eagleraceway Archives

Eagle Raceway amps up for RaceSaver Nationals

EAGLE, Neb. – Just a little over two weeks from today, the initial night of the 2019 RaceSaver Nationals kicks off at Eagle Raceway with qualifying heats for the Jake Ita Memorial Race of Champions and a practice night for all competitors. Prior to being able to compete at the Aug. 29-Sept. 1 Nationals, each and every IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car and engine that will see action has to go through the most rigorous and thorough technical inspection seen in any sprint car sanction in the world. Not one wheel will hit the track without passing that inspection to ensure that every team has the opportunity to compete on an even footing. Then on Friday, the teams will go through a complete show of heats and features to determine the first three rows of the final “A” main on Sunday. Saturday sees another set of heats and features to set the next three rows for the finale. Sunday will have nothing but features, all run to find out who the final nine cars will be [Read More]

Eagle checkers fly for Lovegrove

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Aug. 3) – IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car win number one on the season came Saturday at Eagle Raceway for Doug Lovegrove. Lovegrove started on the pole and was quickly out front. Mike Boston passed Chase Weiler for third on lap seven with Adam Gullion moving up to fourth. From there to the finish it was a tale of two different lines with Lovegrove hugging the bottom and Brandon Horton, Boston and Gullion pounding the cushion. Lovegrove moved through the lapped traffic and extended his lead at the end to a straightaway with Horton coming home second, Boston third and Gullion fourth. “It’s been way too long. We’ve been having motor problems all year. This is only the third race I’ve finished this season,” he said. “I’m pretty good around the bottom and it was a good track tonight. I think that’s why I was able to run away a little bit. I got lucky on some of the traffic. The guys decided to run a lane up when I got [Read More]

Hiatt hauls home Eagle hardware

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (July 6) – Shane Hiatt scored his first Hoosier Tire IMCA Modified feature win of the season at America’s Home Track Saturday night. “It’s been a long time coming,” Hiatt said from victory lane at Eagle Raceway. “We’ve been kind of struggling with this new car but we put in a lot of hours in the shop this week and really dug deep to see if we could make it any better. All the hard work paid off, finally!” Trent Roth’s led the opening lap with Hiatt, Chad Andersen and Jan Korth the rest of the top four. Mike Densberger passed Korth the next lap, then moved to third with 13 circuits remaining. Roth was pounding the cushion and Hiatt was hugging the bottom as the battled. Hiatt finally got past Roth using the low line with seven to go and held him off for the victory. “That was a good race with Trent,” said Hiatt. “When we got to lapped traffic, I saw there was less traffic down on the bottom so [Read More]

Drueke delivers Sprint win at Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (June 25) – Tyler Drueke celebrated a Duros Dent Works IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car victory on Party Time Tuesday at Eagle Raceway. Drueke took over the lead following a lap three restart; Trevor Grossenbacher moved up to second with nine laps to go but wasn’t able to deny Drueke a second win this season at Eagle. Anthony Roth raced from 12th starting to top the Hoosier Tire IMCA Modified main. Jeff Ware extended his Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock winning streak to six, leading the last two circuits after the front two cars got together and spun into the infield. Gunnar Pike became a two-time Sam’s Club IMCA SportMod winner.

Pike prevails at Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (May 4) – Gunnar Pike was first to the checkers in the Saturday Sam’s Club IMCA Northern SportMod feature at Eagle Raceway. Pike quickly put his no. 25 machine out front, followed by Adam Vrbka, Derek Hall and Roger Sluka. Hall passed Vrbka on lap two, Shawn Harker cracked the top four on lap four and on the restart following a lap 10 caution, Harker moved up to third and then advanced to second the following lap. Arie Schouten put his ride into fourth with seven laps remaining. Nobody could catch Pike despite a series of late cautions. Schouten moved up to third on the final circuit to make the top four Pike, Harker, Schouten and Vrbka. Anthony Roth won by five-plus seconds in the Hoosier Tire IMCA Modified feature and Jeff Ware paced the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock finale. Josh Young held off all challengers to win the ATV Motorsports IMCA Sport Compact feature and Stuart Snyder was promoted to first in the Duros Dent Works IMCA RaceSaver Sprint [Read More]

