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Kaanta and Oliver Win Mixer at Eagle Raceway by Greg Soukup EAGLE, NE (July 3) - The Super Late Model Mixer presented by Auto Trans Matic was run under clear skies and cool temperatures Thursday evening at “America’s Home Track” Eagle Raceway. Also on the card were the Bud Light Wingless 360 sprints, making their first visit to Eagle Raceway since they were a regular feature last season. Among the sprint drivers were not 1 or 2, but 3 sons of local racing legends; including Don Droud Jr. (son of Don Droud Sr.), Tige Jensen (son of Lonnie Jensen) and Robby Wolfgang (son of Doug Wolfgang). Heat winners for the WDRL/NCRA Late Models were the #71 of Andrew McKay, the #07 of Kelly Boen, John Kaanta in the 85, Bryant Goldsmith’s #24, the #14 of Kyle Berk and Eric Pember’s 90X. The Pole Dashes were then run to set the starting positions for the A Features. The top 2 in the wingless sprints were the 1X of Don Droud Jr. and the 77 of John Klabunde. In the Late Models the front row was decided when Goldsmith came home first, followed by Kaanta. In the Wingless 360 Sprint A Main Don Droud came past the flag stand first, with Tige Jensen’s #77 second and the #80 of Dylan Smith in third. Unfortunately for Smith, he spun in turns 1 & 2 bringing out the yellow flag. That made the running order Droud, Jensen, the #97 of Bret Melenberge and the 2X of Gerod Oliver. On the restart Oliver moved quickly into third, but the car on the move was the #51 of Doug Martens. The next lap Martens got past Oliver, Melenberge and Jensen to snag the second spot. Soon after he also got around Droud to take over the race lead. On the same lap Oliver moved up to third behind Droud. Shortly thereafter the 7X of Danny Lee spun out. On the restart Matt Hasara spun his #87 sprinter in turn 2 and Lee had nowhere to go, making contact with Hasara. Hasara was taken to the pits on the wrecker, but Lee was able to continue. Oliver stayed hot on Droud’s heels until with only 8 laps left he got past Droud for second. It took Oliver just 2 more laps to pass Martens for the top spot. Oliver then held off Martens to take the victory. The WDRL/NCRA Late Model A Feature then came onto Eagle’s high banks. Almost as quickly as it began, the race was quickly yellow flagged as Mike Stadel made hard contact with the front stretch wall and came to a rest at the entrance to the pits. On the second attempt at a start John Kaanta took advantage of his front row starting position to grab the lead in his #85 with Bryant Goldsmith’s #24 in second, the #14 of Kyle Berck in third, Eric Pember’s 90X in fourth and the #25 of Chad Simpson in fifth. Although Kaanta caught lapped traffic on the seventh circuit, he managed to extend his lead to nearly a quarter of a lap at times. It took 39 of the scheduled 50 laps for Goldsmith to reel in Kaanta. But, try as he might, Goldsmith would have to settle for the runner-up spot as Kaanta held him off to take the checkers. “I’m happy with the win, to say the least” Kaanta stated. “Of course, it’s an advantage to start up front, but we needed that advantage with all of the heavy hitters racing tonight. The car was great all night, and that let us hold the lead once we got it” he continued. When asked about his sponsors, Kaanta related “We don’t really have any sponsors this year, but we’re sure looking for some. GRP Motorsports helps out some, and Masterbuilt Chassis along with Pro Power Engines do their thing for us also” he concluded. Be sure to come out Saturday night for “Christmas in July” Fan Appreciation Night presented by Colby Ridge and The Brew. Adults will receive $5 off of their general admission price with a donated toy. All toys will be presented to the Toys for Tots campaign. Also be sure to mark your calendars for July 17th as Eagle Raceway, “America’s Home Track” brings you the Bootleggers Run Race of Champions presented by Jack Daniels. You will have a chance to see Sprint Cup drivers Kenny Schrader, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer and Sterling Marlin battle it out in TWO eight lap Late Model races on the fastest 1/3 mile track in the country. For more details go to www.eagleraceway.com and click on the schedule. Eagle Raceway Results for July 3rd, 2008: Wingless Sprints: A Feature- 1) 2x Gerod Oliver 2) 51 Doug Martens 3) 1x Don Droud Jr. 4) 97 Bret Melenberger 5) 95 Dan Satriano 6) 96kx Adam Gullion 7) 71 Tige Jensen 8) Bobby Wolfgang 9) 80 Dylan Peterson 10) z83 Zeb Larson 11) 7x Danny Lee 12) 77 John Klabunde 13) 4 Eric Schultz 14) 7 Bob Ruisinger 15) 87 Matt Hasara WDRL/NCRA Late Models: A Feature- 1) 85 John Kaanta 2) 24 Bryant Goldsmith 3) 14 Kyle Berck 4) 90x Eric Pember 5) 25 Chad Simpson 6) 71 Rick Hanestad 7) 07 Kelly Boen 8) 31 Jason Utter 9) 51 Matt Furman 10) 1m Rob Moss 11) 2j John Anderson 12) 50 Denny Eckrich 13) 1f Jason Frisen 14) 92 Delbert Smith 15) 53 Joe Kosiski 16) 58 Dave Eckrich 17) 15w Mike Wiarda 18) 3 Mike Collins 19) 32 Chris Simpson 20) 98 Ben Schaller 21) 2h John Hampel 22) 56 Chris Spieker 23) 99 Frank Heckenast 24) 6 Al Humphrey 25) 40 Shawn Harker 26) 7 Mike Stadel |