Love, Roth, Ware, Andersen & Krichau win Summer Sizzle!

Love, Roth, Ware, Andersen & Krichau win Summer Sizzle!

By Greg Soukup

119 cars in the pits, a great crowd in the stands and fabulous mid-summer weather set the tone for Summer Sizzle, presented by Hormel and Hotsy Saturday night at Eagle Raceway.

All preliminary races were run without serious incident.

The first circuit in the Hoosier Tire IMCA Sport Modified A saw Nick Beckman’s 22, the 9T of Logan Thompsen, Ken Eckhoff in the 5 and Hunter Weber’s 99W the top 4. Roger Sluka passed Weber on lap 2 for fourth. Dana Deeke’s 36X stopped at the top of turn 2 on lap 3 for a caution. Deeke and Adam Vrbka’s 7V spun in turn 4 on the fourth circuit. Trent Roth took advantage of the restart to put the 14T into fourth as Thompson took over the lead. Roth moved up to third the next lap and took over second after another lap while Derek Hall put the 44D into fourth. Hall moved up to third with 8 to go. Roth grabbed the lead the next lap. Shawn Harker jumped the 40 up to third with 5 laps remaining, putting Hall back to fourth. The final top 4 were Roth, Thompsen, Harker and Hall.

This marked Roth’s second 2017 victory at Eagle Raceway, having come from 12th. “The track was really racy tonight. Everyone was kind of staying on the bottom, so I tried the high side, and it worked for me. After I got out front, I kind of left them. I want to thank my Dad for everything he does for me. Also my crew guys; Mike, my brother Anthony, my little sister Carissa, my girlfriend Taryn and all of my fans who come out” he stated. Roth’s sponsors include Speedway Crate Engines, Razaor Chassis, Roth Racing Performance, Wild West Barbecue, Fast Shaft, Outpace and R & R Sandblasting and Painting.

Tyler Jackson’s 13T, Dave Carter in the 2C, the 9R of Charlie Bartels and Albert Kiihne’s 85 led the first lap of the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock Feature. Kiihne advanced to the third spot on lap 2 and the next lap saw Jeff Watts pass Bartels in his #66 to grab fourth. Watts lost the spot to the 6R of Roy Armstrong on lap 6. Armstrong spun to the infield with 9 to go, putting Watts back into fourth. Kiihne advanced to the lead with 7 to go. Jeff Ware cracked the top 4 the next lap in the 83. 1 more lap saw Ware jump up to second with Carter holding third and Watts fourth. Another circuit was in the books when Jackson passed Watts for fourth. Watts spun in turn 4 with 2 to go, setting up a green, white checkered finish. The restart saw Brett Saathoff put the 11B into fourth, making the final top 4 Ware, Kiihne, Carter and Saathoff.

His fifth win in 2017 extended Ware’s points lead. “That was a good race. We started 14th and that’s a long ways to go trying to get up to first, on a track that fast. But, if the car’s good and you can put it anywhere, on the top or bottom it helps. When you have a good track and a good car, the combination just works together. I want to thank Demon Decals; Charger Chassis, Instant Automotive, T & R Auto Repair and Madison Invents. Also, I want to thank Taylor, Hayden, my Mom and Dad and everyone else that makes this possible” he said.

The Kaplan University IMCA Modified A Feature had the 3T of Nate Thompson, Bob Ruisinger’s 7, Dustin Andersen in the 8A and the 86 of Justin Wulf the first 4 back to the flag stand on lap 1.  Andersen moved up to second on lap 3 with Wulf following him into third the next time around. Bob Zoubek put the 5S into fourth on lap 9 as Andersen took over the lead. Andersen lost the top spot back to Thompson with 10 to go but got it back with 6 laps left as Chad Andersen took over fourth. The final change in the top 4 came with 3 laps remaining as Wulf moved up to second. That made the final top 4 Dustin Andersen, Wulf, Thompson and Chad Andersen.

This was Andersen’s third 2017 Eagle win. He commented “I started off really good. Then I had that little hiccup and thought I gave it away, but then I fought my way back to third and just stuck with it and drove back by them. That track was fast! It started getting a little rough getting into one and three, but other than that it was great for the way that I like it. Hammer down on the high side and win”. Andersen’s sponsors include Precise Racing Products, Lawnsmith, BSB, Razor Chassis, Southern Transport, D-Sign Shop Flat Foot Trucking and Nebraska’s Best Lawn.

