(Racing Every Friday Night)
Race Results
September 15-16, 2000
September 15th, 2000
By: Justin Zoch
The 2000 edition of the Rapid Nationals kicked off in fine fashion as Chad Meyer and Terry Karn battled to the wire and had the fans begging for more at the conclusion of the 18-lap feature. This was the preliminary night of competition and the top four finishers in each class would then be qualified for the A-main on Saturday night.
The sprint feature started with Justin Henderson and the purple #101 of Chuck McGillivray on the front row. At the drop of the green, Henderson immediately began stretching his advantage and as the field filed through turn 4, 5th starting Troy Meyer did a series of 360's and the rest of the field scrambled to avoid him. Amazingly, everyone made it through until Ron Dobesh spun in turn 2 on the third lap. While Henderson was continuing his domination up front, the real battle was going on behind him. Micah Schliemann had moved into the top 5 from his 9th starting spot and Terry Karn of Tea, SD was also charging on the high side of the speedway.
John Cressman spun his #56JR sprinter with just three laps to go and set up a dash for the win and the crucial top 4 spots in the feature. The restart line-up had Henderson, Meyer, Randy Rosenboom, 14th starting Tom Platt, and Karn. As Henderson brought the #83 into turn 1, he slowed as his car coughed and begged for more fuel. He stopped on the backstretch and after bringing it in for another shot of fuel, he rejoined at the back of the field. On the restart, Meyer and Karn pulled away from the field with Meyer on the bottom and Karn rim-riding on the top. The two would cross the line side by side as the checkers fell and no one knew until after the cool-down lap which driver had won. Following Meyer and Karn it was Rosenboom, Platt, and Schliemann.
Bridgewater, SD native, Brad Wollman dominated the Late Model Stock Car portion of the evening. Since this was an open rules show, the cars were allowed to cut the top and put on the big sprint wings. Wollman mastered the new aerodynamic device and led from green to checkered. Following Wollman it was Don Bickett and Dale Furby who battled all race to their 2nd and 3rd place finishes. Darin Korthals was the last driver to secure a spot in Saturday's A-main and Mark Henry rounded out the field in his Mopar #43.
The Sportsman class also featured outlaw rules and big winged stock cars. Following a long race with several cautions for minor spins and skirmishes, it was Madison, SD driver Matt Stuerwald who walked away with the qualifying night feature victory. Following him in Gary Mulder, regular season champion Brad Klaasen Chris Ellingson, and Glen Wynia rounded out the top 5 spots.
The IMCA Hobby Stock class was still running for National points and therefore were not allowed to cheat or modify their machines. David Bosma started on the front row and led all 20 laps to take the victory. He was followed by 2000 champion Darwin Klaassen, who came from the rear of the field, Craig Smith, and Marlo DeJaeger. These 4 drivers locked themselves into the A-main on Saturday. Robert Norem wound up on his head in the feature when the rear end broke in his machine. He was uninjured.
September 16, 2000
By Rob Ristesund
Randy Rosenboom had the hometown grandstands rocking as he captured a thrilling feature win in the 360 sprint car feature at the Rapid Nationals Saturday night at Rapid Speedway.
While Friday night’s qualifying sprint feature finish which saw Chad Meyer take the win by less than a foot over Terry Karn would be tough to beat for excitement, Saturday night’s edition was every bit as exciting as Karn was again involved as he battled side-by-side with Rosenboom the last half of the 20-lap event. With Rosenboom hugging the lowest of lines on the bottom of the track and Karn skating the rim on the very top, the two completely different lines offered the same lap times for the drivers as neither was unable to obtain a clear advantage lap after lap. The deciding factor occurred with just half a lap to go when Karn shredded a left rear tire, leaving Rosenboom to race unchallenged to the checkered flag. Brian Baker took second followed by Troy Meyer, while Karn limped home fourth. Justin Henderson came from 15th to take fifth ahead of Lee Goos and Tom Platt. Shawn Van Wyhe flipped off of turn four in his heat race and was taken to the hospital for observation. At last report, Van Wyhe was being transferred to a Sioux Falls hospital for a CAT scan.
Darrin Korthals led all the way to take a convincing win in the late model stock car feature. Korthals lost a large advantage over the second place car of Brad Wollman when a caution on the final lap bunched the field for a two-lap shoot-out. Wollman, who had won similar “open” races at Hartford and Madison the previous weekend, was no match for Korthals this time as Korthals pulled away to take the win. Wollman settled for second ahead of Mike Grevengoed, Leon Mulder and Moose Schuldt. The race was red flagged on lap six when the second place car of J.J. Zebell spun in front of the field in turn four, collecting a number of cars. Dale Furby had the misfortune of tagging the pile-up and hitting the infield berm, putting his car on his top. Furby was uninjured but unable to return to the race.
