Grossenbacher and Darland win at the Rumble in the Bullring
By Greg Soukup
After the weather won both nights of the Icebreaker Challenge last weekend, it appeared that Mother Nature might prevail yet again Friday night. But, the rain held off just long enough to allow the Rumble in the Bullring to be run last evening.
The night began with Dave Darland setting the bar in qualifying for the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car series with a 13.586.
The Precise Racing Sprint Series of Nebraska heat 3 saw Blake Peterson contact the backstretch wall and come to rest with a ruined racer. Peterson was not injured, but was through for the night.
The USAC B feature was stopped when Tony Rost’s 99 contacted the turn 1 wall and spun in the air. Rost also wasn’t badly hurt, but he could not continue.
Lap 1 of the Sprint Series of Nebraska IMCA Racesaver main event saw the 1B of Brandon Horton out front followed by the 35 of Trevor Grossenbacher, the 9X of Jake Bubak and Doug Lovegrove in the 1. Grossenbacher grabbed the lead on lap 2 as Clint Benson moved the 100 into fourth. Bubak passed Horton on lap 4 and Benson also moved around Horton on the 6th circuit to take third. Adam Gullion took over 4th in the 91 on lap 14. The contest ran green to checkered with Grossenbacher going up in a huge cloud of steam as radiator hose blew as he came out of turn 4 on the final lap. Grossenbacher limped to the win with Bubak second, Benson third and Gullion fourth.
This was Grossenbacher’s first victory in an IMCA Racesaver sprint car. “I love winning in any kind of car, and I plan on being here quite a bit this year. I’ll also be running in the Eagle Nationals on May 30th too. It’s always best to start on the front row and I had to take advantage of it” Grossenbacher said.
Jon Stanbrough’s led the finale for the Amsoil USAC sprint feature in his #81 with the 21X of Chris Windom and Tracy Hines’ 4 hot on his push bumper. Dave Darland moved the 71P into third on lap 2. C.J. Leary smacked the turn 1 guard rail on lap 6 and had his #30 towed to the pits. Windom took over the top spot on the restart as Stanbrough began to fall back and Chase Stockton put the #32 into third. The final slowing in the action came with 12 to go as Robert Ballou suffered a flat right rear on the #12. Darland moved past Windom in heavy traffic on lap 26 and Tracy Hines retook third on lap 28. At the finish it was Darland, Windom and Hines the top 3.
This was Darland’s second victory in a row at Eagle Raceway after winning last year’s Rumble. But, this one showed what “The People’s Champion” was all about as he pulled off the hat trick. Not only did he turn the quickest lap in qualifying, he also won his heat after starting sixth and then put the cherry on top of his night by coming home first in the A Main. “This has always been a good track for me. Tracks like this are my favorite anyway. Tacky with high banks, a great shape….that’s where I run best” Darland related.
Tonight is the season opener for weekly racing at Eagle Raceway. All five classes will be in action as the Nebraska Lottery and Coors Light present Let there be Rock! Happy D Klown will be there from 5:30 to 7:30. The Nebraska Lottery will have their trailer on site and there will be a Rock ‘N Roll Challenge during intermission.
The Racesaver IMCA Sprints, Kaplan University IMCA Modifieds, NAPA IMCA Sport Modifieds, Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks and Sam’s Club IMCA Sport Compacts will all be racing.
Front gates will swing open at 5:15 with hot laps at 5:30 and racing starting at 6:30. Adult front gate admission is $10, youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free.
Pit gates open at 4 and pit admission is $25.
