3/8/2026
Eagle Raceway
Interview with Nebraska Septic Sprint Car 2025 Champion Jason Danley
Story by Greg Soukup
Next in my series of interviews is a conversation I had with Jason Danley who repeated his 2024 points victory in 2025 in the IMCA Racesaver Sprint Car class.
Jason is, of course, a familiar sight at Eagle Raceway, having competed on the high banks in a sprint car for the past 38 years.
I asked about his thoughts on the past season, to which he replied “Overall, I think that we were fairly consistent and that’s what wins championships. I would like to have had more wins, and that’s been my focus this past winter; watching a lot of tape and trying to figure out areas that I can improve in. Whether it was the driver, or the set-up. For the most part we were consistent but it’s just that the field of sprints is so competitive and so equal. With the handicap lineups it’s so tough. Even if I make It through my heat race, the best case would have me starting 12th. If you don’t get the right breaks in the feature, it’s so hard to get to the front. Everybody has really stepped up their game. And with the rotating line-up of classes when the sprints run first and the track is juiced up everybody is so equal and so fast. I prefer it when the track widens out and you have a top and bottom groove and it’s slick so it puts the driver and set-up back into it. It’s so difficult with the handicap line-up to even get through the heat races. When the sprints ran last every week that meant that the track was as wide as it was going to be. I understand on Roger’s part he has to put a lot of moisture into the track because of the huge car counts he gets every week with 5 classes, otherwise the track would be taking rubber fast and that’s no good for anybody. There’s just no way to make the track perfect for all of the classes. For someone like me, when the track widens out it’s easier to come from the back.”
I then inquired about his feelings about the Racesaver class in general. He said “I do enjoy the class, it’s a fun class. Just like any class, there’s nights when it’s frustrating and nights when it is lots of fun. It’s always a lot more fun when you’re winning. It’s definitely more economical than the 360’s or the 410’s. It’s a very competitive class. I think probably half of the field has motors and shocks from Speedway Motors so everyone is running the same equipment, so there’s not one car that has a distinct advantage right now.”
We turned to what he’d been doing over the winter to get ready and he stated “I’ve been working on it since last fall actually. I’m not 100% ready but we’ll definitely be ready when the season starts in April.”
The next question was his plans for this coming season and he said “I’m not sure if I’ll be racing every week at Eagle, we’ll have to see how it goes. I don’t know that I will and I don’t know that I won’t. Obviously if we don’t break things or tear things up it makes it a lot easier and more affordable to be able to be there every weekend. Staying out of trouble is always a big part of racing. I don’t have a set schedule of what I want to do right now. I’m still waiting on some sponsors to see what they’re going to do because without them I couldn’t race at all. We’ll definitely be at Eagle the majority of the year because I’ve been racing there for a lot of years and I know so many people there and Eagle has some of the greatest fans anywhere with a great turnout every week. I’ve also done it for so long that if something else comes up in my life it may be time to do some of the things that I’ve missed over the years because of being so committed to racing every week.” Jason’s sponsors include Neff Towing, Climatech Heating and Air, Sun Coast, Sardeson Racing, Speedway Engines and Shocks.
Lastly I told Jason that I’d be by to interview him 1 or maybe 5 times this year, to which he replied, “I sure hope so!!!” Is it odd that racers are always happy to see me after the night’s festivities are over? Must be my pleasing personality.
It’s less than 5 weeks now until the front and pit gates open at America’s Home Track for an Open House Practice Night on April 11th. 2 special events kick off the actual racing at Eagle Raceway with the Icebreaker Challenge on April 17th and 18th followed by the ground-pounding fire-breathing High Limit Sprint Series on April 21st for the High Limit Showdown.
To see the complete 2026 schedule head to eagleraceway.com.
Article Credit: Greg Soukup
Submitted By: RACINE THOMPSON
