(Racing Every Friday Night)
Race Results
June 15, 2001
By Shawn Neisteadt
Rock Rapids, IA--Are the races still on? That was the question Rapid Speedway race fans were asking as a line of rain passed through the speedway one hour and fifteen minutes away from race time, but the shower passed, the sun came out, and the speedway crew and drivers went to work and packed in the drenched Iowa speedway. The races started only 20 minutes late, but the lightning quick track conditions and superb racing action made up for the slight delay.
Buck Wilson and teammate Rick Adams led the 360 sprint cars to take the green flag of the 16-lap affair. Wilson shot into the lead and Adams fell into second. Wilson began lapping the slower traffic on the seventh lap, but as Adams entered the traffic on the following lap, his engine expired causing the drivers behind him to have to check up unexpectedly. As Mike McMahan lifted, Bill Fredin jumped the right rear tire of McMahan's machine, launching the Fredin Constrection #14 and flipping it violently into the front stretch fence. Fortunetely the safety equipment of the car and the speedway did their job, and no one was injured. Wilson held the restart lead, but Dusty Ballenger was charging hard. Ballenger took third place from Brian Baker on the restart, passed Randy Droescher for second one lap later, and passed Wilson for the lead on the next lap. As Ballenger passed Wilson, Wilson would slow and come to a stop with mechanical problems that would end his hopes of his second win in a row. When the green came out again, Ballenger pulled away from Droescher, but the lead was erased as Baker's car broke and spun out. The broken rear end forced Baker to pull the #25 into the pits and give away the third position. Once again the field restarted, and again Ballenger pulled away from Droescher. Tom Platt, having just moved into the third spot, wanted more and began to challenge Droescher, but was unsuccessful in passing the Ethanol Products car. Ballenger had a healthy lead as the white flag waved in the air, but as he entered turn three, the car got into the cushion and broke the steering, sending the #2d off the track in turn four. Ballenger's misfortune gave Droescher, a 30-year racing veteran, his first victory of the season. Platt finished second; Brent Vande Weerd came to the line third followed by Shawn Van Whye and Chris Wasmund. "I needed it real bad," said Droescher on picking up the win. "For once we had the car set up good."
John DeGroot took the early lead of the Late Model Stock Car "A" feature, and ran the first 14 laps of the event flawlessly, but with the white flag in the air and battling with Dale Furby, DeGroot went into turn three too hard and went high of the groove. Furby used DeGroot's only mistake to take the win by inches over Mark DeBoer, who came from the ninth starting position. DeGroot finished third. Chad Overgaard and Mark Henry rounded out the top five. The race was cautioned on lap two for Curt Van Beek's spun car in turn two. Doug Brinkhous caused the only other caution on lap four when he slipped off the track and stopped. Brinkhous had been running fourth and was looking to take his second win in a row.
Scott Overgaard put the Papik Motors car into the lead on the opening lap of the Sportsmen main event, and would hold onto it until a lap eight restart when Brad Haas would make the pass and claim the lead. Haas held the lead as the field took the white flag, but just as Ballenger and DeGroot had misfortunes on the last lap, so did Haas. As he exited turn four to take the win, the car spun around and stopped on the apron of the speedway. Overgaard and Mel Elsberry drag raced from turn four to the finish line where Overgaard took the win by a few inches over Elsberry. Points leader, Rick Vander Weide, finished third followed by Randy Vander Weide and Evan DeHaan. Overgaard's win was his first ever Rapid Speedway victory.
James Brower took the lead of the Hobby Stock "A" feature from Seth Jurrens on lap two of the twelve-lap event. But, on lap seven, Brower spun and collected the second and fourth place cars of Jeremy Franken and Mark Vanden Top. The incident gave Darwin Klaassen the lead. On the final lap of the event, Chris DeHaan and Anthony Mann were battling for the fourth position when DeHaan ran Mann off the track. The yellow flag would wave causing a green-white-checkered finish. The incident resulted in DeHaan receiving a black flag while Mann restarted in the fourth. Klaassen, the 1998 rookie of the year, held on to take his fourth win of the year. Jeff Hoogendoorn finished second. Vanden Top, Mann and Mike Deutsch rounded out the top five.
