Sprint-car champ Boston in Sunday race at Eagle
With four victories in his sprint car this season, Mike Boston certainly knows his way around Eagle Raceway.
So, it would seem reasonable that if you put Boston, a 34-year veteran of racing motorcycles, on a vintage Yamaha at Eagle, you’d really be onto something.
Not so fast, the track’s reigning sprint-car champion says.
“I’m not real great in going in a circle just yet,” joked Boston, who prefers motocross to the flat-track racing that he’ll take part in Sunday at Eagle. “But it’s like I always say: I’ll race anything.”
Motorcycles, absent for decades from Eagle Raceway, will return to the high-banked dirt oval on Sunday as part of the Kornhusker Midget Klassic, an event that will feature the likes of Brad Kuhn, Davey Ray and two-time Belleville (Kan.) Midget Nationals champion Jerry Coons Jr.
Racing is set for 5 p.m., with adult admission set at $15. Saturday’s regular weekly show at Eagle, with Boston in his more-familiar sprint car, will feature $5 admission and racing at 7 p.m. on Family Appreciation Night.
Boston knows all about the family aspect of racing. It was his father, Darrell, who first started racing motorcycles against the likes of Don Droud Sr. years ago.
Darrell, now 70, doesn’t miss a race in which his son has a hand on the throttle, and his grandchildren, too, are busy in the sport.
Jordan Boston, 19, is on target for a track championship in micro sprints this season, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a national champion while racing modified midgets.
Shelby Boston, age 9, races cage carts on Sunday nights at Wavelink Raceway Park.
Mike Boston admits that his only regret is that his own busy racing schedule has many times limited the opportunities of his children.
This season alone, Boston has branched out and raced his sprint car in Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri and Texas.
“Originally, we weren’t going to run Eagle for the points deal, but it started to be too much of a travelling expense,” Boston said. “One rainout cost us $600 just in fuel to get to the track.”
Boston, who combined for 10 Eagle feature wins while taking track titles in 2006 and 2007, said his sprint-car team’s consistency is even better since Rick and Michele Bowers have come on board as car owners.
The team not only holds a comfortable lead in the Eagle points standings, it sits third in the ASCS Midwest Region standings even after two rough nights last weekend.
“Outside of that, it’s been great,” he said.
Looking back, Boston said his jump from motorcycles to the modified midgets was a natural, in part because the mini sprints run on motorcycle motors.
At the time, Boston worked for a guy who owned a motorcycle shop. His parents owned one for 17 years.
“I’ve raced motorcycles for 30 years, even raced for Factory Kawasaki before I came to a sprint car,” Boston said. “I still would be riding, but we’ve been racing two or three nights a week.”
Veteran motorcycle racers Tom Laird and Dennis Hofmann worked to put together Boston’s ride for Sunday night. Drivers from as many as nine states are expected to race.
“It will be fun to take one out again and see what happens,” he said.
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
So, it would seem reasonable that if you put Boston, a 34-year veteran of racing motorcycles, on a vintage Yamaha at Eagle, you’d really be onto something.
Not so fast, the track’s reigning sprint-car champion says.
“I’m not real great in going in a circle just yet,” joked Boston, who prefers motocross to the flat-track racing that he’ll take part in Sunday at Eagle. “But it’s like I always say: I’ll race anything.”
Motorcycles, absent for decades from Eagle Raceway, will return to the high-banked dirt oval on Sunday as part of the Kornhusker Midget Klassic, an event that will feature the likes of Brad Kuhn, Davey Ray and two-time Belleville (Kan.) Midget Nationals champion Jerry Coons Jr.
Racing is set for 5 p.m., with adult admission set at $15. Saturday’s regular weekly show at Eagle, with Boston in his more-familiar sprint car, will feature $5 admission and racing at 7 p.m. on Family Appreciation Night.
Boston knows all about the family aspect of racing. It was his father, Darrell, who first started racing motorcycles against the likes of Don Droud Sr. years ago.
Darrell, now 70, doesn’t miss a race in which his son has a hand on the throttle, and his grandchildren, too, are busy in the sport.
Jordan Boston, 19, is on target for a track championship in micro sprints this season, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a national champion while racing modified midgets.
Shelby Boston, age 9, races cage carts on Sunday nights at Wavelink Raceway Park.
Mike Boston admits that his only regret is that his own busy racing schedule has many times limited the opportunities of his children.
This season alone, Boston has branched out and raced his sprint car in Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri and Texas.
“Originally, we weren’t going to run Eagle for the points deal, but it started to be too much of a travelling expense,” Boston said. “One rainout cost us $600 just in fuel to get to the track.”
Boston, who combined for 10 Eagle feature wins while taking track titles in 2006 and 2007, said his sprint-car team’s consistency is even better since Rick and Michele Bowers have come on board as car owners.
The team not only holds a comfortable lead in the Eagle points standings, it sits third in the ASCS Midwest Region standings even after two rough nights last weekend.
“Outside of that, it’s been great,” he said.
Looking back, Boston said his jump from motorcycles to the modified midgets was a natural, in part because the mini sprints run on motorcycle motors.
At the time, Boston worked for a guy who owned a motorcycle shop. His parents owned one for 17 years.
“I’ve raced motorcycles for 30 years, even raced for Factory Kawasaki before I came to a sprint car,” Boston said. “I still would be riding, but we’ve been racing two or three nights a week.”
Veteran motorcycle racers Tom Laird and Dennis Hofmann worked to put together Boston’s ride for Sunday night. Drivers from as many as nine states are expected to race.
“It will be fun to take one out again and see what happens,” he said.
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7320 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
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