Brad Seng Tops the 5th Annual John Seitz Memorial Race

River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, ND

Race Report for Sept 9 & Sept 10, 2011

Written by Mike Orness

Perfect weather greeted the record number of drivers that entered the 5^th Annual Memorial race to honor John Seitz. Fifty-nine late model drivers signed in along with twenty-four sprint teams. There were thirty-three streets the first night along with twenty-nine Midwest mods. The second night the mods grew three, and the streets lost three.

The Streets and Mods ran two complete shows over the two day event, with the Sprints and Late Models running one show with heats and dash the first night and consi’s and features on the second night. All in all, with the car counts, racing, and weather, it was a perfect weekend to honor a champion!

Street Stock action the first night seen Tyson Anderson win the first heat race along with Todd Heinrich winning the second heat from the pole. Rick Schulz came from midpack to win the third heat and Dan McNamee won the last heat from the pole. Rick Schulz won the feature event from the second row, and leading almost every lap. Rory Opp advanced from the tenth spot to finish second and Tyson Anderson third. Todd Heinrich was fourth with Ryan Johnson coming from dead last to finish with a top five.

Terry Blacklance started night number two off on the right foot by winning the first street stock heat race. Dan McNamee won the second heat with Track Champion, Duray winning the third heat. Solway, MN driver Dustin Puffe won the last heat race from the third starting spot. Minnesota driver Doug VanMill emerged victorious, leading every lap and holding off a hard charging Ryan Johnson who started thirteenth and finished runne-up. Teunis and Blacklance chased Johnson across the line with Mark Johnson of Brainerd, rounding out the top five.

In the first night of Midwest modified racing action, Cory Wheeler was fastest of the first heat race of Modifieds coming from the fourth starting spot with Kyle Leake behind him. Greg Friestad won the second heat race with pressure from runner-up Naastad. Tim Berg won the third heat from the pole with Cole Haugland also winning the fourth heat from the pole. Zach Naastad basically led the whole feature race and won with some pressure from tenth starting Pavlicek, who started tenth. Polesitter, Haugland held on to finish third with Friestad fourth and twelfth startng Sobolik ended up with a top five finish.

Night number two for the Midwest Mods seen four more heat races with Rich Pavlicek winning the first heat race, Greg Friestad passing Bintz for the win during the second heat race. Pole-sitter Jamie Carlson won the third heat and Eric Haugland won the last heat race. Greg Friestad emerged victorious during the feature event after starting outside the front row and outrunning Pavlicek and the previous night’s winner, Naastad. Ryan Schroeder finished fourth with Sobolik a top five spot.

The NOSA Sprints ran three heat races with Nygaard and Pierce winning their heats from the pole position and Casey Mack winning from the fourth starting spot. Casey Mack also won the Dash from the pole with Nygaard second Pierce third, Tom Egeland fourth and Roemeling fifth. The feature event the second night was a tight race between Nygaard and Thomas Kennedy who gave his all to try and get past Nygaard for the win, but Nygaard was able to stay out in front and capture the win. Casey Mack was third after starting on the pole and Tom Egeland fourth with Chris Shirek fifth in the feature.

During the Late Model heat races, Ricky Weiss and Bill Mooney started on the front row of the first heat, and finished the same way. Redetzke, Provinzino, and Kirwin advanced from the last two rows, but finished outside the top two spots. Cryderman started the second heat on the pole but slipped back to finish outside the top two with Brady Smith winning the heat and Eric Breeschoten second. Marshall Fegers used outside-pole to his advantage and win the third heat with Troy Schill making the show, finishing second. Chad Mahder passed four other contenders on his way to the front of heat four and win with polesitter Don Shaw second and in the show. Brad Seng shot forward from the sixth spot with Lance Mathees following him to the front and the two crossed the checkered flag one and two, to make the show. Justin Fegers won the last qualifying heat race with Tommy Waselski second.

Late Model drivers transferring out of the consi’s were Dustin Strand winning the first consi with Zach Johnson right behind him. Joel Cryderman won the second consi with Adam Hensel also transferring out. Shaun Peterson won the last consi from the pole with Cody Skytland earning his spot from the tenth starting spot.

