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Opening Night

It was a beautiful evening in Rock Rapids for the opening event of the 2017 season at Rapid Speedway, sponsored by Keizer Wheels. Sportsman, USRA Hobby Stocks, USRA B-mods, USRA Stock Cars, and MSTS 360 Sprint Cars took to the track, with 95 race cars rolling through the back gate.

The Sportsman class started 10 cars in the feature, with Andy Wieczorek taking the lead on the first lap from the front row. The opening laps saw a five-car breakaway with Weiczorek, Roger DeBoer, Brian Kroon, Marni DeBoer, and Bryant Klaassen. Roger DeBoer pulled in with mechanical issues while running in the second position a few laps later. Klaassen spun on the final lap while running second. Wieczorek led every lap on his way to the first feature win of the season at Rapid Speedway. Kroon and Marni DeBoer rounded out the top-3.

The USRA Hobby Stock feature saw trouble on the opening lap when pole-sitter Tyler Pospisil and Dustin Gulbrandson made contact, which sent Gulbrandson off the track and out of the race with damage. On the restart, Pospisil jumped to the lead with Chad Lonneman close behind. Lonneman continued to pressure Pospisil until a caution came out with 6 laps remaining. After another caution and restart, Lonneman spun out in turn-four with 4 laps to go, sending him to the rear of the field. Pospisil led Ryan Mulder and Dylan Fitzpatrick to the green with 4 laps to go, and Pospisil pulled away to cross the finish line first, but was disqualified in post-race inspection, giving the opening night victory to Tom Kracht, who charged from the 14th starting position, and passed Ryan Mulder on the final lap. The top-5 was rounded out by Fitzpatrick, Blake Arends, Alex Wiertzma, and Ryan Mulder.

The USRA B-mod “madness” started on the opening lap of the feature, with an 8-car pile-up on the backstretch after Derek Vanveldhuzien slid sideways in front of the field and a chain-reaction crash ensued. Dave Mulder and Trevor Tesch seemed to get the short end of the stick, both retiring from the race after the wreck. Tyler Johnson was on a rail all night. After winning his heat race earlier in the evening, Johnson jumped out to the lead early in the feature. Johnson was hounded by Chris Huisman for every lap of the feature and were side-by-side coming to 3 laps to go when a caution came out for a spin. On the restart, Johnson took away Huisman’s line to drive away for his first win of the season, followed by Huisman, Tyler Tesch, Andrew Ahlers, and Tim Dann.

A field of 20 cars took the green flag for the USRA Stock Car feature. Scott Overgaard started on the pole and got out to the lead on the opening lap. Overgaard continued to lead Eric Gaul and Elijah Zevenbergen around the track until three consecutive cautions came out, including a spin by second-place starting Brandon Murphy. After the restarts, Zevenbergen found himself in a familiar place, passing Overgaard for the lead. After one more caution, Zeverbergen drove away from the pack to pick up his first victory of the season at Rapid Speedway, followed by Overgaard, Randy Brands, Justin Regnerus, and Gaul.

The 20-car MSTS 360 Sprint Car feature was led to green by Ryan Bickett and Jordan Nordstrom. Bickett led the first lap, but it was short lived because Eric Lutz grabbed the lead away from Bickett on the second lap. Lutz was then tracked down by Tim Kaeding, who started 7th, and stalked for several laps. Kaeding then got around Lutz for the lead and proceeded to cut through lapped traffic to pull away from Lutz. A late caution with 7 laps remaining could not even slow down Kaeding as he drove away again on the restart to pick up the victory in the season opener. Lutz, Dylan Peterson, Lee Grosz, and Ryan Bickett rounded out the top-5 on Keizer Wheels night at Rapid Speedway.

Next week at Rapid Speedway will feature the USRA weekly racing series, as well as the first appearance of the season for the Late Model Street Stocks.

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