ANDERSON, SMITH, CRONIN & BOSTON VICTORIOUS AT EAGLE'S FATHER'S DAY TRIBUTE
www.eagleraceway.com
(06/21/09)
Although some fans gave in to the threat of rain Saturday night, Mother Nature held off long enough for all events to be completed during the Fathers Day Tribute at Americas Home Track Eagle Raceway. The last feature finished at 9:55 and the liquid moonlight began shortly after.
Dan Jacksons #98 held the lead as the Valentinos IMCA Hobby Stocks completed the first lap of their A Feature. He was followed by Keith Dragoo in the 77D, Don Hall Jr.s 92 and the 9R of Charlie Bartels rounding out the top 4. Nick Beckman came up to 4th on the second lap in the 22 and then moved past Hall for third on lap 3. He advanced to 2nd two laps later. With 10 laps remaining Dragoo spun just short of the flag stand and as RJ Macku came around he was not able to avoid Dragoo and made hard contact with him, causing heavy damage to the front of both racecars. That moved Rob Browns #42 up to the fourth position. 2 laps after the restart Beckman and Jackson made contact, with Beckman ending up in the infield and Jackson dropping back. That allowed Brandon Johnson in the 45 and defending track champion Kevin Anderson in the 22K to move to third and fourth respectively. There were just 6 circuits remaining when the yellow flew again as Jackson spun out in turn 4 and as Johnson came around, his engine expired. At that time the order was Hall Jr., Brown, Anderson and the 21 of Derick Noonan. Hall Jr. went extremely high in turns 3 & 4 with 4 to go, relinquishing the lead to Anderson with Brown grabbing second. Hall recovered enough to retake second the next time around. The finish showed Anderson winning, Hall Jr. the runner-up, Brown in third and Noonan in fourth.
That was an awesome track, with a good cushion Anderson said. Im glad we got the whole show in for the fans. I was thrilled to see how many folks showed up with the threat of rain. We have such great fan support here, and that shows just how great Eagle Raceway is he stated. Kevins sponsors are Auto Connection, The Garage Sports Bar and Lincoln Lawn Guys.
The Monster IMCA Modifieds were up next. Roger Chevy Hadans #4 led the pack back to the flag stand followed by the 12X of George Haney, Doug Deterdings 13 and the 8A of Dustin Anderson. Anderson lost his position to the Z00 of Lacey Tuttle on lap 2, and Tuttle gave up the spot to Dylan Smiths 95 2 laps later as Clint Homans 27 and the 7 of Bob Ruisinger made contact with Ruisinger spinning in turn 3 bringing out the caution flag. Homan retired to the pits with a broken right A-frame. Tuttle also went pitside with a flat left rear tire. With 7 laps complete Deterding moved to third and then to 2nd, only to have Smith overtake him for the second postion; Jordan Grabouski had come up to the fourth spot the same lap in his yellow #30. Smith got past Haney the next lap and Grabouski moved ahead of Deterding. Johnny Saathoffs 96J made contact with Deterding on lap 10 and limped to the pits, but not before the yellow flag flew. Smith was still at the point with Hadan, Grabouski and Deterding pressuring him. Dan Nelson came up to fourth in the 94 on the restart lap, but gave up the spot to the 5S of Bob Zoubek 3 laps later. The caution lights came on again 2 laps later as Nathan Landauers 11N spun to the infield. Haney spun to the infield on the restart after contact with the 16B of Randy Brown and again the yellow came out. Zoubek moved up to second on the restart lap as Hadan fell to fourth after going extremely high in turns 3 & 4. Hadans troubles continued as he spun into the infield on the final lap. At the checkers it was Smith, Zoubek, Grabouski and Nelson.
Smith stated The track was slick and smooth tonight, and I just avoided everyones problems and moved to the front as others screwed up. I knew that Zoubek was coming and I am sure that with a couple more laps he would have gotten me . He concluded the interview by saying I need to thank Mike & Lisa Goecke, Kyle Schamp, Damian, Grandma and Grandpa and of course Mom and Dad . Dylans sponsors include Jet Racing, Active Life Family Chiropractic, Eckley Racing Engines and Cappys Hot Spot Bar and Grill.
