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3 New Winners and a Three-Peat in Week 3 of Rapid Speedway

You couldn’t have asked for a better night with better weather than what we got Friday night at the Rapid Speedway. Adding to the weather was a fantastic group of 88 racers checking in for competition across the 4 Premier Classes. 3 new winners found their way to Pizza Ranch Victory Lane, while one driver kept his undefeated streak in tact. It was the final week of fanless racing as the Governor of Iowa lifted her restrictions and will allow fans at 50% capacity next week.
The night of great racing started with the Lems Auto Recyclers Sportsmans seeing their largest group of competitors of the season. The feature started with Tyler Bradley of Harrisburg, SD taking the lead. Week 1 winner Marni DeBoer would instantly charge from 5th to 2nd using the bottom of the track. Meanwhile Brian Kroon was charging on the top, and week 2 winner Bill Kroon would use the middle to make it 3-wide. A caution on lap 3 would allow Bill Kroon to use the restart to jump to the lead with Brian and Marni following. Bill would then see the battle with Brian throughout the rest of the race as the two would race side by side, Bill down low and Brian up top. Bill would hold the advantage, but on the white flag lap Brian would get a run down the backstretch for one final attempt. Exiting turn 4 coming to the checkers, Bill would bobble and allow Brian to pick up his first win of the season. “I knew the top was good so I just stuck with it,” said the Rock Rapids driver. When asked if he would have got past his dad without the bobble in the final corner, the answer was simply, “I don’t know.” Bill would settle for 2nd ahead of Bradley, DeBoer, and Nate Regnerus rounding out the top 5. The Kroon’s would also win the pair of heat races earlier in the night.
21 J&L RV Sales B-Mods would take to the raceway next to see another first time winner for the season. The 11L of Lyndon Johnson of Montrose, SD would snag the early lead around the top of the track. On Lap 3 Johnson got a little too high and would fall off the backstretch giving the lead to Jackson Mulder. The top 8 cars went 2x2 while the Doon, IA driver would use the same line as Johnson and had to battle side by side with Tyler Tesch. A restart on Lap 6 would allow Tesch to grab the lead away from Mulder, but not for long, as Mulder would pilot his #4 car back to the lead just one lap later. Holding the momentum off the corners Mulder would keep the edge and take his first win of 2020. “I had a great race with the same guy last year too and you just have to drive your line and drive it hard,” said Mulder. Tesch would settle for runner-up honors, while Tracey Johnson came from 11th to 3rd. Tyler Johnson and Brock Hess would complete the top 5. The 3 heat races went to Tracey Johnson, Andrew Ahlers, and Derek VanVeldhuizen.
A Huge number of Sybesma Graphics Hobby Stocks made their way through the backgate Friday night as 32 drivers were looking to pick up the win. After 2 B features our 20 car field was set. It didn’t take long for Dustin Gulbrandson to charge from 5th to take the lead on Lap 2. A caution on Lap 3 would allow newcomer Cory Probst of Brewster, MN to charge from 10th and into the top 5. Another caution two laps later would allow Probst to come to 2nd and begin his challenge of Gulbrandson. He would pull even on Lap 7 and grab the lead away on Lap 8. The two would continue there battle with Gulbrandson driving inside of Probst lap after lap and eventually would come away with his first win at Rapid Speedway. “I saw everyone on the bottom so I tried the top. The 6 is a good driver and it’s fun to race against him,” said the winner. Probst also mention he looks forward to seeing fans back in the stands next week. Gulbrandson would own the runner-up spot followed by last week’s winner Blake Arends, Tommy Kracht, and Levi VanderWeide. 4 Heat races were won by Gulbrandson, Arends, Kracht, and Eric Gaul. Dawson DeBoer and Todd Uhl would grab the B feature wins.
The final event of the evening was once again the Precision Auto Body Stock Cars and Elijah Zevenbergen was looking to stay undefeated at the Raceway this season. Having won the first 2 weeks, by rule he would start 12th on the field to begin the race. On the start Colten Arends of Luverne would get a fantastic jump from the 2nd row and grab the lead. On Lap 2 thought Dustin Larson would rocket around the top side and overtake Arends and set sail. After a few cautions, the two-time winner Zevenbergen would use the bottom of the track to make his way to 2nd. He would set his sights on the leader of Larson, but couldn’t seem to real him in. Zevenbergen then moved topside and went into chase mode in an attempt to close the gap on the driver from Rushmore, MN. Halfway through the race it looked as if the win streak was over until the 5L lost power entering turn one and was force to retire for the evening with mechanical issues. Zevenbergen would inherit the lead on the restart and make it three in a row for the driver from Ocheyedan, IA. “I felt really bad for Dustin, I was hoping to catch him and have a really good race with him. My car was better up high in 1 and 2, and better down low in 3 and 4,” said Zevenbergen. When asked if he’d be interested in starting from the back he said, “Get some bonus money out and let’s do it.”
Rapid Speedway returns to action next Friday night, and for the first time this season fans will be allow in the grandstands. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds lifted her restrictions earlier in the week allowing 50% capacity after June 1st, meaning Rapid Speedway can bring 1250 fans. Advanced tickets can be purchased at the track website www.rockrapidsspeedway.com or at the front gate next Friday Night.

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