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Grabouski, Nerud, Mallicoat & Richards are victorious at IceBreaker Challenge Night #1

STORY BY GREG SOUKUP- NIGHT 1 OF THE ICEBREAKER CHALLENGE
Night 1 of the 2025 Icebreaker Challenge, presented by Auto Trans Matic and Stop ‘N Shop was held last night at Eagle Raceway. There was a chill in the air but the action on the high banked 1/3 mile kept the crowd on the edge of their seats in anticipation of the spectacular finishes throughout the heats, preliminary features and A Mains for the 4 classes.
I hadn’t thought about it until later in the evening, but last night marked the beginning of my 28th year of being associated with Eagle Raceway. What better way to mark the occasion than seeing some great racing at America’s Home Track? And great racing is exactly what we all saw!!
There were no serious incidents during the preliminary racing.
First up for their A Main were the A1 Iron IMCA Stock Cars. Jordan Grabouski took advantage of starting on the front row and grabbed the lead on lap 1 in the #30, followed closely by the 5B of Matt Boucher, Chad Andersen in the 8C and the 44X of Cash Beckman. Andersen got past Boucher on lap 2 for second as Ryan Gilland’s 46 took over fourth after contact with Beckman got Beckman loose. Lap 3 saw Beckman come to a stop just inside the infield on the front stretch. Kyle Vanover put the #19 into fourth the next time around. The yellow flag flew on lap 5 as Beckman’s car was deemed to be too close to the racing surface. Boucher and Vanover made contact on the restart, sending Boucher to the infield and moving Vanover into third and Gilland back up to fourth. The next restart saw Zach Bohlmeyer’s 24Z come to a halt at the bottom of turns 1 and 2. The top 4 then began a breakaway from the balance of the field, stretching it to a full straightaway with 3 to go. From there to the finish the top 4 remained unchanged with Grabouski winning by over 3 seconds over Andersen with Vanover third and Gilland fourth.
Grabouski is no stranger to Eagle Raceway’s stock car class, having won the championship in 2022. “I had a great stock car tonight. It’s fun when you’re clicking like this. We just need to keep making little changes to try and make it faster. The modified feature is going to be intense later on. The track is going to be a little treacherous and we’ll hopefully out on a heck of a show for the fans”. I inquired as to whether we were going to see him more at Eagle this season and he said “Yeah! We’re going to race a little bit more here and see what we can do”. Jordan’s sponsors include Brand X Racecars, Friesen Chevrolet, CPD Racing Shocks, Twin Rivers Auto Group, Hergott Farms, Schmidt’s Inc., Wehr’s Machine, Stone Oilfield Service, Nelson Tree Service, Mook Trucking, WoJo Painting, Big Worm’s, Keyser, BP Race Fuels and Chad Smith Carburetors.
Next up were the Avid Realty IMCA Sportmods. The initial start saw Derek Hall’s 44D spin in turns 1 and 2, collecting the 76 of Lance Borgman. Tyler Nerud used his front row starting spot to end lap 1 in first in the 5T with 31R of James Hines second, Arie Schouten third in his 24RE and Gary Saathoff fourth in the 96. Schouten got past Hines for second on lap 2. Mason Richards cracked the top 4 on lap 3, taking over fourth from Saathoff before advancing to third the following circuit. Adam Vrbka put the 7V into fourth on lap 5. Cole Wayman’s V18W slowed dramatically on lap 7, bringing out a caution. Vrbka moved up to third on lap 10. The final change in the top 4 came with 8 to go as Matt Andrews took over the fourth spot in his #22. The final top 4 were Nerud, Schouten, Vrbka and Andrews.
“I hadn’t been here for a couple of years, so it felt great to get the win. We were lucky enough to draw at the front, so we didn’t have to deal with all of the chaos mid-pack. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky I guess. I didn’t really know if anyone was close to me. My Dad was giving me signals up in turn 1 but I stopped looking with 5 or 6 to go because nothing was changing. I had less than a straightaway lead so I just kept driving it like they were on my bumper because if I started backing off I started screwing up. So, I kept the hammer down and it ended well for me”. Tyler’s sponsors include Kovar Sales and Service, Precision Performance, Hogemeyer Seeds, Blue River Ag, Best Hybrids, Noonan Industries and Golden Harvest.
The Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stock Feature’s start saw Tyler Ramsey loop the 72T in front of the whole field in turns 1 and 2. Luckily, there was just a mad scramble to miss him and Dillon Richards hitting him hard with his front bumper, bending it badly. The first official lap lead was held by the 19H of Colin Hein, with Dave Carter’s 2C second, Brandon Bombardo third in the 51B with Richards holding fourth in the 24R. Richards passed Bombardo on lap 2. The next lap saw Carter get loose after a bump by Hein. Richards grabbed the lead moving Hein to second with Neil Pella putting the 3N into third with Bombardo fourth. Roy Armstrong passed Bombardo the next time around, putting the 6R into fourth. There were just 11 laps left when the red flag flew for a very dangerous incident. Tanner Dowty’s 7T nearly flipped coming to the flag stand but not quite, hitting the front stretch wall and coming to a halt on all 4 tires. Tanner was not seriously injured. Dan Markham’s 6 and the 7S of Nick Shannon spun in turns 3 and 4 but kept going, avoiding a caution. Cody Williams passed Armstrong with 7 to go, putting the #77 into fourth place and moved up to third the next lap. Williams and Pella both passed Hein on the final lap, making the top 4 Richards, Williams, Pella and Hein.
Dillon was the points champion in the Valentino’s IMCA Hobby Stocks last year and picked up right where he left off after starting in fifth. I asked him about the first lap incident and he said “I don’t know what happened. That guy spun out on his own and I had nowhere to go. It helps starting towards the front and the track was really racey so that was awesome. I’ll take the win, especially without being able to turn left after the bumper started rubbing the tires. I need to let everyone know that I owe a big thanks to Mom and Dad and my crew Drake, Bud, Ed and Ben. Also, my wife Kaylee and my daughter Paisley”. Dillon’s sponsors include Koozer Painting, Fester’s Bait and Tackle, Swift Racing Springs, S & L Trenching, Noonan Industries LLC, Multi Fire Plug Wires, Aero Wheels, Integra Shocks, Backspin Entertainment, Van’s Waterproofing, Toy Scout, Nelson Tree Service, Cat’s Fireworks, Seven2Carts, Epp Farms, Wiring Solutions, Precision Auto Tune Inc., Neapco, In Memory of Jr Craig, In Memory of Tom Miller, Troy Cepak, Jet Racing, Extreme Motorsports, Schafer’s Oil, Schoenfeld Headers, Inline Healing, 4G’s Powder Coating and Freese Farms.
The finale for the night was the A Feature for the Nebraska’s Best Lawn and Landscape IMCA Modifieds. Jaxon Saathoff’s 96, the 11 of Izac Mallicoat, Norm Ziegenbein in the 1Z and the 62 of Justin Zeitner led the initial circuit. Zeitner moved up to third on lap 2 and Jordan Grabouski put the #30 into fourth. Grabouski got around Draper for third the next lap as Mallicoat took over the top spot from Saathoff. Grabouski continued his march to the front on lap 12, moving to second and then taking the lead from Mallicoat 2 laps later. Zeitner got back up to third the next time around. The stage was set for one of the most intense battles I’ve seen in a long time. Grabouski barely held off Mallicoat for the lead until 5 to go when Mallicoat took the top spot. Despite a furious challenge by Grabouski, including a last-ditch effort slide job out of turn 4 on the last lap Mallicoat held him off, winning by a scant .029 seconds. Your top 4 were Mallicoat, Grabouski, Zeitner and Saathoff.
This wasn’t the first time Mallicoat visited Eagle Raceway. His first visit was his first time ever to compete in a full modified at the Icebreaker Challenge 2 years ago. “I was running the bottom and couldn’t see anyone running the bottom so I expected to be good there, but I expected Jordan to be coming. He passed me but then made a few mistakes so I got back by him. It’s amazing to be able to pass him because he’s one of the best. We were lucky enough to get the win after a lucky draw”. Izak and Jordan ran the Texas Showdown earlier this year with Izaz taking home the preliminary win and Jordan winning the $10,000 finale. “The first night was almost the same scenario as tonight. I passed him back in the qualifier and won with him right on my bumper. Normally he just beats me (Laughing). Then the second night he beat me in the finale. Jordan is one of the toughest guys to race against because he’s so good and has so much experience. He’s one of the best! It boosts my confidence any time I’m able to pass him, that’s for sure. I want to thank my Dad and my Grandpa and Lance for all that they do. I asked him if he thought he could win again Saturday and he said “Hopefully! I guess we’ll see”.
Izak’s sponsors include Brand X Racecars, Aspen Aire, Excel Floor Covering, Maxim Trucking, TK Concrete, Keyser Manufacturing, Pave Craft, Omaha Steak House, Ross Coin and Gun, CPD Shocks, My Place, Wehr’s Machine, Farley’s, Josh Houseman, NAPA, Capitol Signs, Speedworks, FMC Masonry, DSR and A1B.
Next up is Night 2 of the 2025 Icebreaker Challenge. 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
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.
RESULTS:
IMCA Modifieds 25 Entries
A Feature 1 25 Laps

