Baker, Drueke, Grossenbacher, Berck, Piersol & Anderson conquer the NE Cup

By Greg Soukup

The words that every race fan hates to hear is ‘Last race of the season’. Although Sunday’s Nebraska Cup presented by Hoosier Tire and Duros Dent Works was the finale for 2019 at Eagle Raceway the racing was something to celebrate. With 5 classes of cars in the pits there was something for each and every fan in the stands.

The Precise Racing Sprint Series of Nebraska Feature saw Kaleb Johnson’s 22 lead lap #1 with Trevor Grossenbacher’s 95, the 51 of Mike Boston and Chad Koch in the 22C rounding out the top 4. Koch passed Boston for third on lap 2 and Joey Danley also got by Boston for fourth the next lap. Danley moved up to third 2 laps later. Lap 11 saw Jason Martin put the 5X into fourth. Grossenbacher used the high line to take the top spot on lap 14. There were 10 laps left when Boston’s car went up and over in turn 2, bringing out the red flag. Martin advanced to third 2 laps after the restart, lost the spot to Danley the next lap but jumped up to second after another circuit as Jake Bubak put the 74B into fourth. Bubak moved up to third the next lap. Martin pulled a huge move going into turns 1 and 2 on the final lap but failed to make it stick allowing Bubak to move up to second. The final top 3 were Grossenbacher, Bubak, Martin and Danley.

“It was a lot of fun tonight. Rick Forbes is the car owner and it took all year long to finally get a win for him. I’m happy and thankful to Mark Burch for letting me have a 360 motor to run tonight with the Nebraska 360’s. The night didn’t start out good in that class, but we ended up having a good night there as well. The Racesaver feature was awesome! It was close at the end with lapped traffic we had a great car and had a great time tonight. I want to thank Mark Burch again as well as Rick Forbes for making it possible to race tonight” he stated. Grossenbacher’s sponsors include the Team Jack Foundation, Rick Forbes Motorsports, Husker Diesel, Skytop Towers, WC’s South, Lincoln Chamber and Visitors Bureau, Restore A Muscle Car and Stop N Shop.

Trevor Baker won the A Feature for the MCSCA, Brandon Piersol and Kevin Anderson won the 2 A Mains for the GOTRA cars.

Next up was the finale for the Carpetland Nebraska 360 Sprint Series. Don Droud Jr. in the 2D, Tyler Drueke in the 1B, Adam Gullion’s 21 and the 53 of Jack Dover were the first four back to the flag stand on lap 1. Dover passed Gullion on lap 2.  Drueke got around Droud the next lap as Jason Martin put the 82 into fourth. Dover advanced to second on lap 8 with Martin moving up to third on lap 14. Dover attempted to get past Drueke coming out of turn 4 with 2 laps remaining but struck the front stretch wall. Not knowing about the damage to his racer he ended up slamming hard into the implement tire guarding the pit entrance. He walked back to the pits, but his mount was finished for the evening.  That moved Martin to second, Droud to third and the 24BH of Joey Danley to fourth. With lapped cars left in the running order Drueke held on for the win.

He stated “That was a pretty good race. I want to thank Craig Boltz for letting me run his car. Also Jay, Mike, Robbie, Alex and everyone else who helps Craig with the car. Last Sunday while we were standing around waiting for the A Feature of the IMCA Sprint Car Racesaver Nationals if I wanted to come and drive it this week. I think this is a pretty good result for the first night out in the car, getting the win! I knew Jack had to be coming. I got past a couple of lapped cars, but I got to a point where it was in 1, 2, 3 and 4 on the top with lapped cars. The top was so dominant that I really didn’t have anywhere else to go. I kind of tried the bottom but I knew that killed my speed. I knew he was coming so when Jack slid me I knew that I had to get back in front of him, get back to the top and make him do something else. He had that unfortunate deal in turn 1, and I hope he’s alright and the car is alright. All in all, it was a really fun night”. Drueke’s sponsors include Zoz Farms, Drueke Trucking, Gordon Electric Inc., Jeffres Trucking, Cornhusker 800, TD Signs and Graphics, Drueke Ranch, Agri-Builders Inc., Double Z, Angel Energy Services, True Trucking and Danner Spray Foam.

The last competition of the evening was the A Feature for the Malvern Bank Super Late Model Series. Kyle Berck took advantage of having started on the pole to put his #14 out front of the first circuit with the 15 of Jason O’Brien second, Brian Kosiski third in the 52 and Andrew Kosiski’s 53 fourth. That running order held until 8 laps remained when Corey Zeitner passed Andrew Kosiski to put the #19 into fourth. At the finish it was Berck, O’Brien, Brian Kosiski and Zeitner the top 4.

