5/17/2025
Eagle Raceway
Johnathan Davenport and Stutzman steal the safe on Night 2 of the High Bank Heist
By Greg Soukup
Another beautiful spring evening greeted the crowd as they entered the gates of Eagle Raceway Friday evening except for 1 thing…THE WIND!!! But that didn’t stop the fans that braved the conditions for night #2 of the Malvern Bank High Banks Heist, featuring the Lucas Oil Late Models accompanied by the A1 Iron IMCA Stock Cars. Another great field of cars in both classes filled the pits, with teams readying their race cars for the action to come on the track. $10,000 awaited the victor of the Late Model A Main event with $1000 going to the winner of the Stock Car Feature.
As fantastic as the racing action was Thursday, Friday’s was even better in both classes. Heated action throughout the pack in both classes had everyone on the edge of their seats and cheering their hearts out.
The only serious incident of the night was in the A1 Iron IMCA A Feature. It came when Dennis Elliot hit the brakes going into turn 3, got up into the marbles and the car’s right side tires dug in and sent him for a roll. He was upset but unhurt.
Lap 1 of the Lucas Oil Late Model feature saw Jonathan Davenport take off from his pole position to put the #79 out front, just ahead of the 04 of Tad Pospisil, Brandon Sheppard’s 1 and the 40B of Kyle Bronson. Sheppard got past Pospisil for second on lap 6 but lost the spot back to him the next time around and fell to fourth as Bronson moved up to third. Thursday’s winner, Ricky Thornton Jr. jumped all the way up to third on lap 14 in the 20RT with Pospisil dropping to fourth. Garrett Ableson put the 58 into fourth with just 10 to go. Thornton spun to a stop with 7 circuits remaining after hitting the front stretch wall coming out of turn 4, damaging the front end of his mount. He went to the work area, but the damage was too severe to be repaired in time for his return to the fray. At that point, it was Davenport, Bronson, Ableson and Sheppard as the field bunched up for a restart. Hudson O’Neal made a big move on the restart, vaulting his #71 up to the third position after having started in 13th. That moved Sheppard back to fourth. Ableson passed Sheppard with 5 to go. O’Neal advanced to second the next lap. 1 more lap was in the books when Pospisil stopped at the top of turn 4. Davenport was not to be headed, taking the checkered flag and netting himself the top prize of $10,000. O’Neal, Bronson and Shepard rounded out the top 4.
This was Davenport’s first ever victory at Eagle Raceway and marked the 87th of his storied career. We had a fairly good start. We set fast time overall tonight, won our heat race and led all of it. That’s one of the nights to capitalize on. We were fast at the end, but there’s always opportunity for someone to get past you. The track was pretty good tonight but from where I was at I pretty much stayed in one lane. I’ll have to watch the video, but I heard it was a pretty good race tonight”. I mentioned that he really wasn’t challenged much until towards the end of the race, to which he replied “Yeah, I guess I just missed all the cautions, but it took a few laps to get going again. I felt pretty comfortable where I was at. I didn’t know if the bottom was going to come in or not and the top is just so far away. The cushion was like a big old curb and it got pretty hard to run up there, but we could keep up enough momentum that the bottom drivers couldn’t keep up”. Jonathan’s sponsors include Nutrien Ag Solutions, ASC Warranty. Dynagro Seed, Clements, Cornett, Bilstein, Longhorn Dynamics and VP Fuels.
The A1 Iron Stock Car A Main was the final race of the evening. Ryan Harris was first back to the flag stand in the #49, followed by S1 of Casey Woken, Nick Steier’s 8 and Shane Stutzman in the 22S. Stutzman got past Steier on lap 2 for third place on lap 2 and moved up to second the following circuit. Jeremiah Slough spun his #15 out on the back stretch on lap 5 for a caution and bringing out the EastepWheels.com choose cone. Woken grabbed the lead on the restart, Stutzman was second, Steier third and the 29X of Dennis Elliot fourth. Cash Beckman’s 44X stopped at the top of turn 4 the next lap, bringing out the choose cone again. Harris retook the lead on the restart. Mason Richards passed Elliot to take over the fourth spot in his 18M but lost the position to Kyle Vanover in the 19 the next time around. Woken again grabbed the lead on lap 10. Stutzman moved up to second 2 laps later. Vanover also moved up a spot with 6 circuits remaining. Chad Andersen took over fourth in the #8C the next lap. The red lights were lit in the corners when Elliot got too high in turn 3 with 4 to go, his right side tires dug in and his car did a slow rollover. He was not injured. Stutzman took over the lead with just 3 laps left. Vanover moved up to second the next time around with Andersen advancing to third and Travis Hatcher put the 13H into fourth. Stutzman got the $1000 top prize with Vanover second, Andersen third and Hatcher fourth.