1. 11-Izac Mallicoat[2]; 2. 30-Jordan Grabouski[5]; 3. 62-Justin Zeitner[4]; 4. 96-Jaxon Saathoff[1]; 5. 8C-Chad Andersen[9]; 6. 27-Clint Homan[8]; 7. 81-Mike Densberger[7]; 8. 40-Shawn Harker[12]; 9. 12-Reed Payne[10]; 10. 5S-Bob Zoubek[16]; 11. 44K-Kelsie Black[13]; 12. 5H-Shawn Hein[19]; 13. 16-Austin Svoboda[11]; 14. 2T-Cameron Thompson[14]; 15. 1Z-Norm Ziegenbein[3]; 16. 3T-Nate Thompson[17]; 17. 21-Tracy Harr[18]; 18. 96J-Johnny Saathoff[20]; 19. 3-Dan Jackson[6]; 20. 13J-Jared Deterding[15]
   B Feature 1 10 Laps | 00:02:11.441
2. 5S-Bob Zoubek[1]; 2. 3T-Nate Thompson[2]; 3. 21-Tracy Harr[4]; 4. 5H-Shawn Hein[5]; 5. 96J-Johnny Saathoff[6]; 6. 3J-Jeremy Baker[8]; 7. 21T-Tyler Harr[7]; 8. (DNS) 4B-Brandon Verbeek; 9. (DNS) 44T-Tanner Black; 10. (DNS) 60-Adam Armstrong
   Heat 1 10 Laps
3. 96-Jaxon Saathoff[1]; 2. 40-Shawn Harker[7]; 3. 27-Clint Homan[5]; 4. 11-Izac Mallicoat[3]; 5. 44K-Kelsie Black[4]; 6. 5S-Bob Zoubek[8]; 7. 21-Tracy Harr[9]; 8. 21T-Tyler Harr[6]; 9. 60-Adam Armstrong[2]
   Heat 2 10 Laps
4. 81-Mike Densberger[4]; 2. 12-Reed Payne[1]; 3. 16-Austin Svoboda[3]; 4. 62-Justin Zeitner[8]; 5. 2T-Cameron Thompson[5]; 6. 3T-Nate Thompson[2]; 7. 5H-Shawn Hein[6]; 8. 3J-Jeremy Baker[7]
   Heat 3 10 Laps
5. 30-Jordan Grabouski[3]; 2. 8C-Chad Andersen[8]; 3. 3-Dan Jackson[4]; 4. 1Z-Norm Ziegenbein[1]; 5. 13J-Jared Deterding[2]; 6. 4B-Brandon Verbeek[7]; 7. 96J-Johnny Saathoff[5]; 8. 44T-Tanner Black[6]