This was Berck’s 4^th victory out of the last 5 times the series visited Eagle Raceway. I mentioned his record and he said “I didn’t realize that we were that good coming into this race. I was looking at notes from 2017. That’s all that I could go by. You have a good book of notes and even though it’s a different car and a different motor some basics never change. And Eagle doesn’t seem to change a lot because it’s kind of a unique place. We knew coming into tonight that if we could qualify good in our heat race that we would earn the pole spot. I would have preferred to start outside, but we got a good jump on the start, got out there right away and set sail. It was just a matter of keeping it out of the wall and keeping it away from the lapped cars. There’s a ton of people that help to pull this racing thing off for me. There’s no way that any 1 or 2 guys could get this done. This week we averaged about 35 hours working on the car, and this was an easy week. It’s all after hours, sacrificing time with our families. It’s a job, but we love it. I have to also thank my Dad, my sister Mike Dierks, Stephanie Strobel. They all put their heart into this. My wife lets me spend a lot of time in the shop, but thankfully the shop is right next to us. It just takes a heck of a crew to pull this off” he related. Berck’s sponsors include Aurora Agronomy, Aurora Cooperative, Strobel Manufacturing, Missile Chassis, Buffalo Stevens, Campbells Farms.

RESULTS:

SSN Sprint A-Feature 1. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 2. Jake Bubak 3. Jason Martin Lincoln, Ne. 4. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 5. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 6. Chad Koch(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 8. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 9. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 10. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 11. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 12. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 13. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 14. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 15. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 16. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 17. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 18. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 19. Josh Riggins(r) Lincoln, Ne. 20. Mike Moore Des Moines, Ia.

SSN Sprint B-Feature 1. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 2. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 3. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 4. Josh Riggins(r) Lincoln, Ne. 5. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 6. Nate Johnson 7. Alex Salzman(r) 8. Aaron Allgood(r) Albion, Ne. 9. Tim Fricke Lincoln, Ne. 10. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne. 11. Tom Belsky(r) North Platte, Ne. 12. Kayla Stoops Kennard, Ne. DNS. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. DNS. Richard Weers Lincoln, Ne. DNS. Joe Miller Vail, Ia.

SSN Sprint Heat 1 1. Jason Martin Lincoln, Ne. 2. Mike Moore Des Moines, Ia. 3. Doug Lovegrove Waverly, Ne. 4. Stuart Snyder Lincoln, Ne. 5. Toby Chapman Panama, Ne. 6. Tim Hilfiker Greenwood, Ne. 7. Kayla Stoops Kennard, Ne. 8. Nate Johnson

SSN Sprint Heat 2 1. Adam Gullion Lincoln, Ne. 2. Trevor Grossenbacher Bennet, Ne. 3. Jason Danley Lincoln, Ne. 4. Gene Ackland Martell, Ne. 5. Brandon Horton Waterloo, Ne. 6. Richard Weers Lincoln, Ne. 7. Tom Belsky(r) North Platte, Ne. 8. Jason Miller Omaha, Ne.

SSN Sprint Heat 3 1. Tyler Drueke Eagle, Ne. 2. Chad Koch(r) Lincoln, Ne. 3. Ryan King Bennet, Ne. 4. Jake Bubak 5. Shayle Bade Lincoln, Ne. 6. Alex Salzman(r) 7. Aaron Allgood(r) Albion, Ne. 8. Tim Fricke Lincoln, Ne.

SSN Sprint Heat 4 1. Mike Boston Lincoln, Ne. 2. Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls, Sd. 3. Joey Danley Lincoln, Ne. 4. Boyd Peterson Ithaca, Ne. 5. Neil Nickolite Bellwood, Ne. 6. Josh Riggins(r) Lincoln, Ne. 7. Joe Miller Vail, Ia.

Nebraska 360 Sprint Series

Heat Race #1 Results (8 Laps)

1. Tyler Drueke
2. Adam Gullion
3. Jay Russell
4. Shayle Bade
5. Luke Cochran
6. Rich Cerveny
7. R. Topper

Heat Race #2 Results (8 Laps)

1. Joey Danley
2. Ryan Roberts
3. Jason Martin
4. Monty Ferriera
5. Dylan Opdahl
6. Trevor Grossenbacher (DNF)

Heat Race #3 Results (8 Laps)

1. Jack Dover
2. Don Droud Jr.
3. Stuart Snyder
4. Seth Brahmer
5. Jake Bubak
6. John Klabunde

A Feature Results (25 Laps)

1. Tyler Drueke
2. Jason Martin
3. Don Droud Jr
4. Joey Danley
5. Trevor Grossenbacher
6. Jay Russell
7. Jake Bubak
8. Stuart Snyder
9. Seth Brahmer
10. Adam Gullion
11. Monty Ferriera
12. Shayle Bade
13. Dylan Opdahl
14. Rich Cerveny
15. Jack Dover (DNF)
16. Ryan Roberts (DNF)
17. Luke Cochran (DNF)
18. Jr Topper (DNF)
19. John Klabunde (DNS)

B Feature 1

B Feature 2

Heat 1

Heat 2

Heat 3

Heat 4