The late model feature was ran after the sprint feature with Mahder and Seng on the front row, lining up the same way out of the finishing order of the dash. The field of twenty-six drivers were set to run ninety-two laps.  Brad Seng grabbed the lead early on and continued to lead every lap through to the checkered flag to win one of the biggest races of his career. Seng was challenged in the race by Smith and Doar, but was able to get the preferred line out of the corners to hold the lead. Doar and Smith exchanged the second spot many times throughout the race, and it was Smith that secured the second spot when the checkers were displayed. The race was stopped at lap thirty for fuel, and one car was a test car to see if he could make it all the way on fuel. Mitch Johnson was that test car, and did make all ninety-two laps with fuel to spare. Steve Laursen, who transferred out of a consi, advanced the most spots starting twenty fifth and finishing just outside the top ten.

A special thank you to Valley Oral & Facial Surgery, Shaw Trucking, S&S Transport, 71 Bar, Wes’ Plumbing & Heating, ND Eye Clinic, Northern Plumbing and River Cities Speedway for hosting this event. Thank you to Chris Stepan for the promotion of the 5^th Annual Seitz Memorial race along with everyone behind the scenes to make this program the best possible. Lastly a huge thank you to all the drivers that came to compete at this prestigious event! Sincerely appreciated everyone and especially the race fans that came to watch and support the event.

Summary

Street Stocks Night 1

Feature – Schulz, Opp, Anderson, Heinrich, R. Johnson, M. Johnson, Teunis, Messner, Kollman, Ritter, Grager, Duray, Corneliusen, McNamee, Beaulieu, Wall, Puffe, Brevik, Geringer, VanMill, Pederson, Jose, A. Blacklance, Keena

Consi – Kollman, Grager, Puffe, Johnson, Salazar, Hulst, Noreikis, Lund, Holweger, Neihart, Minske, T. Blacklance, G. Jose

Heat 1 – Anderson, Pederson, Ritter, S. Jose, Duray, Kollman, Puffe, Holweger, G. Jose

Heat 2 – Heinrich, Keena, Opp, VanMill, Corneliusen; Grager, Neihart, Minske

Heat 3 – Schulz, Brevik, Wall, Geringer, Beaulieu, Salazar, R. Johnson, T. Blacklance

Heat 4 – McNamee, Teunis, M. Johnson, Messner, A. Blacklance, Hulst, Lund, Norekis

Street Stock Night 2

Feature – VanMill, R. Johnson, Teunis, T. Blacklance, M. Johnson, Brevik, Kollman, Messner, J. Peterson, Wall, Opp, McNamee, Duray, Anderson, Geringer, Beaulieu, Norekis, Corneliusen, Salazar, G. Jose, Keena, Puffe, Hulst, Grager

Consi – Wall, Opp, Anderson, Messner, Neihart, Minske, Holweger, Kozojed, A. Blacklance

Heat 1 – T. Blacklance, Brevik, Hulst, R. Johnson, Beaulieu, Anderson, Wall

Heat 2 – McNamee, Teunis, Kollman, M. Johnson, Norekis, Kozojed, A. Blacklance

Heat 3 – Duray, VanMill, G. Jose, Geringer, Salazar, Minske, Neihart

Heat 4 – Puffe, Corneliusen, Keena, Pederson, Grage, Holweger, Opp, Messner

Midwest Modifieds Night 1

Feature – Naastad, Pavlicek, C. Haugland, Friestad, Sobolik, T. Peterson, Schmidt, Kollman, Carlson, Bintz, Leake, Kuska, Hamel, Lizakoski, Schow, Gajeski, Bruer, R. Peterson, Thompson, Rethemier, Boroskae, Wheeler, Berg, Yonke, Vasichek

Consi – Kuska, Lizakowski, Hamel, R. Peterson, Oppegaard, Bahr, Reed, Platow

Heat 1 – Wheeler, Leake, Boroskae, Gajeski, Thompson, Kuska, Oppegaard, Vasichek

Heat 2 – Freistad, Naastad, Pavlicek, Yonke, Bruer, Reed, Hamel

Heat 3 – Berg, Peterson, Bintz, Schow, Rethemier, Bahr, Platow

Heat 4 – C. Haugland, Carlson, Sobolik, Schmidt, Kollman, Lizakowski, R. Peterson

