CLARION TEEN BRAD RAPP IS TOP ATHLETE AND RACER
by Brian Spaid

April 20, 2007

   Over the fall and winter months, the pages of this newspaper have included the name of high school football and wrestling star Brad Rapp. The Shippenville teen earned KSAC Football All Conference First Team honors as a running back and linebacker for Clarion Area High School. The senior also copped the 2007 District 9 wrestling title in the 171-pound category and earned a total of 116 career wins on the wrestling mat.

   Most people don’t realize, however, that Rapp is also a star race car driver on area dirt tracks.

   “I’ve been racing since I was 12 years old,” said Rapp, who is currently receiving scholarship offers to play football for Division III schools. “I grew up in my father’s garage around race cars and the team. This has been a huge part of my life.”

   Rapp’s parents, Butch and Lisa, have owned modified stock cars for many years. Starting with driver Scott Gurdak of Corry in the 1990s, the Rapps also fielded cars for New York star Billy Van Pelt, multi-time track champion Brian Swartzlander of Leechburg, and Franklin driver Kevin Hoffman. The orange-colored Rapp Racing No. 11R has been a fixture on local dirt tracks for many years.

   The Rapps decided to put Brad behind the wheel of a go kart at the tender age of 12. The preteen driver was an immediate winner. Over three years, he won 50 features combined at Pine Hill Speedway in Shippenville, Double A Speedway in Utica, and Race 1 Motor Speedway in DuBois. He also won track championships at Pine Hill and Double A.

   “We decided to try out go karts to see if I liked it,” said Rapp, who is now 18. “I did pretty well and we joked around that when I got old enough would try to the modified.”

   That moment came in 2004. At 15, Rapp climbed behind the wheel of the family racer equipped with a small block engine.  Competing at Central PA Speedway in Clearfield, he earned five top five finishes and finished third in points. In only his second Small Block Modified feature, he finished second.

   In 2005, Rapp earned 14 top five finishes in 17 events at Central PA, and he captured his first career feature win at Mercer Raceway Park. That’s when everyone knew he was for real.

   “Whenever I was a little kid, it was fun sitting back and watch Gurdak, Swartzlander, Hoffman and Van Pelt race our cars,” recalled Rapp. “Now, to be part of it, it’s nice to sit back and remember them. All of them were my role models. I wanted to be like them driving race cars, and now it’s actually happening.”

   Last season, Rapp focused his attention on Mercer. He won five features, the most among the Small Block Modified racers.  His stellar performance was overshadowed by a violent wreck in the Little Guy Nationals race in October, from which he received no serious injuries.

   “That was the worst wreck I ever had,” said Rapp.

   At the time, Rapp was having an all-star season on the gridiron for the Clarion Bobcats. To Rapp’s knowledge, head coach Larry Wiser was unaware of his star running back’s near career-ending wreck.

   “If he found out about it, I would have been in trouble,” smiled Rapp. “I don’t know if he knew.  If he did, he never criticized me for it. In tenth grade, when I raced on Friday nights in Clearfield, I would go to the football game, then go to the track and run the feature race. I don’t know if Coach Wiser liked it, but there was not a lot he could do about it. He knows that I love racing.”

   With college on the horizon and football scholarships available, Rapp isn’t worried about on-track injuries.

   “I’m not worried about it. I can’t worry about it because it can affect you on the track. I know that football season will cut my racing season short, so we won’t run anywhere for point titles. We’re going to run as many big shows as we can. We’d like to go to New York and run some of the T3 All Star Series races up there.  Our biggest goal is to see how many races we can win.”

   Given his success in high school athletics this season, the all-star football player and wrestler should be able to achieve all-star status on the dirt track as well.

   To read more about Rapp, check out his website at www.rapp11r.com.