IMCA SportMods 36 Entries
A Feature 1 20 Laps

1. 5T-Tyler Nerud[2]; 2. 24RE-Arie Schouten[3]; 3. 7V-Adam Vrbka[4]; 4. 22-Matthew Andrews[8]; 5. 18M-Mason Richards[7]; 6. 5D-Devyn Peterson[11]; 7. 7-Lee Horky[10]; 8. 24-Drake Bohlmeyer[6]; 9. 29-Gregg Hamman[19]; 10. 76L-Lance Borgman[13]; 11. 31R-James Hines[1]; 12. 6SJ-Shawn Pospisil[14]; 13. 19XX-Brandon Spanjer[15]; 14. 4Z-Zane Woodman[20]; 15. 31S-Jacob Swanson[16]; 16. V18W-Cole Wayman[12]; 17. 62-Robert Draper[17]; 18. 96-Gary Saathoff[5]; 19. 66-Trevor Noonan[18]; 20. 44D-Derek Hall[9]
   B Feature 1 12 Laps
2. 62-Robert Draper[1]; 2. 66-Trevor Noonan[7]; 3. 29-Gregg Hamman[6]; 4. 4Z-Zane Woodman[5]; 5. 25X-Joe Feyen[2]; 6. 2A-Theron Ahlman[11]; 7. 53-Brady Papineau[8]; 8. 33DH-Drew Hobaugh[4]; 9. 89-Colter Imes[12]; 10. 0NA-Ahnna Schouten[10]; 11. 20-Brayden Ahlers[9]; 12. (DNS) 11H-Nick Morris
   C Feature 1 10 Laps
3. 20-Brayden Ahlers[3]; 2. 0NA-Ahnna Schouten[1]; 3. 2A-Theron Ahlman[7]; 4. 89-Colter Imes[5]; 5. 14M-Dan Latture[2]; 6. 70-Ray Harrington[11]; 7. 14K-Melissa Latture[9]; 8. 16L-Brayden Lockling[4]; 9. 17J-James Burklund[13]; 10. 75-Luke
   Williams[10]; 11. 83J-Clay Jones[6]; 12. (DNS) 31S-Jacob Swanson; 13. (DNS) 0-Michael Sherwood
   Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:12.000
4. 44D-Derek Hall[1]; 2. 22-Matthew Andrews[2]; 3. 96-Gary Saathoff[5]; 4. 76L-Lance Borgman[8]; 5. 62-Robert Draper[4]; 6. 4Z-Zane Woodman[7]; 7. 0NA-Ahnna Schouten[3]; 8. 89-Colter Imes[6]; 9. (DNS) 31S-Jacob Swanson
   Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:03:24.000
5. 5D-Devyn Peterson[2]; 2. 7V-Adam Vrbka[4]; 3. 24-Drake Bohlmeyer[3]; 4. 6SJ-Shawn Pospisil[1]; 5. 25X-Joe Feyen[8]; 6. 29-Gregg Hamman[5]; 7. 14M-Dan Latture[9]; 8. 83J-Clay Jones[6]; 9. 14K-Melissa Latture[7]
   Heat 3 8 Laps
6. 5T-Tyler Nerud[2]; 2. 24RE-Arie Schouten[5]; 3. 31R-James Hines[1]; 4. 19XX-Brandon Spanjer[8]; 5. 11H-Nick Morris[4]; 6. 66-Trevor Noonan[7]; 7. 20-Brayden Ahlers[6]; 8. 2A-Theron Ahlman[3]; 9. 75-Luke Williams[9]
   Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:04:01.000
7. V18W-Cole Wayman[4]; 2. 18M-Mason Richards[3]; 3. 7-Lee Horky[8]; 4. 31S-Jacob Swanson[10]; 5. 33DH-Drew Hobaugh[7]; 6. 53-Brady Papineau[5]; 7. 16L-Brayden Lockling[6]; 8. 17J-James Burklund[9]; 9. 70-Ray Harrington[2]; 10. 0-Michael Sherwood[1]

A Feature 1 18 Laps | 00:12:18.088

1. 24R-Dillon Richards[5]; 2. 77-Cody Williams[12]; 3. 3N-Neil Pella[7]; 4. 19H-Colin Hein[3]; 5. 51B-Brandon Bombardo[4]; 6. 6R-Roy Armstrong[8]; 7. 53T-Trenton Dowty[15]; 8. 24T-Tylan Lambertus[13]; 9. 2C-David Carter[2]; 10. 38-Brayden Hurley[16]; 11. 65-Brad Burhenne[20]; 12. 66G-Kyle Gannon[17]; 13. B4-Ben Becher[19]; 14. 10-Brad Schreiner[9]; 15. 69- Kenny Roberts[18]; 16. 6-Dan Markham[6]; 17. 7S-Nick Shannon[14]; 18. 2R-Ryan Roschewski[10]; 19. 7T-Tanner Dowty[11]; 20. 72T-Tyler Ramsey[1]
   B Feature 1 12 Laps | 00:04:32.090
2. 38-Brayden Hurley[1]; 2. 66G-Kyle Gannon[2]; 3. 69-Kenny Roberts[3]; 4. B4-Ben Becher[4]; 5. 65-Brad Burhenne[6]; 6. 13M-Justin Myre[9]; 7. 69E-Dakota Eccles[10]; 8. 10 4-Robert Salts[12]; 9. 4K-Kirsten Bruce[8]; 10. 62-Sam Blanton[11]; 11. 8-Travis Blythe[7]; 12. 4-Cody Cadwalader[13]; 13. 76H-Jason Hansen[5]; 14. 28A-Andrew Mazuch[15]; 15. (DNS) 98-Jared Jackson
   Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:02:21.091
3. 24R-Dillon Richards[1]; 2. 6-Dan Markham[4]; 3. 2C-David Carter[5]; 4. 7T-Tanner Dowty[2]; 5. 24T-Tylan Lambertus[10]; 6. 38-Brayden Hurley[7]; 7. B4-Ben Becher[6]; 8. 8-Travis Blythe[3]; 9. 69E-Dakota Eccles[8]; 10. 4-Cody Cadwalader[9]
   Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:08:06.906
4. 10-Brad Schreiner[1]; 2. 3N-Neil Pella[4]; 3. 77-Cody Williams[6]; 4. 72T-Tyler Ramsey[7]; 5. 7S-Nick Shannon[2]; 6. 66G-Kyle Gannon[9]; 7. 76H-Jason Hansen[8]; 8. 4K-Kirsten Bruce[3]; 9. 62-Sam Blanton[10]; 10. 98-Jared Jackson[5]
   Heat 3 8 Laps
5. 6R-Roy Armstrong[4]; 2. 19H-Colin Hein[3]; 3. 2R-Ryan Roschewski[8]; 4. 51B-Brandon Bombardo[7]; 5. 53T-Trenton Dowty[1]; 6. 69-Kenny Roberts[5]; 7. 65-Brad Burhenne[2]; 8. 13M-Justin Myre[10]; 9. 10 4-Robert Salts[9]; 10. 28A-Andrew Mazuch[6]