Midwest Modifieds Night 2

Feature – Friestad, Pavlicek, Naastad, Schroeder, Sobolik, Wheeler, C. Haugland, Carlson, Dobson, Schmidt, E. Haugland, R. Peterson, Hamel, Kollman, Lizakowski, Schow, Oppegaard, Yonke, Vasichek, Berg, Bintz, Brekke, Bahr, Gajeski

Consi – Berg, Schmidt, Vasichek, Lizakowski, Smith, Platow, Rethemier, Reed, Leake, Bremner, Kuska, Bruer, Boroskae

Heat 1 – Pavlicek, C. Haugland, Gajeski, Wheeler, Peterson, Schmidt, Lizakowski, Platow, Bremner

Heat 2 – Friestad, Bintz, Sobolik, Kollman, Yonke, Berg, Vasichek, Bruer

Heat 3 – Carlson, Schroeder, Naastad, Hamel, Bahr, Rethemier, Smith, Leake

Heat 4 – E. Haugland, Schow, Brekke, Dobson, Oppegaard, Reed, Kuska, Boroskae

NOSA Outlaw Sprints

Feature – Nygaard, Kennedy, Ca. Mack, T. Egeland, C. Shirek, M. Mack, B, Martin, Ranten, Roemeling, B. Wilde, Ko. Fedyk, Graham, Co. Mack, R. Martin, N. Shirek, Nikitenko, Young, Flaten, B. Egeland, Z. Wilde, Pierce, Stevenson, Ky. Fedyk, Dobesh

Dash – Ca. Mack, Nygaard, Pierce, T. Egeland, Roemeling, Kennedy, C. Shirek, B. Wilde, B. Martin, N. Shirek, Ko. Fedyk, M. Mack

Heat 1 – Nygaard, C. Shirek, Roemeling, N. Shirek, Ranten, Ky. Fedyk, Flaten, Co. Mack

Heat 2 – C. Mack, T. Egeland, B. Wilde, Ko. Fedyk, Graham, Stevenson, R. Martin, B. Egeland

Heat 3 – Pierce, Kennedy, B. Martin, M. Mack, Dobesh, Young, Z. Wilde

Late Models

Feature – Seng, Smith, Doar, Mathees, Redetzke, M. Fegers, Breeschoten, Wildung, Mahder, Kaanta, Provinzino, Laursen, Strand, Hensel, M. Johnson, J. Fegers, Weiss, T. Schill, Shaw, Peterson, Skytland, Cryderman, Kirwin, Mooney, Z. Johnson, Waselski

Dash - Mahder, Seng, Doar, M. Fegers, Mathees, Smith, Redetzke, J. Fegers, Provinzino, Wildung, Schill, Weiss

Consi 1 – Strand, Z. Johnson, Balcaen, Pederson, Williamson, H. Schill, Nutzmann, Snare, Corcoran, W. Johnson, Corbett, Herrick, Storbakken, L. Schill

Consi 2 – Cryderman, Hensel, Greer, McCaughan, Edgington, Erickson, Feeleus, Wheeler, Josh Johnson, Jason Johnson, Ferris

Consi 3 – Peterson Skytland, Burke, Frank, Mike Johnson, Anderson, Mueller, C. Schill, Rector, Hapka, Pfeifer, Seckerson, LePier

Heat 1 – Weiss, Mooney, Redetzke, Provinzino, Kirwin, C. Schill, Williamson, Jo. Johnson, H. Schill, W. Johnson

Heat 2 – Smith, Breeschoten, Cryderman, Kaanta, Z. Johnson, Pederson, Nutzmann, Ferris, Feeleus, Ja. Johnson

Heat 3 – M. Fegers, T. Schill, Herrick, Edgington, Greer, Seckerson, Hapka, LePier, Frank, Rector

Heat 4 – Mahder, Shaw, Peterson, Wildung, Balcaen, McCaughan, Mike Johnson, Corcoran, Storbakken, Corbett

Heat 5 – Seng, Mathees, Strand, Burke, Mitch Johnson, Pfeifer, L. Schill, Erickson, Wheeler

Heat 6 – J. Fegers, Waselski, Doar, Snare, Hensel, Mueller, Laursen, Skytland, Anderson

Skytland “The Dakota Kid” crowned 2010 Seitz Memorial Champion!

