Drueke sails to victory at Butler County Speedway
Story by Greg Soukup
Tonight’s racing at Butler County Speedway kicked off the 2016 sprint car racing season here in Nebraska. The track was in great shape and although the weather was cool, the racing action was hot for the 22 sprints in attendance. Tyler Drueke, Jason Martin and Joey Danley won their respective heats. Doug Lovegrove took the early lead in the #1 with Terry Richards’ 18, Roger Sluka in the 77X and the 03 of Shayle Bade the top 4 at the end of 1 lap. Richards passed Lovegrove on …lap 2 and Jason Martin vaulted the 5X into third with Sluka holding onto fourth. Tyler Drueke put his #12 into fourth on lap 5 and jumped up to second 2 laps later. Martin got the lead on lap 9, but Clint Benson’s 100 and the 57B of Boyd Petersen looped it in turn 3. Martin grabbed the lead again on the restart. Drueke moved to third the next time around. Petersen spun out again the next time around. Joey Danley cracked the top 4 on the restart, putting the #14 into fourth position. Drueke advanced to second a few laps later and Danley followed him to take third a couple of laps later before passing to take the runner-up spot after 1 more lap. Petersen spun for the third time the next circuit, setting up a 7 lap contest with Martin, Danley, Drueke and Richards leading the pack. Drueke moved under and past Martin 1 lap after the restart to grab the lead with Danley also getting past Martin for second. The top 4 remained unchanged from there to the checkers with Drueke coming home first, Danley second, Martin third and Richards fourth. Next up for the Sprint Series of Nebraska is the Saturday evening portion of the Icebreaker Challenge at Eagle Raceway on April 16th.
Butler County Speedway Full results 3/25/2016:
A Feature: 1. Tyler Drueke (Eagle, NE), 2. Joey Danley (Lincoln, NE), 3. Jason Martin (Lincoln, NE), 4. Terry Richards (Denton, NE), 5. Clint Benson (Papillion, NE), 6. Adam Gullion (Lincoln, NE), 7. Jason Danley (Lincoln, NE), 8. Mike Johnston (Des Moines, IA), 9. Doug Lovegrove (Waverly, NE), 10. Zach Blurton (Quinter, KS), 11. Shayle Bade (Lincoln, NE), 12. Nathan Weiler (Omaha, NE), 13. Toby Chapman (Panama, NE), 14. Roger Sluka (Lincoln, NE), 15. Nick Bryan (Lincoln, NE), 16. Ryan King (Bennet, NE), 17. Blain Petersen (Essex, IA), 18. Rick Hansen (Omaha, NE), 19. Boyd Peterson (Ithaca, NE), 20. Keith Dragoo (Lincoln, NE), 21. Chase Weiler (Lincoln, NE), 22. Justin Hanson (Platte Center, NE),
Heat 1: 1. Tyler Drueke (Eagle, NE), 2. Terry Richards (Denton, NE), 3. Roger Sluka (Lincoln, NE), 4. Mike Johnston (Des Moines, IA), 5. Blain Petersen (Essex, IA), 6. Nick Bryan (Lincoln, NE), 7. Nathan Weiler (Omaha, NE), 8. Justin Hanson (Platte Center, NE),
Heat 2: 1. Jason Martin (Lincoln, NE), 2. Toby Chapman (Panama, NE), 3. Shayle Bade (Lincoln, NE), 4. Rick Hansen (Omaha, NE), 5. Keith Dragoo (Lincoln, NE), 6. Boyd Peterson (Ithaca, NE), 7. Jason Danley (Lincoln, NE),
Heat 3: 1. Joey Danley (Lincoln, NE), 2. Clint Benson (Papillion, NE), 3. Doug Lovegrove (Waverly, NE), 4. Ryan King (Bennet, NE), 5. Adam Gullion (Lincoln, NE), 6. Zach Blurton (Quinter, KS), 7. Chase Weiler (Lincoln, NE),
Photos by Joe Orth