When the Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts completed their first lap last weeks winner Brandon Thornton was in first in the 21T with Ole Olsens 23 in second, Larry Cronins 5 in third and fourth spot going to the 97 of John Irvine. Cronin got past Olsen on lap 2 and then took the lead on lap 4 with Irvine coming up to the third spot that same lap. Olsen returned the favor by retaking third the next time around. Jason Danleys 14 took the fourth spot with 8 to go. 2 laps later Ricky Harris 3S spun and Danley was black flagged during the yellow for excessive smoke. At that time it was Cronin, Thornton, Olsen and Irvine. As they had been for some time, Olsen and Irvine continued to battle for third and Irvine took the spot on with 6 to go, only to give the position back to Olsen 2 laps later. As the white flag flew to show 2 laps remaining Garret Rech took fourth from Thornton. The next lap the yellow flag was displayed as Harris came to a halt. The running order remained unchanged during the green/white/checkered finish as Cronin won, Thornton was in second Olsen in third and Rech in fourth.
Its kind of funny Cronin said. I won last year, and then got my first win of the season just now and both times it was a couple of weeks after I rolled. The one this year really scared me though. Its one thing to just roll over, but when youre flipping in the air&.THATS scary . He concluded by stating I need to thank so many people; my sponsors are CJs Paint Ball, Cheryl Dittmer, Scotts Auto Detailing, Troys Automotive, W & J Crafts and Lincoln Laminating. Of course there is my mother-in-law Cheryl, Tracy Harr for doing my video taping, my wife and kids, Thomas, Ricky, Tommie and Jason. Last of all, I want to thank all of the fans .
The final A Feature was for the Budweiser 360 Sprints. The 35AB of Trevor Grossenbacher led the first lap, followed by Nick Bryans 6, the 44 of Doug Lovegrove and Tadd Holliman in the 23R. Lovegrove got around Bryan on the fourth circuit. Lap 6 saw the 51X of Gary Paulson spin out, causing the yellow flag to be shown. Jeff Griffis got past Holliman on the restart only to be repassed by Holliman the next time around. Holliman would be set back though when the yellow came out as Bryan spun coming out of turn 4. Mike Boston took advantage of the restart to pass Holliman and then overtook Griffis the next time around with Holliman following him into fourth. Boston got past Lovegrove on lap 7 as the 99C of Nick Clifford moved to fourth. The caution lights came on again on lap 10 as Bobby Beckers 8B spun in turn 4. Boston used a textbook slide job in turns 1 & 2 on the restart to snag the lead. The best battle of the evening was for fourth though as Nick Clifford ran the cushion and Holliman hugged the inside berm and they traded the position all the way to the end. A caution came out shortly after that when Terry Hollimans 23 came to a halt after spinning high in turn 4 and Mike Chadd spun low in the same corner in the #4. The battle for fourth went to Holliman with 7 circuits remaining, only to lose the position yet again to a caution when Josh Riggins 4J spun coming out of turn 4. It was an exciting last few laps as Boston, Grossenbacher and Clifford were running the ragged edge with the cushion nearly to the wall and Lovegrove and Holliman using the bottom groove. As the race ended it was Boston, Grossenbacher, Lovegrove and Clifford.
It was a really good weekend for us, because weve been having trouble the last few weeks. The worst was struggling with fueling problems, but I hope we may have them solved now. This win belongs to my crew. Thanks to all of their work during the week we can win on the weekend Mike said. Bostons sponsors include Trackside Bar and Grill, D & K Drywall, Eckley Racing Engines and car owners Rick & Michelle Bowers.
Next weeks event is Freedom Fest, sponsored by Jack Daniels. Besides great racing by the Budweiser 360 sprints, Auto Trans Matic IMCA Sport Compacts, Monster IMCA Modifieds and Valentinos IMCA Hobby Stocks there will be a fireworks extravaganza following the racing. All military, police and fire/rescue personnel in uniform or with a current government issued ID will receive free front gate admission. The Big Car Racing Association will have a display and put on an exhibition at intermission. Front gate opens at 5:30 P.M. and the pit gates open at 4.
The Eagle Nationals sponsored by Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and featuring the only visit this year by the World of Outlaws Sprints will be held on the 4th of July. Supporting the 410 sprints will be the Budweiser 360 sprint cars and the Monster IMCA modifieds. Advanced discount general admission tickets with a pit pass combo are available at HyVee grocery stores for only 30 dollars and also either at the track or by contacting the Eagle office at 402-238-2595. Pit pass combo upgrades are available for those 14 and up for an additional $5. Day of event general admission will be $35 for those 13 and up and $10 for those 6-12 years old. Children 5 and under will be admitted free; limit 1 with an adult admission.