Shane began the race in sixth on the starting grid and got his first victory at Eagle in quite a while. “I passed a couple cars early, then I passed Woken and Harris and then the caution came out and I got stuck behind Harris. Then, I don’t think he knew what to do with the choose cone. I think he wanted the bottom but went to the top. He ended starting on the top and I wanted the top but it worked out”. Shane’s sponsors include Bob’s Service, Levander Auto Body, Imperial Manufacturing, ProCut Tires, Williams Lawn Service, B&B Chassis, Rhule’s Performance Automotive, Troyer Concrete and Jackson Friesen Construction.
Tonight is the finale of the 3-day event, and given the heated knock down drag out racing we’ve seen the past 2 nights, this one should be one for the ages.
The past 2 nights were 40 lap events for the Late Models, but those were just preliminary heats with $50,000 to win tonight's 75 lap A Feature. The Nebraska Septic IMCA Sprint Cars are the support class and will compete for $3,000 to win and $650 to start their feature race 3 wide thanks to a last minute sponsor.
Front gates open at 5:00. Adult general admission is $40, reserved adults are $45, youths 6-12 are $15 and children 5 and under are free.
Pit gates open at 2:00. Hot laps begin at 5:00 with racing starting at 6:00.
The Melon Bar will be open in the pits after the races until 2:00 AM with entertainment provided by the Left on Red Band.
RESULTS:
IMCA Stock Car 39 Entries A Feature 1 20 Laps | 00:14:35.429 1. 22S-Shane Stutzman[6]; 2. 19-Kyle Vanover[8]; 3. 8C-Chad Andersen[7]; 4. 13H-Travis Hatcher[11]; 5. 84-Benji Legg[9]; 6. 49-Ryan Harris[1]; 7. S1-Casey Woken[4]; 8. 18M-Mason Richards[12]; 9. 97M-David Murray Jr[10]; 10. 14J-Jordan Barribo[5]; 11. 3-Dan Jackson[14]; 12. 72-Mike Lineberry[20]; 13. 5A-Austin Boucher[16]; 14. 8-Nick Steier[2]; 15. 36-Dana Deeke[18]; 16. 29X-Dennis Elliott[3]; 17. 5B-Matt Boucher[17]; 18. 44X-Cash Beckman[19]; 19. 15-Jeremiah Slough[15]; 20. 5ELI-Marty Steinbach[13]
B Feature 1 12 Laps | 00:06:38.384 1. 5B-Matt Boucher[1]; 2. 36-Dana Deeke[2]; 3. 44X-Cash Beckman[4]; 4. 72-Mike Lineberry[10]; 5. 46-Ryan Gilland[9]; 6. 13T-Tyler Jackson[6]; 7. 53E-Tyler Easterday[8]; 8. 29B-Brenden Bruce[7]; 9. 6-Jeremy Down[5]; 10. 1F-Troy Wachsnicht[3]; 11. (DNS) 6K-Roger Elliot; 12. (DNS) 88-Dylan Lauenstein
C Feature 1 10 Laps | 00:02:57.710 1. 46-Ryan Gilland[2]; 2. 72-Mike Lineberry[5]; 3. 6K-Roger Elliot[3]; 4. 88-Dylan Lauenstein[9]; 5. 12X-Dylan Haney[6]; 6. 29-John Meyer[10]; 7. 17TK-Travis Patterson[11]; 8. 66-Jeff Watts[13]; 9. 14JR-Tyler Barribo[14]; 10. 24Z-Zach Bohlmeyer[15]; 11. 7-Riley Ruisinger[12]; 12. 12-Reed Payne[1]; 13. 71JJ-Jerod Bussen[4]; 14. 43T-Jered Tiedeman[8]; 15. (DNS) 5J-Jakob Boucher
Heat 1 10 Laps | 00:02:51.465 1. 8C-Chad Andersen[3]; 2. 19-Kyle Vanover[6]; 3. 18M-Mason Richards[5]; 4. 5ELI-Marty Steinbach[1]; 5. 5B-Matt Boucher[7]; 6. 6-Jeremy Down[10]; 7. 12-Reed Payne[9]; 8. 72-Mike Lineberry[8]; 9. 88-Dylan Lauenstein[2]; 10. 66-Jeff Watts[4]
