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Mark Llyod Memorial Pays Off Big for Rapid Speedway Drivers

Rapid Speedway was once again blessed with a beautiful night for racing action. The Mark Llyod Memorial Race put of up big money bonuses in all classes and all Racers responded with 100 cars making an appearance at the raceway. The Llyod Memorial supported the four weekly premier classes as well as bringing the Late Model Street Stock Touring Series in to cap off an action packed night infront of another great crowd.
Mark Llyod was a regular at Rapid Speedway helping on Late Model Street Stocks with Mark DeBoer back in the day and that is why the Llyod Family wanted them on hand as the prime class of the night. 20 LMSS drivers checked in for the event and would not disappoint. Come feature time it was Billy Prouty of Alexandria, SD leading the way early, but the top 4 cars would be all over each for the first few laps. On the 3rd time around Zach Olivier would pilot his way into the lead and hold the edge over the field. John Hoing of Hartford would be there to battle, but it was still Olivier leading the way. A restart on lap ten would prove to be a wild one as Olivier was the leader they went 4 wide behind him into turn one as Tim Dann would make a charge from 4th and into 2nd to set his sights on the leader. Dann would put the pressure on and on a restart with 3 to go would dive to the inside of Olivier and take the lead away momentarily, but Olivier would not be denied as he rocketed down the backstretch and regained the lead and would go on to pick up the big payday. “I’m either really good, or really bad here. This is definitely the biggest win of my career,” said the Sioux Falls driver. Tim Dann would settle for 2nd while Brett Larson of Viborg came from 11th to 3rd. John Hoing and Eric Moser rounded out the top 5 finishers. The 3 heat races were won by Olivier, Prouty, and Ron Howe.
Features as always at Rapid Speedway get started with the Lems Auto Recyclers Sportsman class and it was Brian Kroon making the most of his evening. Kroon started in the 4th position and would drive his #14 car to the bottom of turn 1 on the second lap to snag the lead away from Tyler Bradley and set his course. As Kroon would start to distance himself from the rest positions 2 through 5 were up for grabs as those 4 cars would battle side by side and swap those spots. Current point leader Bill Kroon looked as if he would be the challenger for Brian, but a flat right rear tire would force him to the work area and to the back of the pack. Brian would lead the rest of the way and get his 2nd win of the season and take over the point lead. “Surprisingly the car work pretty good down there so I stuck with it.” Bill Kroon would battle his way back through the field and take runner-up honors ahead of Tyler Bradley, Kaden Kragt, and Leon Sneller. Wyatt Steenhoven and Bill Kroon would take the heat race wins earlier in the night.
The Sybesma Graphics Hobby Stocks would once again bring a big number of competitors needing a B feature to narrow down the field and set up their main event. Front row starter Dawson Deboer would grab the early lead, but fellow front row starter Levi VanderWeide would take it away just one lap later. Last week’s winner Dustin Gulbrandson once again showed why he is the car to beat as he worked his way around the top of Deboer into 2nd and then dropped down low to take the lead away from VanderWeide. With Gulbrandson out front there was some great pack racing all the way through the field as drivers were dicing amongst each other. A caution with 4 laps to go would give VanderWeide one last chance at the lead and he would go for it. The 8 car dove to the inside of Gulbrandson on the restart and pull even momentarily, but the driver from Sioux Falls used the momentum off the top of the corner and keep the lead and drive on to his 2nd win in a row and 3rd of the season at Rapid Speedway. “I felt like a sitting duck on that last restart. I had no clue where to go and where they were going to go, which makes it a lot of fun,” said Gulbrandson in victory lane. VanderWeide would take the 2nd spot on the night followed by Dylan Fitzpatrick, Tyler Schlumbohm, and Dawson Deboer. Marty Halouska of Worthing, SD would pick up the B Feature win while the heat races went to Gulbrandson, Fitzpatrick, Schlumbohm, and Alex Wiertzema.
The J&L RV Sales B-Modifieds has seen 4 different winners in 4 different weeks so far on the year and things didn’t change. A familiar face was found at the front early in the race and it was Derek VanVeldhuizen of Rock Rapids in the race lead. He took his #20 car to the bottom of the raceway while Tyler Johnson of Montrose, SD would soar to the top side and the two would begin their battle for the top spot. For four laps the two would battle side by side all the way around the track before race leader VanVeldhuizen would drive it in a little too aggressive on the bottom of 1&2 and couldn’t hang on sending his car into a spin. The caution would give the lead to Johnson and after multiple restarts he, Damien Vandenberg, and Brock Hess would spread out and separate themselves from the rest of the field. The gap would be erased with a late caution, but that would cause any issues for the driver from Montrose as he would sail the top and pick up his first win of the season. Johnson expressed himself in victory lane by saying, “We changed a lot in the offseason on the cars and I just didn’t like it, so we’ve been going back and making adjustments. It may have looked easy, but it definitely isn’t, I just love ripping the top around this place.” Damien Vandenberg finished 2nd followed by Brock Hess, Tyler Tesch, and Cole Christensen. Johnson, VanVeldhuizen, and Tesch won the heats.
The Precision Auto Body Stock Cars saw their largest group of competitors with 25 checked in on the night. Chad Overgaard of Luverne made his first appearance of the year at Rapid Speedway and was rewarded with a front row starting spot. Dustin Larson of Rushmore, MN has had an up and down season so far in Rocky, but is always fast. He jumped from 5th to 2nd right away. A restart just two laps in gave him the opportunity to at the front. A power slide job in turn one saw the 5L slide up the track infront of Overgaard and take the lead. Darrin Korthals would make his way around Overgaard as well and jump all over the back bumper of Larson. The three drivers would chase each other around the race track until the 10th lap when Overgaard’s car would lose power and he would be forced to retire. Dustin Larson would continue to feel the pressure all race long but would never falter grabbing his first ever win at Rapid Speedway. “I’m just glad I finished!”, exclaimed Larson in victory lane. “When I went for the slide job I was really hoping he would lift. I knew the top was the fast line and where I needed to be.” Korthals would get his best finish of the season in 2nd ahead of Justin Regnerus, Chad Lonneman, and Colby Klaassen. Austin Brands of Boyden, IA picked up the B-Feature win while the 4 heats races went to Larson, Korthals, Regnerus, and Klaassen.
Next Week the Rapid Speedway will play host to the United States Modified Touring Series!

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