Danny Morris’ 22B led the first time around in the Mountain Dew Kick Start IMCA Sport Compact A with the 23 of Tyler Masek, Brian Cronin in the 35 and the 24R of Dillon Richards second through fourth. Sarah Cronin passed Richards for fourth on lap 2 but gave the spot back the next time around. Masek grabbed the lead on lap 4 with Brian Cronin moving to second, Richards taking over third and Morris falling to fourth. Brian Haller’s 2CS, the 17 of Steffen Oaks and RJ Maas all stopped at the top of turns 1 and 2 with 10 to go. Morris went to the pits, handing the fourth spot to the 5H of Shawn Hein. Richards took advantage of the restart to move up to second as Cole Krichau passed Hein to put the 30K into fourth. Krichau moved up to third the next lap. Nick Lindblad advanced the 26 to fourth with 7 to go. The red lights came on with 5 to go as Haller made very hard contact with the guardrail in three and rolled several times. Haller was not seriously injured. Richards took the lead with 3 to go as Krichau moved to second, Masek fell to third and Lindblad held fourth. Lindblad passed Masek with 2 to go and Krichau managed to move under and past Richards coming out of turn 4 on the final lap making the top 4 Krichau, Richards, Lindblad and Masek.

“This was my third win this year; 2 legit ones and one that I don’t feel too good about. I think I started a row ahead of where I usually do, outside row five. Everybody was just getting into everybody right off the bat. I thought there was going to be a caution right after we went green because everybody was spinning out in front of me. I got caught up with some people and the top 5 cars got away from me. Then we got a caution and I got back together with them. Then I got caught up in another wreck and they got away from me again. But, it kind of worked itself out. I guess it was fate that I was supposed to stay up there. I feel like I had a better line on the bottom than Dillon, but he kept trying to force his way down, so I decided I wasn’t going to let him have it. It worked to my advantage and I ended up getting to the bottom. I went door to door with him down the backstretch, and I knew that if I just drove it in hard that last time that I had a chance” said Krichau. Krichau’s sponsors include Larry’s Auto Recyclers and Moonlight Ranch.

The last race of the night, the A Main for the Racesaver IMCA Sprint Cars had Ron Fox out front in the 5 with Brandon Horton’s 1B, the 0 of Chase Weiler and the 22 of Kaleb Johnson lead the field after 1 circuit. Mike Boston passed Johnson on lap 6 to put the 51 into fourth and moved up to third 2 laps later after contact with the 93 of Ryan King, causing King to come to a halt on the back stretch. Boston was put to the rear of the field as a result, moving Johnson back to fourth. Weiler moved up to second with 10 to go. Johnson moved up to third with 6 circuits remaining. Another lap was in the books as Nate Weiler moved into fourth in his 4W. Nate Weiler passed Johnson on the final circuit. The final top 4 were Love, Chase Weiler, Nate Weiler and Johnson.

This was Love’s first ever Racesaver IMCA Sprint Car victory in his third year competing in the class, putting him in company with 3 others who claimed their initial win this year. He was also the 12th different winner out of 15 races held at Eagle Raceway this season in the sprint car division. “We ran 360’s out here for quite a while, but we decided to take a 6 year break before we decided to do it again. I like the Racesaver sprints; it’s a lot of fun. We’ve been struggling a little bit this year, but we’re starting to get all of the bugs worked out. So, hopefully we can do good when the Nationals come around. The car was working really good, and my crew did a heck of a job. I tried driving the wheels off of it, and ended up winning the darned thing. I want to thank my brother Roger; he’s the one that owns this darned thing and puts all of the money in it. I just work on it and get to drive it. You can’t beat that deal. Also, I have my nephew Kellen, my other brother Ken and Dean Wollen who have helped. We put a lot of time into this thing all through the week to get ready for Saturday night all of the time. We’re just really glad that things went well tonight” he said. Love’s sponsors include KRL Motorsports and Assassin Racing Engines.

There are just 4 more regular season shows left in 2017. Next Saturday is Junior Fan Club and Scout Night, presented by Colby Ridge and Kaplan University. Blinky the Clown will be there from 5:30 to 7:30 for the kids. There will be free car rides for the kids at intermission.

Front gates open at 5:15, hot laps begin at 5:30 and racing kicks off at 6:30. Adult front gate admission is $10 and kids 12 and under are free for this event.

Pit gates open at 4 o’clock with pit passes costing $25.

Share this post