7/13/2019
Rapid Speedway
Verdoorn Wins Summit Shootout Qualifier, Hess, Gulbrandson, Kroon Repeat Winners
It was a big weekend at the Rapid Speedway after the week off for the holiday. A Bmod special and a qualifying race for the USRA Summit Shootout highlighted the evening.
The Sportsmans Class opened the night with point leader Brian Kroon wasting little time to get to the front of the pack. Kroon piloted his #14 from the second row to the lead in just 2 laps and cruised to another victory. “The car was really good tonight,” said Kroon. Bill Kroon charged from the 8th starting spot to take home runner-up honors followed by Tyler Bradley, Roger Deboer, and Marni Deboer. Marni Deboer and Bill Kroon took home the heat race wins.
The USRA Hobby Stocks saw a great battle upfront throughout the race with lots of fast paced side by side racing. Alex Wiertzema held the early lead battling for the bottom with Dustin Gulbrandson for the first half of the race. A caution on lap 6 would reset the field. On the restart point leader Brady Klaassen would jump into second and one lap later take over the race lead. The top 5 cars were all over each and after multiple restarts Gulbrandson would finally find clean air and grab the lead away from Klaassen with 3 laps to go and go onto win. “I can’t thank all the people that help me, my crew, my sponsors, and my fans make this possible.” Klaassen would hang on for second ahead of Tyler Schlumbohm, Wiertzema, and Levi Vander Weide. Schlumbohm, Klaassen, and Trevor Kragt grabbed the heat wins.
The USRA Bmods were the featured class of the night as they raced for an extra payout on their night. Eric Faber of Sioux Center, Iowa would grab the early lead off the front row, but Brock Hess would come from 5th to take the lead away on lap 3. Hess would extend himself to big leads on multiple occasions, but would see it erased time and time again with cautions and a red flag. He would battle with Tyler Johnson who came from the 10th starting spot to battle for the lead, but a mechanical issue would end his night early. In the end Hess would march on to win the Bmod special and the $600 prize. “It’s a special night for me, not just with the race, but to have my whole family with me here in victory lane.” Beresford, SD Kole Nordquist would battle from 12th to 2nd on the night followed by Tyler Tesch, Jackson Mulder, and John Foreman. Hess, Johnson, and Tim Dann were the heat race winners.
The USRA Stock Cars had a little something extra to race for on the night as well. The winner would become a qualifier for the USRA Summit Shootout at the USRA Nationals at the end of the year. Roger Verdoorn of Sibley, IA started on the front row and had a big lead early in the race before it was negated by a caution on lap 6. That would bunch of the field and the challenge was on as Verdoorn would battle to hold off Justin Regnerus on the bottom and later Darrin Korthals on the top. There was lots of paint traded throughout the race and in the end Verdoorn would withstand every challenge and go on for his first win of the season. “I usually only get one win a year so I guess this was a good one to get,” said the winner. Rich Gregoire would come from 9th to finish as the runner-up ahead of Chad Overgaard in third. Fourth and fifth would go to a couple hard chargers as Eric Gaul and Tommy Kragt would come from 21st and 22nd respectfully to round out the top five. Regnerus, Korthals, and Travis VandenTop were the heat winners.
Next week Rapid Speedway will host another Summit Shootout Qualifying race in the Bmod class to go along with the weekly racing events.
Article Credit: Joel Vis
Submitted By: Geoff Kruse