The Big Check goes to Mike Boston at Eagle Raceway on June 9th
By Greg Soukup
Most dirt tracks would have cancelled the show when they got a 20-minute rain shower during hot laps, but the Eagle Raceway track prep crew saved the racing surface so that the crowd and the 151 teams that towed to compete could enjoy Color Me Lucky Night, presented by Runner Freight and Accelerated GraphX. Once the clouds passed the track was fast and the racing tremendous.
The only serious incident in the preliminary events came in the B Feature for the IMCA Sprint Racesavers when the 12T of Tige Jensen got crossed up and Trevor Grossenbacher’s 35 ran over Jensen’s left front wheel and went airborne. Neither driver was seriously hurt, but both cars were too damaged to continue.
At the start of the IMCA Sprint Racesaver A Main a total of 5 cars ended up spun or stopped near turn 4. The 4W of Nate Weiler, Stu Snyder’s 5, the 14G of Gene Ackland, Doug Lovegrove in the #1 and Shon Pointers 20P all were involved. This brought out a complete restart with only Lovegrove able to rejoin the battle. Jason Miller led the first official lap in his #77 with Clint Benson’s 100, the 17 of Dan Satriano and Tim Hilfiker in the 20 close behind. Benson moved to the lead on lap 2 with Mike Boston leaping all of the way into second in the 51. Satriano advanced to third the next time around with Jason Danley taking the 4X into fourth after another circuit. Tyler Drueke took the 12 past Danley for fourth on lap 7. The first caution of the race came on lap 8 when Miller spun to the infield. At that time, it was Benson, Boston, Satriano and Drueke the top 4. Boston used his favorite line around Eagle Raceway, the VERY top, to pass Benson on the restart as Drueke moved up to third. 3 more laps were done when Drueke moved up to second and Danley again took fourth. Hilfiker looped it with 11 laps remaining for the final caution of the evening. Danley moved up to third with 10 to go, but from there to the finish nothing slowed Boston except lapped traffic as he held on to win with Drueke second, Danley third and Benson fourth.
This was Boston’s first win this season, after having visited victory lane twice in a row last year. His charge came from outside the fifth row at the start. When I spoke with Boston, I said, “It’s about time, Mike!” and inquired what he thought of the race. In typical Mike Boston fashion, he said “It’s about time, Mike!”. He continued by saying “Tonight was my kind of track. The rougher the better!! I mean, sometimes it can bite you, but it is what it is. Roger did a good job getting it to where we could race on it at all. It was rough, but there was a LOT of water on there after the rain. We had a great car tonight. Last week we had just a 7-cylinder motor. Zach Woods forgot to connect the 8th one up for us, so we ran the whole night on 7 cylinders. It was just one of those deals; nobody’s fault of course. They got it fixed and the car ran great!! My hat is off to Zach at Speedway Engines though. I’ve been with that guy for 20 years now. I started out with Eckley Racing Engines when he worked for Jay, then he bought out Jay. Then Zach went out on his own until Speedway bought out Zach and he’s still working for them. He’s my one engine builder and I couldn’t be happier. There’s not a whole lot of people who can say that they’re still with the same engine builder that they started out with 20 years ago. And he’s who I’m going to finish with! I also want to mention Matt Talbot Kitchens. They are a great bunch of people and working for a great cause. I can’t thank them enough for what they do and if we can help the out, then that’s what its all about”. Boston’s sponsors include Moock Trucking and Boss Cleaning.
IMCA Sprint A-Feature 1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 3. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 4. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 5. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 6. Dan Satriano Papillion, Ne. 7. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 8. Zach Blurton Quinter, Ks. 9. Trey Gropp(r) Lincoln, Ne. 10. Danny Nekolite O’neill, Ne. 11. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 12. Jimmy Grasso Omaha, Ne. 13. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 14. Brandon Horton Omaha, Ne. 15. Mark Pace Lincoln, Ne. 16. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne. 17. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 18. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 19. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 20. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint B-Feature 1. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 2. Zach Blurton Quinter, Ks. 3. Mark Pace Lincoln, Ne. 4. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 5. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 6. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 7. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 8. Rick Hansen Omaha, Ne. 9. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne. 10. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 11. Ryan Kitchen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 12. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 13. Josh Riggins(r) Lincoln, Ne. 14. Trevor Grossenbacher Hickman, Ne. 15. Tige Jensen(r) Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 1 1. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 2. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne. 3. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 4. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 5. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 6. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 7. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 8. Rick Hansen Omaha, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 2 1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 3. Clint Benson Papillion, Ne. 4. Jimmy Grasso Omaha, Ne. 5. Tige Jensen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 6. Mark Pace Lincoln, Ne. 7. Chase Weiler Lincoln, Ne. 8. Dwight Carter Lincoln, Ne.
IMCA Sprint Heat 3 1. Danny Nekolite O’neill, Ne. 2. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 3. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 4. Brandon Horton Omaha, Ne. 5. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 6. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 7. Zach Blurton Quinter, Ks.
IMCA Sprint Heat 4 1. Dan Satriano Papillion, Ne. 2. Shon Pointer Grand Island, Ne. 3. Nathan Weiler Lavista, Ne. 4. Trey Gropp(r) Lincoln, Ne. 5. Trevor Grossenbacher Hickman, Ne. 6. Ryan Kitchen(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 8. Josh Riggins(r) Lincoln, Ne.