eagleraceway Archives

Saturday Ice Breaker Challenge checkers fly for Braaksma

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (April 20, 2024) – On a track that’s definitely different than what he’s used to running on, Ethan Braaksma raced to the same results Saturday night. Braaksma won his sixth Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature, and fifth Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying race of the season, collecting $2,000 on night two of the Ice Breaker Challenge. “It was a pretty good run. I just took my time and hit my marks. I was kind of searching there at the beginning but once I found the bottom I hit it really good,” said Braaksma, the leader from lap 11 to the finish. “I could see where the others were messing up in front of me and that’s how I got to the lead. I just had to be sure to get the left side down in the moisture so I could get off of the corner.” Ricky Stephan and then Shawn Harker held down the front spot early on. Braaksma caught Chad Andersen for second on lap seven and grabbed the [Read More]

Ice Breaker Challenge checkers are first for Andersen

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (April 19, 2024) – Eagle Raceway got the first night of its Ice Breaker Challenge in for the first time since 2019 and Chad Andersen won for the first time at the special that starts the season at America’s Home Track on Friday night. The defending track champion scored the $1,000 Friesen Performance IMCA Modified victory in the final event of the evening, outrunning Jordan Grabouski, Ryan Jenkins and Drew Janssen. “We’ve come to the Ice Breaker Challenge ever since I started racing a Modified and we’ve been close, but we‘d get a third or a second and never seemed to have enough to lead the final lap,” said Andersen, newly eligible to qualify for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational. “We came up with a game plan after the heat race because we felt really good. I just wasn’t quite as comfortable as I wanted to be in the heat so we made a couple of changes for the feature and it felt like the car came to life.” “Hopefully, that means [Read More]

IMCA Modifieds, Northern SportMods chase Ice Breaker Challenge bonuses

EAGLE, Neb. (April 9, 2024) – Drivers in six IMCA divisions have a chance to put a check on their bucket list with feature wins at Eagle Raceway’s Ice Breaker Challenge. Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds and Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods are on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20 race cards, and the driver in either division who can win both nights earns a $1,000 Twice is Nice Challenge bonus from event presenting sponsor Auto Trans Matic. Modifieds race for $1,000 to win, $250 to start on Friday and $2,000 to win, $270 to start on Saturday. Modified winners also earn Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational qualifying eligibility. Northern SportMods run for $800 to win, $150 to start each night. Friday features for IMCA Sunoco Late Models and IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars also pay $800 to win, with the Stock Car winner becoming B & B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational qualifying eligible. On Saturday, IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars race for $1,000 to win, and a minimum of $270 to start, while the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock feature pays [Read More]

Entries top 100 for IMCA RaceSaver Nationals at Eagle

EAGLE, Neb. (Aug. 28, 2023) – The biggest Sprint Car event in the world plays out this weekend at Eagle Raceway and promoter Roger Hadan plans lots of new stuff and making old stuff even better. In return, he has a simple request for the 100-plus drivers competing in the 11th annual RaceSaver Nationals at the eastern Nebraska speedplant. “Make it easy on our tech guys,” he asks. “Show up with no fuel in your car.” Reason why, RaceSaver and distributor Leiting Motorsports are giving each driver 40 gallons of VP Race Fuel after they pass pre-race tech on Wednesday. “We’ve got 111 drivers pre-registered now, from 14 states, and I sure haven’t heard any complaints about the fuel deal,” said Hadan. “With these kind of entry numbers, RaceSaver is donating roughly $40,000 in fuel.” An open practice and race of champions heats are on the Thursday, Aug. 31 card at Eagle. Qualifying features Friday, Sept. 1 and Saturday, Sept. 2 pay $700 to win and $250 to start. Also on tap Saturday is the $1,000 [Read More]

RaceSaver win at Eagle by Grossenbacher is a classic

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Aug. 5, 2023) – The final race of the night proved to be a classic on Rock ‘n Roll Classic Night Saturday at Eagle Raceway. Trevor Grossenbacher raced from 17th to first in scoring his first IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature win of the season. Grossenbacher was on a mission as he passed Jake Galusha for second with six laps to go. There were just two laps left when Josh Riggins spun out in turn two, setting up a battle to the finish between Grossenbacher and Tyler Drueke. Grossenbacher used a huge slider in turns three and four on the restart to grab the lead, then held on for the win with Drueke second and Adam Gullion third. “Everybody was kind of two-wide at the start and I couldn’t get my momentum going. Then we had a yellow and was able to get up top to where I wanted to be. I started moving forward and found the bottom in three and four,” he said. “The yellows kind of fell my way [Read More]

