Rapid Speedway Gets New Lease On Life. Will Open After All on June 6.

The anticipated season opener of Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa was supposed to be May 2. But it was announced just days before the opener that financial problems were going to cause the track to go dark this season. Drivers started scattering while people were wondering 'what happened'?

Cue driver Dereck Van Der Brink. Van Der Brink started calling community leaders and sponsors and putting in motion a plan to get the track open for the season.

He said a lot of the sponsors were planning on coming back, the fire and rescue was already in place, track workers were planning on being there, so it was just a matter of getting everyone together.

The Lyon County Fair Board owns the track and will take it back over from Heartland Racing who had leased the track the past five years. The new track manager? Dereck Van Der Brink.

He says he started going to the track as a fan with his dad and when he got old enough to drive, that's what he wanted to do.

Now he's also going to run the track he grew up at and is expecting a half dozen classes of races on opening night June 6th with about 80 cars running.

Keep up to date with all the Rapid Speedway action through their Facebook page.