(Racing Every Friday Night)
By Justin Zoch
It was a battle between season long bridesmaid’s Chad Meyer and Chuck McGillivray, with Meyer eventually pulling out the victory to take his first ever Rapid Nationals crowd. These two, who tied for second in the points chase this season, were the class of a stellar 29-car field on a bitterly cold and windy September night.
By virtue of his win in the first heat race, Meyer earned the right to start the 20 lap Pam Oil/Valvoline/AC Delco/Lewis/Pepsi 360 sprint feature on the pole. He immediately jumped out to a large lead followed by Larchwood’s Randy Droescher. However, McGillivray, the wily old veteran from Madison, had found some moisture on the low groove and was quickly picking his way through the field from his seventh starting position. As the two entered lapped traffic on lap 8, McGillivray pulled right onto Meyer’s nerf bar and seemed poised to challenge the young Meyer. As the leaders charged into turn 4 on lap 10, they each took evasive action to avoid the flipping car of Bill Boles of Harris, IA. Boles was uninjured in the accident, which drastically changed the complexion of the race. Following the red, Meyer jumped back into the lead and was never seriously challenged as he cruised to the victory. McGillivray held on for second followed by Rock Rapid’s own Randy Rosenboom, who was making his first appearance of the season at the speedway. Luverne’s Brett Stegenga came home in fourth place with Droescher rounding out the top 5. Meyer, Droescher, Rosenboom, and Duane Rogers won heat races. In the second heat, a hard charging Ron Dobesh flipped in turn 4, but was uninjured.
It was cheater’s night for the Late Model Stock Cars and it was time to cut the roofs, strap on the big wings and get creative. Terry Dieren, who was the only driver without a wing or some aerodynamic appendage attached to the car, found the high groove to his liking and slowly but steadily worked his way through the entire field. Dieren, who started scratch on the field, eventually worked his way past early leaders Rick VanderWeide and Dale Furby to claim the Nationals trophy. Furby trailed in second, with VanderWeide, Mike Grevengoed, and Rob Anderson completing the top half of the line-up.
In the Sportsman class, the wings were again present and they helped J.J. Zebel glide to victory over defending Nationals champion, John Fitzgerald of Rushmore, MN. On the initial start it was Larry ‘Bug’ Kracht, who just recently moved from the IMCA Hobby Stock class to Sportsman racing, who jumped into the lead. However, by lap 2 Fitzgerald had already moved to third, behind Kracht and Zebel, after starting last on the grid. Following a lap 2 restart, the three combatants roared three-wide into turn 1, with Fitzgerald passing them both on the low side. Much to his chagrin however, he was greeted with a yellow flag the next time by the flag stand, thus negating his maneuver. On the restart, Zebel blocked the inside lane and moved to the inside of Kracht and went on unchallenged to take the victory. Fitzgerald was the runner-up with Kracht in third. Season point champion, Chad Overgaard struggled to a fourth place finish with fellow Luverne native, Jesse Akkerman in fifth.
The IMCA Hobby Stock class was running under National rules for National points and therefore the rulebook was enforced. This didn’t stop Mark VandenTop from claiming his second straight feature win at the speedway. However, it was not for lack of controversy as David Bosma and he made contact near the mid-point of the race. VandenTop spun to the infield, but Bosma was sent to the back for over-aggressive driving and VandenTop regained the top spot. He then held on for the win over Randy VanderWeide, Randy Van Engen, defending Nationals champion Steve Folkens, and Ken Roeman. Bosma charged from the back of the field to reclaim the seventh position in the final lineup.
SPRINT CARS
PAM OIL/VALVOLINE HEAT: 1. Chad Meyer, Sioux Falls; 2. Steve Haman, Egan, SD; 3. Tom Platt, Ashton; 4. Brett Stegenga, Luverne, Minn.; 5. Clint Garner, Sioux Falls; 6. Micah Schliemann, Sioux Falls; 7. Todd Wessels, Ellsworth, Minn.