Race Report by Mike Orness

September 11-12, 2010

Mother nature refused to cooperate for the running of the 4^th Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational Sept. 10-11, forcing organizers to utilize the raindate of Sunday Sept. 12^th.  The 4^th Annual event, promoted by Chris Stepan, of FYE Motorspors, seen a record amount of entries! One hundred and twenty-two WISSOTA cars, along with sixteen NOSA Sprints entered the back gate the first night.

The 4^th Annual event was sponsored by Valley Oral & Facial Surgery, Shaw Trucking, Wes’ Plumbing & Heating, S&S Transport, ND Eye Clinic, Northern Plumbing, Right Choice Electric, and the 71 Bar. Many, many businesses stepped forward to offer up contingency prizes to ALL classes, too numerous to list. All of the support was much appreciated by the Seitz family, as well as the racers, and goes to show that this event is the premier event that keeps growing and growing.

To start the night off the WISSOTA Street Stocks ran three heat races of ten cars each. Nate Keena won the first heat from the pole position with outside pole-sitter, Hellman, second. Jim Geringer picked up the second heat win by holding off Messner who finished second. Tyson Anderson won the last heat from outside the pole with James Wall runner-up from the sixth starting spot. Rusty Kollman led the six cars out of the consi into the feature event that started twenty-four cars later that night. Jim Geringer started on the pole for the feature with Blacklance outside of him. Geringer led every lap to cross the ND Eye Clinic finish line first. Blacklance chased him with seventh starter, Hellman in third. Keena started fourth and finished there with Rick Schulz advancing ten spots to cap the top five.

Thirty-five Midwest Modifieds were split into four heats. Greg Friestad won the first heat coming from the eighth spot with Todd Johnson and Gary Nelson following him. Bob Smith took control of the second heat race only to slow in the closing laps with engine issues, giving up the lead to Rod Peterson who came from the seventh spot. Peterson was followed by Carlson and Vasichek. Heat three had an interesting finish with Zach Bruer racing his way to the lead from the fourth spot and crossing the finish line first with Skyler Smith second and Ryan Schroeder, backwards, across the line. The last heat for the Midwest mods was also exciting from the fans point of view. Tim Berg started fourth and slipped off the track and sent tailend, only to come back to win the heat race with just a few laps to go after the restart. Byzewski finished second with sixth-starting, Jerad Thelen third.

Taking four cars out of the consi, the feature started twenty-five cars with Jamie Carlson and Zach Bruer on the front row for twenty laps. After multiple cautions before the field could get a lap in, Jamie Carlson was finally scored in the lead with some laps in. He continued to lead, only to give up the lead to Jerad Thelen late in the race just before the last caution came out. Official deemed the time limit was up and went three laps to the finish with Thelen holding off Todd Johnson for the win. Scott Bintz advanced ten spots to finish third, as Greg Friestad finished fourth after going tailend at the start. Patrick Sobolik finished with a top five, advancing nine spots. Dustin Wahl came out of the consi and finish a strong sixth place.

The first of six WISSOTA Late Model heat races was won by local racer Brandon Fuller. Fuller started on the inside of the second row, and grabbed the lead right away. Williamson hung in second for some time, but slipped back to third when Steve Laursen passed him with four to go. Rookie, Corey Seckerson won the second heat from outside the second row. Redetzke slipped back one spot but was able to get back up to second with McCaughan third. Zach Jonson started on the pole spot but it was Waseleski that led the initial laps till he spun just after Johnson passed for the lead. Pat Doar moved forward from the eight spot to finish second. Cody Skytland followed Doar to the front, settling for third. Shaun Peterson used the pole to his advantage and led every lap of the fourth feature to claim the win. Kaanta and Mueller chased him across the line. Joel Cryderman started outside the front row and grabbed the lead with Balcaen right with him challenging for the lead at times. Cryderman was able to hold off Balcaen for the win as Balcaen finished second with Doug Herrick third after starting seventh. The final heat race of the night went to pole-sitter, Brad Seng. Seng held off a hard charging Weiss who advanced four spots to finish second. Justin Fegers was third after starting fifth on the field.

