(Racing Every Friday Night)
Race Results
July 5, 2002
By Shawn Neisteadt
(July 5, 2002-Rock Rapids, IA) Johnn Cressman and Mike Sandvig led the field of 360 sprints to the drop of the green flag for the main event. Cressman snagged the lead while Randy Droescher rocketed from sixth to third place on the opening lap.
Three laps had been counted when the red flag waved over the speedway. Troy Kampman, substitute driving for Shawn Van Wyhe in the #99, ignited into a tremendously large fire and stopped in turn two. The speedway's fire and rescue crew was on hand immediately to extricate Kampman and smother the flames. With the heroic efforts of the rescue crew, Kampman walked away unharmed.
On the resulting restart, Clint Garner shot from the sixth spot to fourth and then he would pass Droescher for third in at the end of the backstretch. Six circuits of the speedway had been run when Sandvig lost the second position to Garner entering the first turn. On the same lap, Buck Wilson took fourth place from Droescher. At the halfway point Garner pulled wheel to wheel with Cressman and the battle for the lead was on.
Garner and Cressman continued to run side by side as the while flag flew over the speedway. Cressman would hold on to edge Garner for the victory. Sandvig took third place and Wilson held onto fourth. Gordy Vogelaar rounded out the top five. "Clint Garner was running beside me for about 10 laps," said Cressman, pilot of the Ford powered #56. "It's just great to be able to beat the tough competition here and I believe I have the greatest crew. They've had to rebuild cars and then go to another race with little sleep, and I owe a lot to them." The heat races were won by Garner, Droescher and Tom Platt.
Doug Brinkhous and Randy Brands battled door to door for the lead of the Short Track Stock Car feature on the opening two laps. Brinkhous claimed the lead on lap two when Mark DeBoer took second place from Brands. Entering the first turn on lap 4, DeBoer was able to get under Brinkhous and that move would put DeBoer into the top spot. The three time and defending track champion would be unstoppable en route to his third win of the season.
Brands and Brinkhous would battle again with Brands taking second place at the finish. Third went to Brinkhous and Darrin Korthals took fourth. John DeBoer rounded out the top five. Mark Henry and Mark DeBoer won the heat races.
Evan DeHaan used the high line to take the lead of the Sportsmen feature with only one lap counted. DeHaan would lead the remaining 11 laps to park his #7x in victory lane for the second time this season. Brad Klaassen came from the fourth row and made several attempts for the lead but would finish second. Third went to Scott Overgaard and Anthony Mann took fourth. Mel Elsberry used a last lap pass to claim the fifth spot. Klaassen, Rick Vander Weide and Brad Haas won the heat races.
After completely destroying a car last Sunday, Darwin Klaassen would charge hard to the lead of the Hobby Stock feature on lap nine. Klaassen would hold off all challenges to take his fifth win of the season. Mark Vanden Top took second followed by Colter Deutsch. James Brower finished fourth and Josh Klay finished fifth. The heat race victories went to Shaun Jurrens and Don Gerritsen Jr.
NMRA 360 Sprints
Heat #1: 1. 25X Tom Platt; 2. R19 Mike Mc Mahan; 3. 75 Gordy Vogelaar; 4. 3c Chase Wilson; 5. 2X Steve Ballenger
Heat #2: 1. 24 Randy Droescher; 2. 56 Johnn Cressman; 3. 3b Buck Wilson; 4. 1H Tony Hargrave; 5. 99 Troy Kampmann
Heat #3: 1. 17V Clint Garner; 2. 7 Mike Sandvig; 3. 2D Dusty Ballenger; 4. 25 Brian Baker; 5. 33 Jim Smith
A Feature: 1. 56 Johnn Cressman; 2. 17V Clint Garner; 3. 7 Mike Sandvig; 4. 3b Buck Wilson; 5. 75 Gordy Vogelaar; 6. 25 Brian Baker; 7. 2D Dusty Ballenger; 8. 33 Jim Smith; 9. 3c Chase Wilson; 10. R19 Mike Mc Mahan; 11. 24 Randy Droescher; 12. 1H Tony Hargrave; 13. 25X Tom Platt; 14. 2X Steve Ballenger; 15. 99 Troy Kampmann
NMRA Short Track Stock Cars
Heat #1: 1. 43 Mark Henry; 2. 11K Darrin Korthals; 3. 44 Jason De Boer; 4. 28 Mark Van Voorst; 5. 42 Chad Overgaard
Heat #2: 1. 23 Mark De Boer; 2. 27 Randy Brands; 3. 22W Heath Warntjes; 4. 17 Doug Brinkhous; 5. 8 Randy Vander Weide
A Feature: 1. 23 Mark De Boer; 2. 27 Randy Brands; 3. 17 Doug Brinkhous; 4. 11K Darrin Korthals; 5. 44 Jason De Boer; 6. 43 Mark Henry; 7. 28 Mark Van Voorst; 8. 8 Randy Vander Weide; 9. 22W Heath Warntjes; 10. 42 Chad Overgaard
NMRA Sportsmen
Heat #1: 1. 6 Rick Vander Weide; 2. 91 Jeff Hoogendoorn; 3. 7x Evan DeHaan; 4. 15 Pete Kracht; 5. 99 Tim Waltner; 6. 86 Marty Halouska
Heat #2: 1. 72 Brad Haas; 2. 5 Mel Elsberry; 3. 20 Anthony Mann; 4. C4 Casey Hurney; 5. 36 Glenn Wynia
Heat #3: 1. 45K Brad Klaassen; 2. 40 Scott Overgaard; 3. 63 Todd Huisman; 4. 11k Kevin Broesder; 5. 00 Gary Mulder
A Feature: 1. 7x Evan DeHaan; 2. 45K Brad Klaassen; 3. 40 Scott Overgaard; 4. 20 Anthony Mann; 5. 5 Mel Elsberry; 6. 91 Jeff Hoogendoorn; 7. C4 Casey Hurney; 8. 36 Glenn Wynia; 9. 72 Brad Haas; 10. 15 Pete Kracht; 11. 11k Kevin Broesder; 12. 00 Gary Mulder; 13. 63 Todd Huisman; 14. 6 Rick Vander Weide; 15. 99 Tim Waltner; 16. 86 Marty Halouska
NMRA Hobby Stocks
Heat #1: 1. 2J Shaun Jurrens; 2. 2 Dereck Van Der Brink; 3. 45 Darwin Klaassen; 4. 16J Jon De Boer; 5. 5 Colter Deutsch; 6. 28x Josh Klay; 7. 7x Chris DeHaan
Heat #2: 1. 27 Donald Gerritsen Jr; 2. 28 Denton Potter; 3. 81 Mark VandenTop; 4. 9B Bob DeBoer; 5. 11 Keith Alexander; 6. 80 James Brower; 7. 55t Terry Penning
A Feature: 1. 45 Darwin Klaassen; 2. 81 Mark VandenTop; 3. 5 Colter Deutsch; 4. 80 James Brower; 5. 28x Josh Klay; 6. 27 Donald Gerritsen Jr; 7. 7x Chris DeHaan; 8. 2J Shaun Jurrens; 9. 16J Jon De Boer; 10. 11 Keith Alexander; 11. 28 Denton Potter; 12. 55t Terry Penning; 13. 2 Dereck Van Der Brink; 14. 9B Bob DeBoer