5/23/2020
Rapid Speedway
Rapid Speedway beats the weather for Fast Friday Night
Mother Nature provided a window for Rapid Speedway to get the races in Friday night. A cool rainy week and cool evening kept moisture in the track keeping speeds at a max all night long. Once again the drivers would compete in front of an empty grandstand. 73 drivers made their way through the backgate on this night.
The nights feature action started as always with the Lems Auto Recyclers Sportsmans with Bill Kroon sweeping the night picking up the heat race and A feature victories. Kroon started on the pole position and shot out to the lead and immediately went to the topside of the raceway. Brian Kroon would follow right behind him around the top and the father-son duo would play bumper to bumper chase the entire race. It was the elder Kroon who did not falter and would lead the entire race taking his first win of the season. After the race Bill was asked if he knew how close Brian was and he shrugged his shoulders saying, “I had no idea where he was.” Brian would finish 2nd with Tyler Bradley, Leon Sneller, and Marni DeBoer would complete the top 5.
Moving on in the night, Blake Arends of Little Rock made the most of his first appearance of the season at Rapid Speedway in the Sybesma Graphics Hobby Stocks. Arends started outstide the front row and never looked back. Throughout the race there was the #22 and then there was the rest of the field. Arends held a big lead the entire race, but behind him saw some great competition for the rest of the top 5. Todd Uhl and Tyler Schlumbohm would battle for 2nd and then the group of Bryant Klaassen, Levi VanderWiede, and Brady Klassen would be right in the mix. While Arends ran away with the victory Todd Uhl would finish 2nd ahead of Bryant Klassenn, Schlumbohm, and Brady Klassen. Heat races were won by VanderWiede, Schlumbohm, Logan Fitzpatrick, and Aaron Stettnichs. Tyler Pospisil won the B feature.
In the J&L RV Sales B-mods the outstide front row was the place to be on the start and Derek VanVeldhuzien would prove to be the class of the field. While the lead was never in question the battles through the field were hot and heavy. Tyler Johnson, Brock Hess, and Tyler Tesch would battle side by side and three-wide for the second position. The 3 drivers would swap positions on the track top and bottom multiple times. Derek VanVeldhuzien would go on to win with ease, Johnson, Hess, and Tesch would grab the next three spots and Corbin Erickson rounded out the top 5. The three heat races belonged to VanVeldhuzien, Erickson, and Damien Vandenberg.
The Precision Auto Body Stock Cars found a familiar face in Pizza Ranch victory land as Elijah Zevenbergen made it two for two on the season. Brandon Ferguson of Lennox, SD would lead the field on lap one, but in the very next corner Zevenbergen would make the charge on the bottom and over take the lead. Last week the track was dry and slick and this week it had speed and moisture. With fast tight racing brought multiple cautions throughout the race, but Zevenbergen would not be deterred as he would maintain his dominance on every restart and even a green, white, checkered dash at the end would slow him down. “We read the track conditions right and this Sniper Speed Chassis was on point,” said the driver from Ocheyedan, Iowa. Zevenbergen, Colby Klassen, and Colten Arends were the heat race winners.
Article Credit: Joel Vis
Submitted By: Geoff Kruse