‘The best kid in the world’: Eagle Raceway mourns death of 11-year-old boy

EAGLE, Neb. (KLKN) — The Eagle Raceway community is mourning the loss of an 11-year-old boy who impacted the lives of many.

Zane VanArsdall died Friday morning.

His parents found him unconscious days ago. He was rushed to the hospital and placed in a medically induced coma, but he did not survive.

Zane was known for his spunky personality at the raceway.

“No matter what, you could not get that kid down,” owner Roger Hadan said. “He was happy no matter what happened. When he was racing the last couple of years, he was just happy to be here.”

Both Zane and his father had dwarfism, which is something they share in common with Rico Abreu, one of Zane’s favorite racers.

It inspired him to work toward his own dreams.

“Actually, last year, Zane was able to run a go-kart, so he ran cart here at the track last year and this year,” Hadan said.

He knew Zane for years. He said the boy was a light for everyone at the track.

“Even if he had good or bad days, it didn’t matter,” he said. “They were always good to him. Every day, he was just joyous and happy.”

Hadan said the news of Zane’s death is hard to grasp.

“There’s terrible people out there and the best kid in the world ends up passing away,” he said.

Hadan wants to hold a go-kart race in Zane’s honor in the future.

And he said the people who come to the track are already thinking of ways to keep his memory alive on race days.

But no matter what, Hadan said it won’t fully fill the gap left by Zane.

“He was kind of the life-of-a-party type of person, and he’ll be hard to replace, that’s for sure,” he said.