Heat 2 10 Laps | 00:09:45.183 1. 14J-Jordan Barribo[1]; 2. 22S-Shane Stutzman[7]; 3. 8-Nick Steier[9]; 4. 3-Dan Jackson[8]; 5. 36-Dana Deeke[5]; 6. 13TTyler Jackson[4]; 7. 46-Ryan Gilland[10]; 8. 12X-Dylan Haney[6]; 9. 29-John Meyer[2]; 10. 14JR-Tyler Barribo[3]
Heat 3 10 Laps | 00:06:48.135 1. S1-Casey Woken[4]; 2. 29X-Dennis Elliott[7]; 3. 13H-Travis Hatcher[8]; 4. 15-Jeremiah Slough[3]; 5. 1F-Troy Wachsnicht[10]; 6. 29B-Brenden Bruce[1]; 7. 6K-Roger Elliot[2]; 8. 5J-Jakob Boucher[9]; 9. 17TK-Travis Patterson[6]; 10. 24Z-Zach Bohlmeyer[5]
Heat 4 10 Laps | 00:04:14.291 1. 84-Benji Legg[5]; 2. 97M-David Murray Jr[9]; 3. 49-Ryan Harris[8]; 4. 5A-Austin Boucher[2]; 5. 44X-Cash Beckman[6]; 6. 53E-Tyler Easterday[7]; 7. 71JJ-Jerod Bussen[3]; 8. 43T-Jered Tiedeman[1]; 9. 7-Riley Ruisinger[4]
Dirt Super Late Models 35 Entries LOLMDS A-Main 40 Laps | 00:17:14.725 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 2. 71-Hudson O'Neal[13]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 5. 58-Garrett Alberson[7]; 6. 16-Tyler Bruening[9]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[11]; 8. 76-Brandon Overton[8]; 9. 93-Carson Ferguson[15]; 10. 79- Donald McIntosh[10]; 11. 8-Dillon McCowan[18]; 12. 18C-Chase Junghans[20]; 13. 60-Dan Ebert[12]; 14. 99-Devin Moran[16]; 15. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[14]; 16. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 17. 18D-Daulton Wilson[21]; 18. 14S-Collen Winebarger[17]; 19. 93L-Cory Lawler[22]; 20. 19M-Spencer Hughes[19]; 21. 6-Clay Harris[23]; 22. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 23. 28-Sam Mars[6]; 24. 28W-Ian Whisler[24]
Fast Shafts B-Main 1 10 Laps | 00:02:13.453 1. 14S-Collen Winebarger[1]; 2. 19M-Spencer Hughes[3]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 4. 15-Clay Stuckey[2]; 5. 07-Ben Sukup[6]; 6. 6-Clay Harris[9]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[5]; 8. 10-Junior Coover[7]; 9. 71M-Michael Morton[8]; 10. (DNS) 45DDan Battaglia
UNOH B-Main 2 9 Laps | 00:02:14.064 1. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 2. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 3. 93L-Cory Lawler[5]; 4. 28W-Ian Whisler[1]; 5. 6J-Jake Neal[3]; 6. 35D-Dylan Sillman[8]; 7. 30G-Jordan Grabouski[6]; 8. 18-Jesse Sobbing[7]; 9. 38T-Dylan Thornton[9]
Penske Shocks Heat 1 8 Laps | 00:03:09.000 1. 04-Tad Pospisil[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 4. 71-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 5. 14S-Collen Winebarger[5]; 6. 19M-Spencer Hughes[7]; 7. 7D-Dusty Leonard[9]; 8. 10-Junior Coover[8]; 9. 6-Clay Harris[6] Summit Racing Heat 2 8 Laps | 00:01:49.000 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 4. 93-Carson Ferguson[4]; 5. 15-Clay Stuckey[5]; 6. 18D-Daulton Wilson[6]; 7. 07-Ben Sukup[7]; 8. 71M-Michael Morton[8]; 9. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Cool-It Thermo Tec Heat 3 8 Laps | 00:01:48.000 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 28-Sam Mars[3]; 3. 79-Donald McIntosh[2]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 5. 28W-Ian Whisler[4]; 6. 6J-Jake Neal[6]; 7. 93L-Cory Lawler[7]; 8. 18-Jesse Sobbing[8]; 9. 38T-Dylan Thornton[9]