The NOSA Sprints ran a makeup feature event from July 9^th, with sixteen cars on hand to go twenty-five laps. Austin Pierce led the race early but got caught up with Roemeling who spun in front of Pierce, sending them both to the tail on the restart. Flaten led the race thereafter, till Casey Mack moved up to pass Flaten for the lead. Then it was Nygaard who was there racing for second, and then challenging for the lead. Nygaard would win the feature event with Flaten second and Egeland third.

The Late Model Dash would determine the lineup of the feature events first six rows. Brad Seng drew the pole with Zach Johnson outside of him to lead the field around to take the green. Johnson led the majority of the race, but it was Ricky Weiss who would pass Johnson late in the race to be crowned the Dash winner as well as start on the pole for the 92 lap feature event the following night. Weiss led Seckerson and Johnson across the line with Doar and Skytland rounding out the top five.

The events for the second day of the 4^th Annual event started at three o’clock with the three Street Stock heat races. Carrington native, Rusty Kollman won the first heat from the fifth starting spot with Geringer right behind him. Joe Potter led Logan Salazar across the finish line to win the second heat race. And Nate Keena won the last heat race. Rory Opp led early in the feature event only to get passed by Nate Keena and then Scott Messner. Messner challenged for the lead but Keena was the first to cross the line as the laps were cut after the fifth caution that was cause by Messner. Geringer was the fifth place finisher, with Potter finishing just ahead of him in fourth. Rusty Kollman was runner-up this season with Jeff Hellman third.

Twenty-nine WISSOTA Midwest mods returned for the second night and were split into three heats. Davey Mills started on the pole and won the first heat with seventh-starter, Greg Friestad second and Jamie Carlson third. Todd Johnson came from the fourth spot to win the second heat race with Jerad Thelen in tow. Rusty Kollman advanced six spots to finish third.  Lance Schill and Ryan Schroeder started one and two for the last heat race, and that is where they finished also. Skyler Smith advanced three spots to finish third. Cole Haugland led six cars out of the consi to the feature that started twenty-four cars. Skyler Smith started on the pole with Jamie Carlson outside him. Skyler Smith grabbed the lead first and then it was Lance Schill that would lead the other half of the race. With just six laps to go, Davey Mills had moved into position to try for the lead. Looking for a way around Schill, Mills found that line to get past him with four laps to go. Mills captured the win with Schill second and Smith third. Schroeder started fourth and finished there with Rusty Kollman fifth.

The NOSA Sprints ran two heat races of ten cars apiece. Chris Shirek won the first heat from the ninth starting spot with Dobmeier close behind. Bob Martin won the second heat race with Brenden Wilde in tow. The feature event seen Casey Mack and Wade Nygaard start in the same position as their numbers on the wing. But it was Casey Mack that would pass his brother Corey Mack, who started on the pole, for the lead and win. Nygaard ended with a runner-up spot, with Corey Mack third and Mark Dobmeier fourth from the twentieth starting spot. Greg Nikitenko was fifth after starting eleventh.

There were three consi’s for the WISSOTA Late Models with Don Shaw and Mike Balcaen transferring out of the consi to the feature. Curt Gelling and Marshall Fegers earned their starting spot by finishing first and second in the second consi. As did Mitch Johnson and Mike Nutzmann in the final consi. Steve Anderson was awarded the provisional and would start tailend for the twenty-five car field and be set for 92 laps. Once the track prep was done and the driver intros were finished, the field lined up for the first fifty laps then stop to fill with fuel. Some will choose to pit and change tires, and some will not.

Ricky Weiss and Corey Seckerson led the field around for the green flag. Seckerson led the first laps, but then it was Skytland who would charge to the from from the fifth spot. With laps clicking off, Seckerson dropped back with Zach Johnson and Pat Doar looking to take that lead. Cryderman was running fourth and at times would try to run the lower groove. Doar used that lower groove and a good run off a turn to move into second, but only for a little bit as Johnson moved back around him. As those two raced for second, Laursen and Weiss were looking to take over fourth from Cryderman. Soon the field had gone all fifty laps with no cautions and it was time for the fuel stop.

