By Greg Soukup
EAGLE, Neb. (June 29, 2024) – It was standing room only Saturday at Eagle Raceway for Freedom Fest 2024, and a special night celebrating the life of Stan Cisar.
Stan was a long-time car owner and supporter of dirt track racing as well as the voice of several area dirt tracks. The opening prayer was a recording of the prayer that Stan gave every night that he announced, bringing a tug at the heart strings. Then, when the Star Spangled Banner was a recording of Stan’s magnificent voice I’m sure there were few dry eyes in the house. Knowing that it was the final time that I would hear that song, sung by The Voice of the Speedway teared me up also.
As a special tribute to Stan, the purse for the IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car main event featured a $1,047 to win top prize and $347 to start referencing Stan’s Sprint no. 47.
The additional purse money and the memory of Stan brought a total of 137 cars to America’s Home Track, including several visiting teams with eight Sprint teams from out of state and a couple of blasts from the past in the persons of Toby Chapman and Doug Lovegrove.
Another emotional moment came as a moment of silence was held in honor of Stan before Cody Ledger pushed off first for the Sprint Car feature. Stan was Cody’s car owner for many years. In memory of Stan, Ledger also led the field’s parade lap out front in the missing man formation as a recording of Stan’s immortal call of ‘Eagle Raceway! Are you ready?’ played over the PA.
Gene Ackland then put his 14G out front of the initial lap with Shayle Bade second, John Klabunde third and Stu Snyder fourth. Joey Danley passed Snyder on lap three, then moved up to third on lap eight. Bade passed Ackland out of turn four on lap nine for the lead but lost the spot back to him the next time around.
Klabunde regained third place the next lap as Bade again moved to the front. Bade moved out to a straightaway lead with 10 circuits remaining. Danley retook the third spot with seven to go. Snyder vaulted up to third with five to go but lost the spot back to Danley the following lap. Danley passed Ackland for second with four to go. Bade held on to win by 3.325 seconds with Danley second, Ackland third and Snyder fourth.
“It was a pretty special night. You know there’s tons of great cars here and everyone wanted to win for Stan, and out of all of the people to do it, we did it as a team,” Bade said. “You know Stan, but to hear him announce with as excited as he was to say every driver’s car and sponsors, everybody is going to miss that.”
“I absolutely love watching the replays and hearing him say my name. He was so excited, whether he knew me or not. He loved it, and I loved that he loved it,” she added. “He was one in a million, just an awesome guy who will truly be missed. He wasn’t physically here with us tonight, but he was here with us tonight. Eagle was his home away from home.”
“I thought that the track was really good tonight and I’m glad Roger (Hadan) reworked it before our feature because it was going to start taking rubber right away if he didn’t,” Bade said. “I’m glad we had that little break while they worked the bottom and top and I think it worked out in our favor.”
Clint Homan was the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified winner and Thomas Etherton ruled the IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars and took home $547.
Brad Schreiner paced the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks while Adam Vrbka made the trip to victory lane following the Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature. Each earned $347.
Saturday, July 6 is Buckets of Money Night at Eagle Raceway presented by Pepsi-Cola of Lincoln and Nebraska Septic. It’s also Junior Fan Club Night. Kids ages 12 and under receive free front gate admission.
There will be a $1,500 money grab on the front stretch at intermission sponsored by One Shot Auto Repair.
Pit gates open at3:30 p.m. and the front gate opens at 5:15 p.m. Hot laps start at 5:30 p.m. with racing at 6:30 p.m. All five IMCA divisions will be competing.
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