AC DELCO HEAT: 1. Randy Droescher, Larchwood; 2. Brian Baker, Rock Rapids; 3. Bill Fredin, Windom, Minn.; 4. Bill Boles, Harris; 5. Brent Vande Weerd, Rock Rapids; 6. Randy Nygaard, Sioux Falls; 7. Mike Odvody, Snyder, NE; 8. Ron Dobesh, Brookings, SD
LEWIS HEAT: 1. Randy Rosenboom, Rock Rapids; 2. Chuck McGillivray, Madison, SD; 3. Dusty Ballenger, Harrisburg, SD; 4. Mark Duffey, Sioux Falls; 5. Mike McMahan, Sioux Falls; 6. Jim Tiesler, Round Lake, Minn; 7. Dan Weber, Sioux Falls
PEPSI HEAT: 1. Duane Rogers, Rushmore, Minn.; 2. Paul Veen, Sibley; 3. Jim Smith, Worthington, Minn.; 4. Tim Martens, Harrisburg, SD; 5. Lee Goos Jr., Sioux Falls; 6. Justin Henderson, Beresford, SD; 7. Steve Ballenger, Harrisburg, SD
B-FEATURE: 1. Garner; 2. Schliemann; 3. Goos Jr.; 4. Nygaard; 5. Ballenger; 6. McMahan; 7. Odvody; 8. Weber;
A-FEATURE: 1. Meyer; 2. McGillivray; 3. Rosenboom; 4. Stegenga; 5. Droescher; 6. Garner; 7. Baker; 8. Smith; 9. Schliemann; 10. Haman; 11. Martens; 12. Veen; 13. Ballenger; 14. Fredin; 15. Rogers; 16. Duffey; 17. Platt; 18. Boles
LATE MODEL STOCK CARS
HEAT 1: 1. Rob Anderson, Chester, SD; 2. David Kruger, Ash Creek, Minn.; 3. Mike Grevengoed, Hull; 4. Duane Bowden, Hartford, SD; 5. Dan Engebretson, Sioux Falls; 6. Darrin Korthals, Rock Rapids
HEAT 2: 1. Dale Furby, Sioux Falls; 2. Pat Connell, Sioux Falls; 3. Terry Dieren, Brandon, SD; 4. Rick VanderWeide, Sioux Falls; 5. Jay Noteboom, Orange City; 6. Brad Wollman, Bridgewater, SD
FEATURE: 1. Dieren; 2. Furby; 3. VanderWeide; 4. Grevengoed; 5. Anderson; 6. Connell; 8. Bowden; 9. Kruger; 10. Wollman
SPORTSMAN
HEAT 1: 1.Chad Overgaard, Luverne, Minn.; 2. Jesse Akkerman, Luverne, Minn.; 3. Kevin Broesder, Spirit Lake; 4. Bryan McKee, Larchwood; 5. Jason DeBoer, Sioux Center
HEAT 2: 1. John Fitzgerald, Rushmore, Minn.; 2. Larry Kracht, Magnolia, Minn.; 3. J.J. Zebel, Parker, SD; 4. Don Brady, Sioux Falls; 5. Mark Henry, Rock Rapids
FEATURE: 1. Zebel; 2. Fitzgerald; 3. Kracht; 4. Overgaard; 5. Akkerman; 6. Broesder; 7. DeBoer; 8. Brady; 9. McKee
I.M.C.A. HOBBY STOCKS
HEAT 1: 1. David Bosma, Allendorf; 2. Jeff Hoogendorn, Rock Rapids; 3. Darwin Klassen, Little Rock; 4. Denton Potter, Larchwood; 5. PJ Stoner, Sioux Falls
HEAT 2: 1. Larry DeBoer, Sibley; 2. Reese Coffee, Sioux City; 3. Mark VandenTop, Rock Rapids; 4. Randy Van Engen, Doon; 5. Marlo DeJager, Doon
HEAT 3. 1. Randy VanderWeide, Sioux Center; 2. Josh Schmidt, Marion, SD; 3. Steve Folkens, Lester; 4. Ken Roeman, Rock Rapids; 5. Laura Mulder, Sioux Center
FEATURE: 1. VandenTop; 2. VanderWeide; 3. VanEngen; 4. Folkens; 5. Roeman; 6. Hoogendorn; 7. Bosma; 8. Klaasen; 9. Coffee; 10. DeBoer.