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Interview with 2024 Stock Car Champion Nick Beckman & recap of 1st practice night

By Greg Soukup
It was 82 degrees when I pulled through the gates of Eagle Raceway Saturday for the first of 2 Open House Practice Nights. It wasn’t hot though because it was also windy with a capital W!!!!!
My racing family and I didn’t care though because it had been 7 months and 4 days since the Stewart Alley Memorial Race. My main thoughts as I took a seat were happy ones because I knew I would hear the roar of finely tuned engines, get a whiff of race fuel and see cars flinging dirt as they hauled around the 1/3 mile high banks of One Badass Racetrack, Eagle Raceway. Couple that with the fact that I would be seeing my racing family again after such a long delay and I was one happy guy.
Representatives from each of the weekly classes, the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks, A1 Iron IMCA Stock Cars, Avid Realty IMCA Sportmods, Nebraska’s Best Lawn and Landscape IMCA Modifieds and Nebraska Septic IMCA Racesaver Sprint Cars were there. A nice addition to the evening was 4 representatives from the SLMR Late Model class and 4 Vessco Inc. IMAC Mod Lites who showed up to check out the track before their appearance later this season.
When I made my way into the pits to say hello, I caught Nick Beckman, who won the points championship in the A1 Iron IMCA Stock Cars last year at Eagle. All of you that know Nicholas understand that he is a shy, soft-spoken, retiring man (NOT!!!). He was his usual happy self as we talked and apologized for not having gotten back to me before as he had been busy getting race cars ready for the season.
Last year’s crown was not his first at Eagle, having taken the championship in 2010 in the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock class.
“I ran a couple of races at the end of 2006 in a Hobby Stock and then ran my full rookie year in 2007. We finished 11th that year I think, 9th the next year, then 6th the next season and third the following year. We finally won the championship after 1 more season. I just kind of played around in a sportmod for a few years, dropped back down to a hobby stock, getting a few more wins. I heard that they were bringing the stock car class to the track, and I’ve always wanted one so I moved up to the A! Iron IMCA Stock Car. We finally put everything together and won the points last season”.
I mentioned that he hadn’t won a great number of races last season, to which he replied “No; we were just consistent, and that’s what paid off. We were able to finish every race. That was thanks to my wife, Brielle. If it wasn’t for her putting up with all of the late nights we probably wouldn’t be doing this. Also, my crew; Nick Danley, Nick Jensen, Elliot, Jason Applebee and of course my son Cash. There are a lot of people who help out week in and week out and I can’t thank them all enough”.
When asked about his plans for the 2025 season he said “I want to watch my son Cash grow. He’s wheeling a stock car for the first time this year now that he’s 14. He’s looking pretty good so far. I’ll be watching him as much as I can and race myself on the side.
Nick’s sponsors include Ace Electric, Performance 66, Otte Oil and Propane, BBR Racing, S&L Trenching, The Neighbors, The Beverage Connection, Ron Fox Motorsports and Extreme.
Next up at America’s Home Track is the second Open House Practice Night on Thursday April 17th. Front gate admission is free with pit passes costing $20. Practice will run from 7:00 to 10:00.
Then, on Friday April 18th the season kicks off in earnest as Auto Trans Matic and Stop ‘N Shop present night 1 of the 2025 Icebreaker Challenge. The following classes will be competing for the amounts mentioned:
Nebraska's Best Modifieds: $1,000 to win, $250 to start
Avid Realty SportMods: $800 to win, $150 to start
A1 Iron Stock Cars: $1,000 to win, $150 to start
Valentino's Hobby Stocks: $500 to win, $80 to start
If a Modified, Stock Car or SportMod driver can win both Friday and Saturday's 'A' Feature, they win a "cool" $1,000 bonus sponsored by Auto Trans Matic. Since there are Two Days of racing two complete shows, you won’t want to miss a single minute of the action.
ORDER OF EVENTS:
Pits Open: 4PM
Driver Check-in ends: 6:30PM
Grandstands open: 6:15PM
Hot Laps: 6:30PM
-Stock Cars
-SportMods
-Hobby Stocks
-Modifieds
Racing: 7:30PM
Front gate admission for adults is $15, youths 6-12 are just $5 and children 5 and under are free and pit passes are $35. This is a special event so regular event passes are not valid.
Then, on Saturday Night 2 of the 2025 Icebreaker Challenge again presented by Auto Trans Matic and Stop ‘N Shop takes to the high banked 1/3 mile.
The following classes will be competing for the amounts mentioned:
Nebraska's Best Modifieds: $2,000 to win, $270 to start
Avid Realty SportMods: $800 to win, $150 to start
A1 Iron Stock Cars: $1,000 to win, $150 to start
Nebraska Septic Sprint Cars: $2,000 to win, $400 to start
Again, if a Stock Car, Modified or SportMod driver can win both Friday and Saturday's 'A' Feature, they win a "cool" $1,000 bonus sponsored by Auto Trans Matic.
Order of events:
Pits Open: 3PM
Driver Check-in ends: 5PM
Grandstands open: 4:45PM
Hot Laps: 5PM
Racing kicks off at 6:00.
Adult front gate admission is $18. Youths 6-12 are $5 with children 5 and under free.

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