(Racing Every Friday Night)
By Rob Ristesund
Three drivers scored their first feature wins of the year in racing action Friday night at Rapid Speedway.
In the Pam Oil/Valvoline/AC Delco/Lewis Drug/Pepsi 360 sprints, veteran Randy Droescher topped the field to collect his first feature victory at the track this year. Droescher took the lead from his front row starting spot at the start of the eighteen lap event and held it throughout the race in spite of several cautions and one red flag. Even though he started from the front row, Droescher appeared to be strongest of the field as he was able to pull away from the rest of field on each restart. Chad Meyer had worked his way about half way up from his sixth row starting spot when he flipped his car in the fourth turn on lap six, triggering the red and collecting the cars of Bill Fredin and Dusty Ballenger, who was making his first appearance ever at the track. All three cars were sidelined for the rest of the event but fortunately no one was injured. After the red, the rest of the race was run non-stop and it was Droescher taking a relatively easy win, finishing nearly a straightaway’s advantage over Brent VandeWeerd, who also scored his best finish of the year. Micah Schliemann, point leader Butch Hanssen and Tom Platt rounded out the top five.
After running away with the feature win last week, Terry Dieren looked as if he would make it a repeat performance early in the late model stock car feature. Dieren came from deep in the field to take the lead from “retired” Leon Mulder on the sixth lap, but the handle suddenly went away on Dieren’s machine as it developed a severe push in the third turn, eventually allowing an opportunistic Dale Furby by for the lead and eventually the win. Furby was never seriously challenged the rest of the way as he powered to his third feature win at the track this year. After falling back as far as fifth, Dieren recovered enough to salvage a second place finish followed by Wayne Kruger, Mark DeBoer and Mulder.
Although Chad Overgaard was the sportsman point leader going into the evening’s action, he had yet to win a feature this year. But Overgaard took care of that situation as he came from last to first to take an exciting win in the event. With two laps to go, Overgaard made a charge from third to overtake Rick Goth and race-long leader Jeff Hertel. The three cars tangled in the third turn bringing out the caution, and when the race was restarted Overgaard was awarded the lead with Hertel sent to the back and Goth on the tow truck hook in the infield. Overgaard maintained his advantage to the finish, followed by Jason DeBoer, Russ Peterson, Hertel and Jeff Wittrock.
David Bosma took advantage of a late race caution to overtake leader Clint Potter to take the lead and score his first hobby stock feature win of the year. After taking the lead on lap six of the twelve lap event, Potter was having a strong run and looked to be on his way to his first feature win ever as he built a sizable lead over the rest of the field. But the caution on lap eleven when Heath Warntjes stopped with a flat tire proved to be Potter’s undoing as both Bosma and Robert Norem passed him on the restart. That was the way they would finish with Randy Vander Weide and Shawn Jurrens rounding out the top five.
SPRINT CARS
FIRST HEAT: 1. Randy Droescher, Larchwood; 2. Tom Platt, Ashton; 3. Micah Schliemann, Sioux Falls; 4. Brian Baker, Rock Rapids.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Gary Johnson, Madison, S.Dak.; 2. Butch Hanssen, Sioux Falls; 3. Gordy Vogelaar, Worthington, Minn.; 4. Bill Fredin, Windom, Minn.
THIRD HEAT: 1. Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls; 2. Mike Ellingson, Dell Rapids, S.Dak.; 3. Brent Vande Weerd, Rock Rapids; 4. Buck Wilson, Sioux Falls.
FEATURE: 1. Droescher; 2. Vande Weerd; 3. Schliemann; 4. Hanssen; 5. Platt; 6. Wilson; 7. Johnson; 8. Baker; 9. Rick Adams, Sioux Falls; 10. Chuck McGillivray, Madison, S.Dak.; 11. Meyer; 12. Fredin; 13. Dusty Ballenger, Harrisburg; 14. Ellingson; 15. Vogelaar; 16. Mark Slendy, Sioux Falls.
LATE MODEL STOCK CARS
FIRST HEAT: 1. Wayne Kruger, Luverne, Minn.; 2. Leon Mulder, Doon; 3. Dale Furby, Sioux Falls; 4. Rick Vander Weide, Sioux Falls; 5. Mark DeBoer, Adrian, Minn.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Darrin Korthals, Rock Rapids; 2. Terry Dieren, Brandon, S.Dak.; 3. Gus Clark, Sioux Falls; 4. Mike Noteboom, Orange City; 5. Pete Kracht, Steen, Minn.
FEATURE: 1. Furby; 2. Dieren; 3. Kruger; 4. DeBoer; 5. Mulder; 6. Vander Weide; 7. Korthals; 8. Noteboom; 9. Kracht; 10. Clark; 11. Gary Bockorny, Sioux Falls; 12. Mike Grevengoed, Hull; 13. Pat Connell, Luverne, Minn.; 14. Keith Alexander, Lemars.
SPORTSMAN
FIRST HEAT: 1. Jason DeBoer, Sioux Center; 2. Chad Overgaard, Luverne, Minn.; 3. Jeff Hertel, Parker, S.Dak.; 4. Mike Koepke, Brandon, S.Dak.; 5. Jesse Akkerman, Luverne, Minn.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Jeff Wittrock, Sioux Falls; 2. Russ Peterson, Sioux Falls; 3. Rick Goth, Madison, S.Dak.; 4. J.J. Zebell, Parker, S.Dak.; 5. Mark Henry, Rock Rapids.
FEATURE: 1. Overgaard; 2. DeBoer; 3. Peterson; 4. Hertel; 5. Wittrock; 6. Henry; 7. Goth; 8. Zebell; 9. Koepke.
I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCKS
FIRST HEAT: 1. Shawn Jurrens, Little Rock; 2. Mark Vanden Top, Rock Rapids; 3. Ken Roemen, Rock Rapids; 4. Randy Vander Weide, Sioux Center.
SECOND HEAT: 1. Mike Kiggins, Sioux Falls; 2. Kirk Maasdam, Orange City; 3. Heath Warntjes, Boyden; 4. Larry Kracht, Magnolia, Minn.
THIRD HEAT: 1. Robert Norem, Ocheydan; 2. Clint Potter, Larchwood; 3. David Bosma, Allendorf; 4. Doug Brinkhaus, Doon.
B FEATURE: 1. Steve Folkens, Lester; 2. Jeff Hoogendorn, Rock Rapids; 3. Randy Van Engen, Doon; 4. Tammy Kracht, Steen, Minn.; 5. Paul Korthals, George; 6. Denton Potter, Larchwood; 7. Craig Smith, Sioux Falls; 8. Justin Selken, Hartford, S. Dak.
A FEATURE: 1. Bosma; 2. Norem; 3. Clint Potter; 4. Vander Weide; 5. Jurrens; 6. Folkens; 7. Van Engen; 8. Hoogendorn; 9. Brinkhaus; 10. Maasdam; 11. Vanden Top; 12. Tammy Kracht; 13. Larry Kracht; 14. Warntjes; 15. Roemen.