About a half dozen drivers elected to change tires, leaving the leaders wondering if they had made the right choice not to. After the stop, the field was back under green flag racing with Skytland in the lead yet. Then the cautions started to come out. After the first caution for Cryderman, Doar was second with Weiss now in third and Laursen in fourth. With twenty-six laps to go, Doar and Laursen were now racing side by side for the second spot with Weiss watching closely behind them. Laursen secured the second spot and now was working on Skytland. With a little over twenty laps to go, Laursen passed Skytland on the lower side track. At this time both Fegers and Redetzke had made their way up to challenge for a top five spot. There were two other cautions, and the last bunched up the field again for a shoot-out with thirteen laps to go with Laursen in the lead. Laursen continued his lead with Redetzke moving into the third spot after starting seventeenth. Skytland watched and in the closing lap he passed Laursen to recapture the lead and continue on for he win and $9200 dollars. Laursen finished second with Redetzke third. Marshal Fegers advanced from the twentieth spot to finish in fourth ahead of his brother Justin who started sixteenth. Mike Nutzmann started tailend and finished just outside the top five in sixth and Pat Doar slipped back to seventh after running in the top four almost the whole race.

A sincere thank you to all the drivers & fans that attended this race! Also a special thank you to all the people involved with the operation of the event, including the gracious sponsors and businesses that put up money and contingency prizes! Thank you and we hope to see you all next year for the 5^th Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational.

Summary for September 11, 2010

Street Stocks

Feature – Geringer, T. Blacklance, Hellman, Keena, Schulz, Duray, Salazar, Ra. Kollman, Linert, A. Blacklance, Teunis, Pederson, Puffe, Rethemeier, Johnson, Beaulieu, Messner, Ritter, Potter,  Babcock, Anderson, Wall, Ru. Kollman, Opp

Heat 1 – Nate Keena, Jeffrey Hellman, Terry Blacklance, Joe Potter, Logan Salazar, Dustin Puffe, Joshua Beaulieu, Heath Corneliusen, Brandon Funk, Dan McNamee

Heat 2 – Jim Geringer, Scott Messner, Ryan Johnson, Jordan Duray, Randy Kollman, Art Linert, Adam Rassier, Glenn Rethemeier, Shane Nelson, Rory Opp

Heat 3 – Tyson Anderson, James Wall, Chris Ritter, Jason Babcock, Rick Schulz, Aaron Blacklance, Rusty Kollman, Jesse Pederson, Shawn Teunis, Nick Minske

Consi – Ru. Kollman, Linert, Teunis, Beaulieu, Rethemeier, Pederson, Funk, Minske, Corneliusen, Rassier, Nelson, McNamee

Midwest Modifieds

Feature – Thelen, Johnson, Bintz, Friestad, Sobolik, Wahl, Carlson, Vasichek, C. Haugland, Godin, Sparby, Hamel, VanMill, Byzewski, Peterson, T. Reimer, E. Haugland, Mills, Bruer, Smith, Berg, Schroeder, Modlin, Nelson, Austfjord

Heat 1 – Greg Friestad, Todd Johnson, Gary Nelson Jr., Davey Mills, Glenn Godin, Warren Reimer, Brady Austfjord, Dustin Burke, Don Platow

Heat 2 – Rod Peterson, Jamie Carlson, Scott Vasichek, Scott Bintz, Doug Van Mill, Ron Breed, Bob Smith, John Schulke, Matt Sparby

Heat 3 – Zach Bruer, Skyler Smith, Ryan Schroeder, Patrick Sobolik, Tyler Reimer, Dave Blasey, Dustin Wahl, Eric Haugland, Tyler Modlin

Heat 4 – Tim Berg, Tony Byzewski, Jerad Thelen, Rick Hamel, Cole Haugland, Adam Thompson, Adan Gajeski, Rick Beier

Consi – Wahl, E. Haugland, Modlin, Sparby, Austfjord, Blasey, Beier, Platow, W. Reimer, Breed, Thompson, Smith, Burke, Gajeski, Schulke

Late Models

Dash – Weiss, Seckerson, Johnson, Doar, Skytland, Cryderman, Aukland, Seng, Laursen, Peterson, Herrick, Fuller

Heat 1 – Brandon Fuller, Steve Laursen, Chad Williamson, Cole Schill, Joey Pederson, Curt Gelling, Josh Maurstad, Jeff Provinzino, Steve Anderson, Kyle Olson

