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(Photo by Shannon Dyce Photography)

Inside Line Promotions – ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa (July 19, 2016) – Tim Kaeding used a last-lap pass to win the opening round of the Midwest 360 Speedweek on Tuesday evening at Rapid Speedway.

Kaeding found a top groove in the closing laps to maneuver to the victory during the $2,400-to-win Randy Droescher Memorial, which was sanctioned by the Midwest Sprint Touring Series. Kaeding also received a $10,000 bonus for his win provided by Chuck Brennan.

Troy Schreurs led the first 23 laps of the race before being mired in traffic in the final circuits. Kaeding, who started ninth, was constantly searching the track for the best groove. He cracked the top five during a restart on Lap 6, was up to third place on Lap 18 and took over the runner-up position with a slide job in turns three and four on Lap 22.

Kaeding then chased down Schreurs and closed to his rear bumper at the start-finish line as the white flag was being waved. Schreurs hit his marks in the middle of the track in turns one and two with Kaeding taking advantage of the grip he found around the top lane. He pulled even exiting turn two and had a nose in front entering turn three, but Schreurs tried a slide job that pushed both drivers up the track. It was a drag race to the finish with Kaeding edging Schreurs by 0.178 of a second.

Gregg Bakker, who spent the first 21 laps of the feature in second place, rounded out the podium with Kaley Gharst finishing fourth and Justin Henderson advancing from 11th to fifth.

Dusty Ballenger, Cory Eliason and Dylan Peterson were the heat race winners.

The Midwest 360 Speedweek resumes with Round 2 on Wednesday at Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa.

Adult tickets at Clay County Fair Speedway are $15 with children ages 12 and younger free. The front gates open at 5 p.m. with racing at 7 p.m.

Midwest 360 Speedweek Race Report: Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa, on July 19, 2016 –

Heat Race #1 (8 Laps): 1. 2d-Dusty Ballenger (1); 2. 17b-Ryan Bickett (3); 3. 7-Kaley Gharst (8); 4. 3z-Donovan Peterson (4); 5. 12s-Troy Schreurs (7); 6. 4-Cody Hansen (2); 7. 32-Matt Juhl (6); 8. 42-Kevin Flowers (5).

Heat Race #2 (8 Laps): 1. 5h-Cory Eliason (1); 2. 11x-Gregg Bakker (4); 3. 5-Eric Lutz (2); 4. 10j-Justin Jacobsma (6); 5. 75-Tommy Barber (7); 6. 6-Carson McCarl (8); 7. 2k-Kevin Ingle (3); 8. 97-Alan Gilbertson (DNS).

Heat Race #3 (8 Laps): 1. 25-Dylan Peterson (2); 2. 1h-Justin Henderson (1); 3. 3-Tim Kaeding (6); 4. 2-Derrik Lusk (3); 5. 14-Jody Rosenboom (5); 6. 429-Robby Wolfgang (7); 7. 12l-John Lambertz (4).

A Feature (24 Laps): 1. 3-Tim Kaeding (9); 2. 12s-Troy Schreurs (1); 3. 11x-Gregg Bakker (2); 4. 7-Kaley Gharst (4); 5. 1h-Justin Henderson (11); 6. 17b-Ryan Bickett (12); 7. 2d-Dusty Ballenger (6); 8. 5h-Cory Eliason (8); 9. 5-Eric Lutz (5); 10. 10j-Justin Jacobsma (7); 11. 429-Robby Wolfgang (16); 12. 75-Tommy Barber (14); 13. 14-Jody Rosenboom (15); 14. 2-Derrik Lusk (13); 15. 3z-Donovan Peterson (3); 16. 12l-John Lambertz (20); 17. 4-Cody Hansen (18); 18. 32-Matt Juhl (19); 19. 25-Dylan Peterson (10); 20. 6-Carson McCarl (17); 21. 42-Kevin Flowers (21); 22. 2k-Kevin Ingle (DNS); 23. 97-Alan Gilbertson (DNS). Laps Led: Troy Schreurs 1-23; Tim Kaeding 24.

MIDWEST 360 SPEEDWEEK SCHEDULE –

TUESDAY: Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa, for the Randy Droescher Memorial ($2,400 to win/$250 to start) – WINNER: TIM KAEDING

WEDNESDAY: Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa ($2,000 to win/$200 to start)

THURSDAY: Redwood Speedway in Redwood Falls, Minn. ($2,000 to win/$200 to start)

FRIDAY: Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn., for the Richard White Memorial ($2,500 to win/$300 to start)

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.