The sportsmen feature was a real thriller as two brothers took the checkered in a photo finish. The win went to Randy Vander Weide over his brother Rick, his first sportsmen feature win at the track. Randy proved it wasn’t necessary to have a top wing to be fast as he was one of the few in the class not to have a sprint car-type wing atop his car. Randy also had some luck on his side as he was actually passed by Rick during the race only to regain the lead when a caution period occurred before a full lap was complete. Gary Mulder took third followed by Chris Ellingson and Jeff Wittrock.
Anthony Mann passed Mike Deutsch on lap five and went on to win the 14-lap hobby stock feature. Mann ended up taking the win by four car lengths over Deutsch who was followed by Marlo DeJager, Darwin Klaassen and David Bosma.
Late Model Stock Cars
Friday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Mark Henry; 2. Dale Furby; 3. Don Bickett; 4. Pat Connell; 5. Rob Anderson.
Second Heat: 1. Mike Grevengoed; 2. David Kruger; 3. Brad Wollman; 4. J.J. Zebell; 5. Leon Mulder.
Feature: 1. Wollman; 2. Bickett; 3. Furby; 4. Korthals; 5. Henry; 6. Kruger; 7. Mulder.
Saturday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Kruger; 2. Zebell; 3. Jeff Bullis; 4. Dennis Hehn.
Second Heat: 1. Henry; 2. Mulder; 3. Moose Schuldt; 4. Grevengoed.
Feature: 1. Korthals; 2. Wollman; 3. Grevengoed; 4. Mulder; 5. Schuldt; 6. Bullis.
360 Sprints
Friday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Steve Ballenger; 2. Troy Meyer; 3. Micah Schliemann; 4. Terry Karn.
Second Heat: 1. Chuck McGillivray; 2. Randy Rosenboom; 3. John Cressman; 4. Tom Platt.
Third Heat: 1. Justin Henderson; 2. Randy Droescher; 3. Gerald Cressman; 4. Rob Dobesh.
Fourth Heat: 1. Chad Meyer; 2. Brett Stegenga; 3. Mike McMahan; 4. Bob Gilliland.
B Feature: 1. Brian Baker; 2. Lee Goos; 3. Shawn Van Wyhe; 4. Jeremy Fey; 5. Jim Smith.
A Feature: 1. Meyer; 2. Karn; 3. Rosenboom; 4. Platt; 5. Schliemann; 6. Goos; 7. McGillivray.
Saturday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Troy Meyer; 2. Baker; 3. Goos; 4. McMahan.
Second Heat: 1. John Cressman; 2. Dobesh; 3. Gilliland; 4. Henderson.
Third Heat: 1. McGillivray; 2. Fey; 3. Smith; 4. Stegenga.
Feature: 1. Rosenboom; 2. Baker; 3. Meyer; 4. Karn; 5. Henderson; 6. Goos; 7. Platt; 8. John Cressman; 9. McGillivray; 10. Stegenga; 11. Gilliland; 12. Smith; 13. McMahan; 14. Dobesh.
Sportsmen
Friday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Brad Klaassen; 2. Russ Peterson; 3. Josh Schmidt; 4. Gary Mulder; 5. Dustin Evink.
Second Heat: 1. Glenn Wynia; 2. Randy Vander Weide; 3. Chris Ellingson; 4. Matt Steuerwald; 5. Jeff Wittrock.
Feature: 1. Steuerwald; 2. Mulder; 3. Klaassen; 4. Ellingson; 5. Wynia; 6. Schmidt; 7. Wittrock.
Saturday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Rick Vander Weide; 2. Wittrock; 3. Perry Klosterbuer; 4. Peterson.
Second Heat: 1. Randy Vander Weide; 2. Schmidt; 3. Larry Kracht; 4. Wynia.
Feature: 1. Randy Vander Weide; 2. Rick Vander Weide; 3. Mulder; 4. Ellingson; 5. Wittrock; 6. Peterson; 7. Steuerwald.
I.M.C.A. Hobby Stocks
Friday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Mike Deutsch; 2. David Bosma; 3. James Slawson; 4. Dean Dunkelberger.
Second Heat: 1. Anthony Mann; 2. Bob Norem; 3. Lyle DeVries; 4. James Brower. Third Heat: 1. Darwin Klaassen; 2. Craig Smith; 3. Dereck Vanderbrink; 4. Kevin Van Klampenburg
Feature: 1. Bosma; 2. Klaassen; 3. Smith; 4. Marlo DeJager; 5. Van Klampenburg; 6. Deutsch; 7. Dunkelberger.
Saturday’s Results
First Heat: 1. Deutsch; 2. Dunkelberger; 3. Norem; 4. Van Klompenburg; 5. Steve Emery.
Second Heat: 1. Clint Potter; 2. Mann; 3. Vandenbrink; 4. Slawson; 5. Brower.
Feature: 1. Mann; 2. Deutsch; 3. DeJager; 4. Klaassen; 5. Bosma; 6. Slawson; 7. Dunkelberger; 8. Van Klompenburg; 9. Smith; 10. Brower.