11. Jeff Watts; 12. Chuck Madden Jr.; 13. Nick Beckman; 14. Justin Busboom; 15. Rowan Mason; 16. Brandon Wergin; 17. Brandon Nelson; 18. Dillon Richards; 19. Kevin Vanlaningham; 20. Eric Chab.
Northern SportMods – 1. Lance Borgman; 2. Shawn Harker; 3. Joe Feyen; 4. Josh Pfeifer; 5. Arie Schouten; 6. Gunnar Pike; 7. Cole Wayman; 8. Adam Armstrong; 9. Dillon Schultz; 10. Colby Langenberg; 11. Derick Noonan; 12. Gary Saathoff; 13. Mary Lenz; 14. Jeff Brunssen; 15. Anthony Kobus; 16. Joe Schidler; 17. Nicholas Peters; 18. Bobby Draper; 19. Trevor Noonan; 20. Dion Kovar.
Sport Compacts – 1. Drake Bohlmeyer; 2. Trenten Fugett; 3. Ramsey Meyer; 4. Nick Lindblad; 5. Shawn Hein; 6. Terry Tritt; 7. Brian Petro; 8. Tommy Etherton; 9. Steffen Oaks; 10. Andrew Harris; 11. Justin Callender; 12. Jeff Creek; 13. Bryan Vannausdle; 14. Tim Horsham; 15. Jeremy Bohlen; 16. Fred Johnson; 17. Daniel Morris; 18. Tyler Masek; 19. R.J. Maas; 20. John Martinez.
April 21 Feature Results
Modifieds – 1. Grabouski; 2. Marriott; 3. Thornton; 4. Kelly Shryock; 5. Tim Ward; 6. Smith; 7. Ryan Jenkins; 8. Ricky Stephan; 9. Belec; 10. Zoubek; 11. Nelson; 12. Jesse Dennis 13. Densberger; 14. Justin Wulf; 15. Joshua Vogt; 16. Blumer; 17. Brandon Clough; 18. Jaxon Saathoff; 19. Hiatt; 20. Andersen.
Sprint Cars – 1. Jason Martin; 2. Toby Chapman; 3. Stuart Snyder; 4. Tyler Drueke; 5. Shon Pointer; 6. Cody Ledger; 7. Adam Gullion; 8. Jimmy Grasso; 9. Jason Danley; 10. Gene Ackland; 11. Matt Richards; 12. Shayle Bade; 13. Ryan King; 14. Nathan Weiler; 15. Clint Benson; 16. Zach Blurton; 17. Trey Gropp; 18. Austin McLean; 19. Trevor Grossenbacher; 20. Josh Riggins.
Northern SportMods – 1. Borgman; 2. Armstrong; 3. Feyen; 4. Harker; 5. Karl Brewer; 6. Pike; 7. Saathoff; 8. Brunssen; 9. Langenberg; 10. Schouten; 11. Kobus; 12. Lenz; 13. Brian Osantowski; 14. Matthew Andrews; 15. Pfeifer; 16. Jason Harms; 17. James Roebuck; 18. Schultz; 19. Wayman; 20. Schidler.
Stock Cars – 1. Jordan Grabouski; 2. Les Lundquist; 3. Kyle Vanover; 4. Kyle Clough; 5. Shane Stutzman; 6. Dan Nelson; 7. Shawn Primrose; 8. Doug Adamy; 9. Marty Steinbach; 10. B.J. Wagoner; 11. Nick Woodard; 12. Tanner Pettitt; 13. Eric Bartels; 14. Chad Bruns; 15. Ron Pettitt; 16. Jeff Whiting; 17. Austin Brauner; 18. John Bruegman; 19. Eric Rempel; 20. Kyle Dumpert.