(Racing Every Friday Night)
Race Results
August 18, 2000
By Rob Ristesund
Two drivers scored their first feature wins ever at Rapid Speedway in racing action Friday night.
Shawn Van Wyhe took the lead on lap three and led the rest of the 15-lap event to take his first win in the 360 sprint feature. Brian Baker came from seventh to take second midway through the race. While Baker was able to gain some ground on Van Wyhe, the Lester driver’s lead was far too large to make up and it was Van Wyhe taking the win by 10 car lengths as the race ran non-stop. Point leader Dusty Ballenger was third followed by Troy Meyer and Bill Fredin.
Gary Mulder was the other driver to have a career-first night as he topped the sportsmen feature. Mulder led all 12 laps, taking the win by three car lengths over Todd Huisman. Greg Roemen took third ahead of Brad Klaassen and Perry Klosterbuer.
Rookie Mark Henry has shown this year that when his late model stock car is right, he can be awfully tough to beat. Friday was one of those nights for Henry as he steered his Mopar-powered machine to a convincing feature win, taking the checkered nearly the length of the straightaway ahead of David Kruger. Dale Furby, Chad Overgaard and Darrin Korthals rounded out the top five.
The hobby stock feature saw Craig Smith hold off David Bosma for his second feature win of the year. Bosma pressured Smith most of the race and pulled alongside as the pair took the checkered, but it was Smith hanging on for the win by less than a car length. Third went to Anthony Mann ahead of Kirk Maasdam and Steve Folkens.
The 14-race program was run swiftly with the final checkered flag waving just before 10 p.m.
Late Model Stock Cars
First Heat: 1. David Kruger, Sioux Falls; 2. Dale Furby, Sioux Falls; 3. Chad Overgaard, Luverne, Minn.; 4. Darrin Korthals, Rock Rapids; 5. Pete Kracht, Steen, Minn.
Second Heat: 1. Mark Henry, Rock Rapids; 2. Pat Connell, Sioux Falls; 3. Mark DeBoer, Adrian, Minn.; 4. Doug Brinkhouse, Doon; 5. Gus Clark, Sioux Falls.
Feature: 1. Henry; 2. Kruger; 3. Furby; 4. Overgaard; 5. Korthals; 6. Deboer; 7. Brinkhouse; 8. Connell; 9. Clark; 10. Kracht.
360 Sprints
First Heat: 1. Tom Platt, Ashton; 2. Kevin Burd, Sioux Center; 3. Troy Meyer, Sioux Falls; 4. Randy Droescher, Larchwood; 5. Dusty Ballenger, Harisburg, S.D.
Second Heat: 1. Shawn Van Wyhe, Lester; 2. Mike McMahan, Sioux Falls; 3. Brent Vande Weerd, Rock Rapids; 4. Bill Fredin, Windom, Minn.; 5. Brian Baker, Rock Rapids.
Feature: 1. Van Wyhe; 2. Baker; 3. Ballenger; 4. Meyer; 5. Fredin; 6. Vande Weerd; 7. Droescher; 8. Burd; 9. Jerry Kramer, Sibley.
Sportsmen
First Heat: 1. Todd Huisman, Rock Rapids; 2. Rick Goth, Madison, S.D.; 3. Gary Mulder, Canton; 4. Brad Klaassen, Adrian, Minn.; 5. Bryan McKee, Larchwood.
Second Heat: 1. Don Grems, Lester; 2. Greg Roemen, Ellsworth, Minn.; 3. Jeff Wittrock, Sioux Falls; 4. Rick Vander Weide, Sioux Falls; 5. Perry Klosterbuer, Rock Rapids.
Feature: 1. Mulder; 2. Huisman; 3. Roemen; 4. Klaassen; 5. Klosterbuer; 6. Goth; 7. Wittrock; 8. Vander Weide; 9. Larry Kracht, Magnolia, Minn.; 10. Jeff Hertel, Parker, S.D.; 11. Brad Haas, Sioux Falls.
I.M.C.A. Hobby Stocks
First Heat: 1. Jeff Hoogendorn, Rock Rapids; 2. Kirk Maasdam, Orange City; 3. Steve Folkens, Lester; 4. Marlo DeJager, Doon.
Second Heat: 1. David Bosma, Allendorf; 2. Larry Embrey, Madrid; 3. Craig Smith, Sioux Falls; 4. Mark Vanden Top, Rock Rapids.
Third Heat: 1. Ken Roemen, Rock Rapids; 2. Darwin Klaassen, Little Rock; 3. Anthony Mann, Luverne, Minn.; 4. Glenn Wynia, Sioux Center.
B Feature: 1. Heath Warntjes, Boyden; 2. Marlo DeJager, Doon; 3. Mike Deutsch, Ellsworth, Minn.; 4. Shawn Jurrens, Little Rock; 5. Danny Lee, Hulett, Wyo.; 6. Korey Woelber, Boyden.
A Feature: 1. Smith; 2. Bosma; 3. Mann; 4. Maasdam; 5. Folkens; 6. Klaassen; 7. Roemen; 8. Hoogendorn; 9. DeJager; 10. Deutsch; 11. Warntjes; 12. Vanden Top.