Heat 2 – Corey Seckerson, Jake Redetzke, Mike McCaughan, Mike Johnson, Scott Greer, Tom Corcoran, Justin Osowski, Josh Johnson, Jeff Pritchard, Joe Johnson

Heat 3 – Zach Johnson, Pat Doar, Cody Skytland, Lance Mathees, Mike Nutzmann, Kyle Peterlin, Troy Schill, Tom Waseleski, Duwayne Rector, Scott Johnson

Heat 4 – Shaun Peterson, Kaanta, Paul Mueller, Doyle Erickson, Dave Tyrchniewicz, Brandon Burke, Shawn Holden, Dave Zimmerman, Greg Ferris

Heat 5 – Joel Cryderman, Matt Aukland, Doug Herrick, Mitch Johnson, Mike Balcaen, Bill Mooney, Harold Schill, Jeff Wildung, Brock Gronwold

Heat 6 – Brad Seng, Ricky Weiss, Justin Fegers, Don Shaw, Marshall Fegers, Mike Bruns, Steffen Snare, Rick Schroeder, Bryan LePier

Summary September 12, 2010

Street Stocks

Feature – Keena, Ru. Kollman, Hellman, Potter, Geringer, Salazar, Opp, T. Blacklance, Ra. Kollman, Duray, A. Blacklance, Wall, Pederson, Teunis, McNamee, Leake, Jose, Messner, Linert, Minske, Letkeman, Johnson, Anderson, Ritter, Reimer, Schulz

Heat 1 – Rusty Kollman, Jim Geringer, Scott Messner, Rick Schulz, Terry Blacklance, Randy Kollman, Aaron Blacklance, Peter Letkeman, Chris Ritter

Heat 2 – Joe Potter, Logan Salazar, Rory Opp, James Wall, Jeffrey Hellman, Daniel McNamee, Kyle Leake, Steve Jose, Tyson Anderson

Heat 3 – Nate Keena, Ryan Johnson, Jesse Pederson, Nick Minske, Shawn Teunis, Jordan Duray, Bryce Reimer, Art Linert

Midwest Modifieds

Feature – Mills, Schill, Smith, Schroeder, Ru. Kollman, Gajeski, Thelen, Johnson, Wahl, Carlson, Veert, Blasey, Berg, Sobolik, Friestad, Vasichek, Modlin, VanMill, Godin, Byzewski, T. Reimer, Platow, Schow, C. Haugland

Heat 1 – Davey Mills, Greg Friestad, Jamie Carlson, Dave Blasey, Adam Gajeski, Doug VanMill, Cole Haugland, Ricky Hamel, Tyler Modlin, Eric Haugland

Heat 2 – Todd Johnson, Jerad Thelen, Rusty Kollman, Don Platow, Matt Schow, Glenn Godin, Rick Beier, Tony Byzewski, Ron Breed, Tim Berg

Heat 3 – Lance Schill, Ryan Schroeder, Skyler Smith, Dustin Wahl, Paul Veert, Scott Vasichek, Pat Sobolik, T. Reimer, Gary Nelson Jr.

Consi – C. Haugland, Berg, Byzewski, T. Reimer, Modlin, Sobolik, Beier, Hamel, Breed, E. Haugland, Nelson Jr.

NOSA Sprints

Feature – Ca. Mack, Nygaard, Co. Mack, Dobmeier, Nikitenko, C. Shirek, M. Mack, N. Shirek, Ranten, Mickelson, Wilde, B. Martin, Flaten, Graham, R. Martin, Wisk, B Egeland, Roemeling, Pierce, T. Egeland

Heat 1 – Chris Shirek, Mark Dobmeier, Mitch Mack, Cory Mack, Casey Mack, Ryan Flaten, Shane Roemeling, Rayce Martin, Tom Egeland, Blake Egeland

Heat 2 – Bob Martin, Brenden Wilde, Austin Pierce, Nick Shirek, Wade Nygaard, Greg Nikitenko, Chris Ranten, Jordan Graham, Todd Mickelson, Tanner Wisk