Drueke soars in Sprint Series of Nebraska at Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (April 25) – Two drivers who definitely know the fast way around Eagle Raceway squared off in a Precise Racing Sprint Series of Nebraska tilt. Tyler Drueke got the better of Joey Danley in the Thursday night main event, which ran caution-free and was contested to the checkers. Rounding out the top five were Josh Riggins, Cody Ledger and two-time series champion Adam Gullion Riggins, Gullion, Neil Nickolite and Keith Dragoo led the field on lap one; Drueke vaulted past Nickolite and Dragoo on lap three, moved to second with 17 to go and snagged the lead six laps later. Ledger moved into fourth with nine laps remaining. Danley passed Ledger two laps later, advanced to third with four to go and took the second spot on the next circuit, ultimately coming up just one position short of the checkers. Feature results – 1. Tyler Drueke; 2. Joey Danley; 3. Josh Riggins; 4. Cody Ledger; 5. Adam Gullion; 6. Neil Nickolite; 7. Toby Chapman; 8. Mike Boston; 9. Kaleb Johnson; 10. [Read More]

Ice Breaker Challenge entries top 270

EAGLE, Neb. – Entries for the weekend’s Ice Breaker Challenge presented by Auto Trans Matic at Eagle Raceway now number more than 270. IMCA Modifieds race for $1,000 to win on Friday, April 19 and for $2,000 to win on Saturday, April 20. Both events are Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational ballot qualifiers. IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars vie for $1,000 to win, and a minimum of $250 to start, their night two Sprint Series of Nebraska headliner. Karl Kustoms Northern SportMods run for $500 to win both nights. The Modified or Northern SportMod driver winning main events each night goes home with a Twice As Nice $1,000 bonus. IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars race for $500 to win, IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks for $400 to win on Friday. Mach-1 Sport Compacts chase a $150 top check on Saturday. Pre-entered drivers include: IMCA Modifieds Chad Andersen, Fort Calhoun Scott Bivens, Ceresco Josh Blumer, Marysville, Kan. Karl Brewer, Vermillion, S.D. Jason Britton, Lincoln John Burrow Jr., Denver, Colo. Travis Denning, Sterling Mike Densberger, Lincoln Jared Deterding, Lincoln Trey Duensing, Byron Ken Eckhoff, [Read More]

RaceSaver Nationals underway at Eagle

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. – Thursday night at Eagle Raceway began the four-day extravaganza known as the RaceSaver Nationals. Race teams from across the country towed to the ‘Fastest 1/3 mile in the world’ to participate in America’s largest Sprint Car event. A couple hours of practice time gave all IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car drivers the opportunity to acquaint, or reacquaint themselves with the high banks at America’s Home Track. To finish off the evening, the five qualifying heats to set the field for the Jake Ita Memorial Race of Champions were run. The top 20 after finishing positions and passing points are calculated will make up the field with the race being run after the qualifying feature on Saturday night. Winning those heats were Zach Blurton, Andy Shouse, Jason Martin, Jake Bubak and John Carney II. Action kicks off in earnest tonight (Friday) with the first qualifying heats and features for Sunday’s finale. Those who finish in the top nine of the ‘A’ feature this evening will make up the first three rows [Read More]

RaceSaver Nationals pre-entries come from 14 states

EAGLE, Neb. – Fourteen states are represented by the 117 drivers pre-entered for the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 RaceSaver Nationals at Eagle Raceway. The winner of Sunday’s main event for IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars goes home with a minimum of $2,500, plus a bonus of as much as $1,500, $30 for each of as many as 50 sanctioned starts going into the holiday weekend. Qualifying features on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 both pay $700 to win while the top prize for Saturday’s Jake Ita Memorial race is $1,000. Taking the green in Sunday’s big show pays a minimum of $1,250. The first non-qualifier in the ‘B’ feature on Sunday gets $1,000 and the 20th place finisher gets $500 from IMCA.TV. A minimum of $450 will be paid to each driver starting a race each day. Drivers now entered for the sixth annual RaceSaver Nationals include: Gene Ackland, Martell; Brandon Allen, St. Peter, Minn.; Bruce Allen, Mankato, Minn.; Justin Allen, Gaylord, Minn.; Dusty Ballenger, Harrisburg, S.D.; Ethan Barrow, Bloomington, Ind.; Brett Becker, Odessa, Texas; Tom Belsky, [Read More]

Lemke leads to Eagle checkers

By Greg Soukup EAGLE, Neb. (Aug. 18) – A 10-year veteran made his first visit to victory lane at Eagle Raceway Saturday night. Brint Lemke regained the lead on the final circuit in winning the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock main event. Shane Hiatt collected his second local Runner Freight IMCA Modified win of the season while Adam Gullion notched another IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Car victory. Gunner Pike started ninth and finished first in the Hoosier Racing Tire IMCA Northern SportMod feature and Justin Callender prevailed in the ATV Motorsports IMCA Sport Compact main.