Stock Car win at Eagle is IMCA first for Steinbach

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (July 29, 2023) – It was a pretty good week for Marty Steinbach, who became a grandfather for the second time on Thursday and then won his career first IMCA Sunoco Stock Car feature Saturday evening at Eagle Raceway. With just three laps left, leader Matt Boucher slid high in turn two, allowing Steinbach to pass him on the low side. Nate Thompson followed Steinbach into second as Boucher fell to third. Richards also got by Boucher to take over second place the following circuit. The final change in the top four came on the final lap as Dan Jackson put the no. 3 car into fourth. “It was a very good run. Matt pushed up and I got under him. He said he had to hit the brakes, and I apologized to him for that,” Steinbach said. “I wish he was here with me right now”. A green, white checkered finish to the Friesen Performance IMCA Modified feature saw Chad Andersen beat Anthony Roth and Clint Homan to the [Read More]

‘A bunch of people working together’ get free fuel for RaceSaver Nationals drivers

EAGLE, Neb. (July 21, 2023) – What promoter Roger Hadan summed up as the efforts of “a bunch of people working together” will help fuel competitors at the upcoming RaceSaver Nationals. RaceSaver and distributor Leiting Motorsports will give each driver 40 gallons of VP Race Fuel after they pass pre-race tech, essentially adding $25,000 or so to the purse for the 11th annual IMCA Sprint Car extravaganza at Eagle Raceway. “Drivers must show up with no fuel and pass tech and they’ll get 40 gallons of VP fuel, the spec fuel for the weekend, along with a fuel jug donated by Precise Racing,” explained Hadan. “I can’t think of any other event I’ve heard of where drivers get to race with free fuel.” “It’s pretty unique.” Pre-entries are already in hand from 50 drivers. “I have always wanted to have a spec fuel for RaceSaver Nationals and we talked to a lot of different companies,” Hadan said. “It’s a lot of fuel – this is a pretty big undertaking. Because of a bunch of people working [Read More]

Pfeifer is pfirst to IMCA SporMod checkers at Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (July 15, 2023) – Josh Pfeifer had a first-ever Eagle Raceway feature win to celebrate Saturday night. The St. Paul speedster took the lead on lap four and outran Trevor Noonan and Noah Williams to the Friesen performance IMCA Northern SportMod checkers. “This was my first win here at Eagle. Several years ago, I was close here. I’ve kind of just faded out of racing the past few years and haven’t raced much,” he said. “We came out last week and I debated whether to come tonight or not. I just had a different kind of feeling all week and usually when you get that different kind of feeling and you’re getting in a race car that’s a good sign.” “Right at the beginning I slipped back a few spots and I’m like ‘Man, I’ve got to change my driving style a little bit or it’s just going to keep being more of the same’. So, I tried slowing up my entry and tried sneaking around the bottom a little [Read More]

Johnson comes up big at Arlington

ARLINGTON, Minn. (July 8, 2023) – Rollovers and crashes made for an interesting night for the safety crew at Arlington Raceway on Saturday. A first lap red flag in the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car feature saw several cars get together in turn two, which resulted in both national points leader Trevor Serbus and Mike Stien rolling their cars. Dave Becker and Owen Carlson also got taken to the pits. The front row was gone so everyone moved up and that gave an opening for Matt Johnson to take the lead and he was a fourth of a lap ahead of the rest of the field. On lap 11, a yellow came out for Dan Griep who had been running second but clipped a tire, spun and was then done for the night. A couple laps later, the no. 4 of Jeremy Snow was moving to the front when he spun. On that restart, Matt and Bill Johnson were neck and neck but Brandon Buyesse made a last-lap pass and got around Bill to take behind [Read More]

Richards records first win on Disco Fever Night at Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (July 8, 2023) – A third generation driver became a first time Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod on Disco Fever Night at Eagle Raceway. Mason Richards kept Adam Armstrong in check in the Saturday show, and followed father Terry and grandfather Terry Sr. onto the roll of feature winners at the famed Nebraska speed plant. “It’s definitely special. Both my dad and grandfather have won here at Eagle, so being the third generation to win here just makes it all the more special, especially in my rookie year here. I couldn’t be happier,” he said. Mike Densberger won for the first time this season at Eagle in the IMCA Modifieds, leading from lap two to the checkers. “It’s been a long time. I don’t think I got a win out here last year so the year that I won the championship (2021) was the last time I won out here,” he said. “The car was really good all night. We tweaked something before the races even started because we saw [Read More]