8/27/2016
Rapid Speedway
Fantastic Finale!
The season finale at Rapid Speedway featured a season high 109 racecars. Andy Wieczorek started on the front row of the Sportsmans feature, and he grabbed the lead at the green flag. Brian Kroon reeled in Wieczorek but could not get around him. The wind for Wieczorek was his fourth of the year at Rapid Speedway. The point’s championship for the USRA Hobby Stocks was tight going into the final feature of the year, with Dylan Fitzpatrick having a 13 point lead over Dustin Gulbrandson. Jesse Connell grabbed the early lead, but on lap two, Gulbrandson spun, sending him to the back of the field for the restart. On the restart, Nick Brady took the lead, looking for his first victory of the season. After a caution at halfway, Chad Lonneman got around Brady, but on the back stretch on the final lap, Brady and Lonneman made contact sending the top-three around and bringing out a caution to setup a green-white-checkered finish. Brady was sent to the rear for the previous caution, which gave the runner-up spot to Alex Wiertzma. Wiertzma took the lead at the white flag, but going into turn three on the final lap, Lonneman got into Wiertzma and the two remained locked door to door all the way to the finish line. Wiertzma got the win by half of a nose, his second win at Rapid Speedway of the year. The USRA B-mods went caution free as the Ironman Series was in town. Lyndon Johnson was looking to pick up his first win of the year, and he drew the front row. Johnson led the every lap to convincingly pick up his first win of the year. The USRA Stock Car feature was exciting as always, with multiple lead changes throughout. Kyle Falck took the lead on lap one, but he couldn’t escape the pressure from Dereck Green, who started sixth. Green got around Falck on lap five, and looked very comfortable out front. A caution with nine laps to go made for the hectic race between Green and seven-time winner this season Elijah Zevenbergen. The following laps saw crossover after crossover for the lead between the two drivers. The crowd gave a sigh of sadness as a caution came out with five laps to go. Zevenbergen had the lead on the restart, but Green took the lead in another fierce battle before another caution came out with two laps to go. The green-white-checkered finish saw Green finally pull away from Zevenbergen to pick up the Ironman Series victory at Rapid Speedway. The final feature of the season was put on by the USMTS. Rodney Sanders grabbed the lead from the start, but Cade Dillard was on a mission the whole evening. Dillard chased down Sanders on the bottom side of the track, and never saw a challenge the rest of the way. Thanks to all the drivers and fans that made their way out to Rapid Speedway this season, and we can’t wait for next season to get here!
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