Simpson Race Products Heat 4 8 Laps | 00:02:41.000 1. 1-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[2]; 4. 99-Devin Moran[4]; 5. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 6. 18C-Chase Junghans[8]; 7. 30G-Jordan Grabouski[7]; 8. 35D-Dylan Sillman[6]
Qualifying | GROUP A | 00:00:29.000 1. 04-Tad Pospisil, 00:13.676[2]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:13.700[5]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:13.701[4]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:13.710[16]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:13.805[7]; 6. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:13.895[17]; 7. 71-Hudson O'Neal, 00:13.903[11]; 8. 93-Carson Ferguson, 00:13.942[10]; 9. 14S-Collen Winebarger, 00:13.944[8]; 10. 15-Clay Stuckey, 00:14.012[15]; 11. 6-Clay Harris, 00:14.202[14]; 12. 18D-Daulton Wilson, 00:14.235[1]; 13. 19M-Spencer Hughes, 00:14.236[13]; 14. 07-Ben Sukup, 00:14.280[12]; 15. 10-Junior Coover, 00:14.640[3]; 16. 71M-Michael Morton, 00:14.870[18]; 17. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia; 18. (DNS) 7D-Dusty Leonard
Qualifying | GROUP B | 00:01:00.000 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:13.452[1]; 2. 1-Brandon Sheppard, 00:13.468[13]; 3. 79-Donald McIntosh, 00:13.602[11]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert, 00:13.630[5]; 5. 28-Sam Mars, 00:13.731[2]; 6. 76-Brandon Overton, 00:13.796[3]; 7. 28W-Ian Whisler, 00:13.901[9]; 8. 99-Devin Moran, 00:13.904[14]; 9. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:13.969[15]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:14.061[8]; 11. 6J-Jake Neal, 00:14.071[16]; 12. 35D-Dylan Sillman, 00:14.177[4]; 13. 93L-Cory Lawler, 00:14.236[17]; 14. 30G-Jordan Grabouski, 00:14.340[7]; 15. 18-Jesse Sobbing, 00:14.349[6]; 16. 18C-Chase Junghans, 00:14.935[12]; 17. (DNS) 38T-Dylan Thornton
Hot Laps | GROUP 1 | 00:00:30.000 1. 14S-Collen Winebarger[8]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 3. 04-Tad Pospisil[2]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[7]; 6. 7D-Dusty Leonard[9]; 7. 18D-Daulton Wilson[1]; 8. 10-Junior Coover[3]; 9. (DNS) 45D-Dan Battaglia
Hot Laps | GROUP 2 | 00:00:32.000 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 2. 07-Ben Sukup[3]; 3. 93-Carson Ferguson[1]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[7]; 5. 71-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 6. 15-Clay Stuckey[6]; 7. 6-Clay Harris[5]; 8. 19M-Spencer Hughes[4]; 9. 71M-Michael Morton[9]
Hot Laps | GROUP 3 | 00:00:32.000 1. 76-Brandon Overton[3]; 2. 60-Dan Ebert[5]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 4. 28-Sam Mars[2]; 5. 8-Dillon McCowan[8]; 6. 28W-Ian Whisler[9]; 7. 30G-Jordan Grabouski[7]; 8. 18-Jesse Sobbing[6]; 9. 35D-Dylan Sillman[4]
Hot Laps | GROUP 4 | 00:01:49.000 1. 99-Devin Moran[5]; 2. 18C-Chase Junghans[3]; 3. 79-Donald McIntosh[2]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 5. 93L-Cory Lawler[8]; 6. 38T-Dylan Thornton[1]; 7. 6J-Jake Neal[7]; 8. (DNS) 22-Daniel Hilsabec
Submitted By: Racine Thompson
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