NMRA 360 Sprints
Heat #1: 1. 3b Buck Wilson; 2. 14 Bill Fredin; 3. 33 Jim Smith; 4. 35 Eric McGillivray; 5. 8 Jeremy Fey
Heat #2: 1. 24 Randy Droescher; 2. 3A Rick Adams; 3. 99 Shawn Van Whye; 4. 47 Brent VandeWeerd; 5. 5w Chris Wasmund; 6. 11x Joe Riedel
Heat #3: 1. 25 Brian Baker; 2. 2D Dusty Ballenger; 3. R19 Mike Mc Mahan; 4. 25X Tom Platt; 5. 17B Ryan Bickett
A Feature: 1. 24 Randy Droescher; 2. 25X Tom Platt; 3. 47 Brent VandeWeerd; 4. 99 Shawn Van Whye; 5. 5w Chris Wasmund; 6. 35 Eric McGillivray; 7. 8 Jeremy Fey; 8. 11x Joe Riedel; 9. 2D Dusty Ballenger; 10. 25 Brian Baker; 11. 3b Buck Wilson; 12. R19 Mike Mc Mahan; 13. 14 Bill Fredin; 14. 3A Rick Adams; 15. 33 Jim Smith; 16. 17B Ryan Bickett
NMRA Late Model Street Stocks
Heat #1: 1. 10 Dale Furby; 2. 11K Darrin Korthals; 3. 27 Randy Brands; 4. 98 Curt Van Beek; 5. 35 John De Groot; 6. 42 Chad Overgaard; 7. 98X Dan Jensen
Heat #2: 1. 17 Doug Brinkhous; 2. 44 Jason De Boer; 3. 43 Mark Henry; 4. 97 David Kruger; 5. 23 Mark De Boer; 6. 17G Gus Clark; 7. 7 Steve DeKam
A Feature: 1. 10 Dale Furby; 2. 23 Mark De Boer; 3. 35 John De Groot; 4. 42 Chad Overgaard; 5. 43 Mark Henry; 6. 11K Darrin Korthals; 7. 98X Dan Jensen; 8. 17G Gus Clark; 9. 27 Randy Brands; 10. 44 Jason De Boer; 11. 17 Doug Brinkhous; 12. 7 Steve DeKam; 13. 98 Curt Van Beek; 14. 97 David Kruger
NMRA Sportsmen
Heat #1: 1. 90 Rick Goth; 2. 27B Billy Sprock; 3. 8 Randy Vander Weide; 4. 72 Brad Haas; 5. 55 Corey Kilber; 6. 21 Don Grems; 7 66 Marty Halouska
Heat #2: 1. 45K Brad Klaassen; 2. 40 Scott Overgaard; 3. 6 Rick Vander Weide; 4. 5 Mel Elsberry; 5. 36 Glenn Wynia; 6. 7x Evan DeHaan
A Feature: 1. 40 Scott Overgaard; 2. 5 Mel Elsberry; 3. 6 Rick Vander Weide; 4. 8 Randy Vander Weide; 5. 7x Evan DeHaan; 6. 90 Rick Goth; 7. 66 Marty Halouska; 8. 21 Don Grems; 9. 36 Glenn Wynia; 10. 55 Corey Kilber; 11. 72 Brad Haas; 12. 45K Brad Klaassen; 13. 27B Billy Sprock
NMRA Hobby Stocks
Heat #1: 1. 12J Seth Jurrens; 2. 7x Chris DeHaan; 3. 4 Travis Jansma; 4. 17S James Slawson; 5. 24 Randall Kurth
Heat #2: 1. 91 Jeff Hoogendoorn; 2. 80 James Brower; 3. 81 Mark VandenTop; 4. 31x Jeremy Franken; 5. 28 Denton Potter; 6. 21X Mike Deutsch; 7. 42 Steve Eliason
Heat #3: 1. 9B Bob DeBoer; 2. 2 Dereck Van Der Brink; 3. 20 Anthony Mann; 4. 45 Darwin Klaassen; 5. 15 Tammy Kracht; 6. 3 Walter Kiggins; 7. 20x Joe Schueller
B Feature: 1. 28 Denton Potter; 2. 21X Mike Deutsch; 3. 24 Randall Kurth; 4. 15 Tammy Kracht; 5. 42 Steve Eliason; 6. 3 Walter Kiggins; 7. 20x Joe Schueller
A Feature: 1. 45 Darwin Klaassen; 2. 91 Jeff Hoogendoorn; 3. 81 Mark VandenTop; 4. 20 Anthony Mann; 5. 21X Mike Deutsch; 6. 17S James Slawson; 7. 12J Seth Jurrens; 8. 31x Jeremy Franken; 9. 28 Denton Potter; 10. 4 Travis Jansma; 11. 80 James Brower; 12. 9B Bob DeBoer; 13. 2 Dereck Van Der Brink; 14. 7x Chris DeHaan