A Feature 1 20 Laps

1. 30-Jordan Grabouski[1]; 2. 8C-Chad Andersen[3]; 3. 19-Kyle Vanover[7]; 4. 46-Ryan Gilland[5]; 5. 13H-Travis Hatcher[11]; 6. 3-Dan Jackson[9]; 7. 21-Eric Rempel[18]; 8. 22S-Shane Stutzman[20]; 9. 84-Benji Legg[13]; 10. 72-Mike
   Lineberry[12]; 11. 18M-Mason Richards[16]; 12. 5J-Jakob Boucher[8]; 13. 5ELI-Marty Steinbach[19]; 14. 5B-Matt Boucher[2]; 15. 55X-Tim Drake[17]; 16. 51-Mike Scheinost[6]; 17. 13T-Tyler Jackson[10]; 18. 3T-Nate Thompson[14]; 19.
   24Z-Zach Bohlmeyer[15]; 20. 44X-Cash Beckman[4]
   B Feature 1 14 Laps | 00:16:41.948
2. 55X-Tim Drake[2]; 2. 21-Eric Rempel[1]; 3. 5ELI-Marty Steinbach[3]; 4. 22S-Shane Stutzman[7]; 5. 12X-Dylan Haney[13]; 6. 17TK-Travis Patterson[6]; 7. 6-Jeremy Down[15]; 8. 7-Riley Ruisinger[10]; 9. 5A-Austin Boucher[12]; 10. 71JJ-Jerod Bussen[9]; 11. 10J-Jeremy Bohlen[11]; 12. 66-Jeff Watts[5]; 13. 22-Nick Beckman[4]; 14. 25!-Trevor Baker[16]; 15. 6KRoger Elliot[8]; 16. 22TK-James Patterson[14]
   Heat 1 10 Laps
3. 5B-Matt Boucher[2]; 2. 5J-Jakob Boucher[1]; 3. 51-Mike Scheinost[4]; 4. 84-Benji Legg[5]; 5. 21-Eric Rempel[6]; 6. 66- Jeff Watts[3]; 7. 71JJ-Jerod Bussen[8]; 8. 12X-Dylan Haney[7]
   Heat 2 10 Laps | 00:02:58.204
4. 19-Kyle Vanover[3]; 2. 46-Ryan Gilland[4]; 3. 72-Mike Lineberry[2]; 4. 3T-Nate Thompson[1]; 5. 55X-Tim Drake[8]; 6. 17TK-Travis Patterson[6]; 7. 7-Riley Ruisinger[5]; 8. 22TK-James Patterson[7]
   Heat 3 10 Laps | 00:04:42.257
5. 13H-Travis Hatcher[8]; 2. 44X-Cash Beckman[3]; 3. 3-Dan Jackson[5]; 4. 24Z-Zach Bohlmeyer[7]; 5. 5ELI-Marty Steinbach[2]; 6. 22S-Shane Stutzman[4]; 7. 10J-Jeremy Bohlen[1]; 8. (DNF) 6-Jeremy Down[6]
   Heat 4 10 Laps | 00:02:48.494
6. 30-Jordan Grabouski[2]; 2. 8C-Chad Andersen[1]; 3. 13T-Tyler Jackson[3]; 4. 18M-Mason Richards[7]; 5. 22-Nick Beckman[8]; 6. 6K-Roger Elliot[6]; 7. 5A-Austin Boucher[5]; 8. 25!-Trevor Baker[4]

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