Late Models

Feature – Skytland, Laursen, Redetzke, M. Fegers, J. Fegers, Nutzmann, Doar, Kaanta, M. Johnson, Shaw, Williamson, Balcaen, Cryderman, Aukland, Mathees, Herrick, Gelling, Mike Johnson, Peterson, Anderson, Fuller, Weiss, Z. Johnson, Seckerson, Seng

Consi 1 – Shaw, Balcaen, Greer, Provinzino, Tyrchniewicz, Ferris, Josh Johnson, H. Schill, T. Schill, Olson, Rector, C. Schill, Peterlin

Consi 2 – M. Fegers, Gelling, Mooney, Burke, McCaughan, Gronwold, Waseleski, Holden, Anderson, Erickson, Zimmerman, Joe Johnson, Maurstad

Consi 3 – Mitch Johnson, Nutzmann, Pederson, Corcoran, Mueller, Snare, Osowski, S. Johnson, LePier, Schroeder, Pritchard, Bruns, Wildung

Double One X-press Notches John Seitz Memorial Win
Grand Forks, ND 9/12/09
Prepared by: Orness Creations

The 3^rd Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational was held this past weekend and we couldn’t have asked for any nicer weather. The event drew a total of forty-one late model teams to compete for $9,200., the area’s richest payout. The event in honor of John Seitz, also draws the midwest’s best drivers, and every year there has been a new face in victory lane.

Race fans were treated to one of the best feature races of all time, going caution free for fifty laps, and all twenty five cars finishing the race! There was passing amidst every corner all night on one of the best racing surfaces of the year. The Memorial event is sponsored by Valley Oral & Facial Surgery, Shaw Trucking, Wes’s Plumbing & Heating, The 71 Bar, S&S Transport, ND Eye Clinic, and Northern Plumbing & Supply. Organizers also had many contingency prizes and awards from many other supporters. These were awarded to many individual drivers for total points, hard luck, hard charger, ect. throughout the two days.

In summary of the five late model heat races on the first night, Shawn Peterson started outside the front row and grabbed the first heat win of the night with Diemel close behind. Local, Doyle Erickson, won the second heat race also from outside the front row, with Skytland second. Veteran, Tom Corcoran grabbed the lead early and continued on to win the third heat race from outside the front row with Pat Doar passing Joel Cryderman for the second finishing spot. Polesitter in the fourth heat race was Brad Seng. Seng passed Mahder who had grabbed he early lead with Kaanta third. Last year’s main event winner, Justin Fegers, won the final heat race of the night from outside the front row. Mike Nutzmann and Brandon Burke finished in second and third. 

On day two there would be two consolation races in which the top three finishers would transfer into the feature event. Marshall Fegers won the first consi with Nick Anvelink and John Kaanta chasing him across the ND Eye Clinic finish line. Chad Mahder won the second consi with Joey Pederson and Mike Johnson also getting a transfer spot by finishing second and third. Jeff Provinzino finished fifth in the second consi, and would be the first eligible driver and would use the provisional.

After driver introductions on the frontstretch, Stepan led the crowd in saying “Gentlemen start your engines”, and the speedway roared to life with the sound of twenty five late models prepared to “go hard or go home”. Pat Doar, who had won the dash started on the pole. Doyle Erickson to his outside and the 2008 champion, Justin Fegers was inside the second row with Zach Johnson outside him. After the four-wide salute to the fans, the green flag was given the field. This race went caution free for fifty laps with passing going on throughout the field for various positions. Doar immediately grabbed the lead and continued through the field lapping many cars. The man on the move throughout the race was AJ Diemel. Diemel started seventeenth and would make an impressive run through the field. Doar made no mistakes through the field and eventually would lap up to the eighth place car of Ricky Wiess. Doar became the third different driver to win this event in honor of John Seitz. Doar also became the first driver ever to win the pole dash and the feature.

Cody Skytland ran a great race and finished a strong second. Skytland started eight and moved through the field and passed Fegers to earn that second spot. AJ Diemel would also pass Fegers to claim the third finishing spot. Fegers did finish fourth after starting third, with Mike Nutzmann rounding out the top five positions. A complete summary is printed below.

In summary of the first night events for the Street Stocks and Midwest Modifieds, there were a total of twenty five Streets and twenty-seven Midwest modifieds. Bryan LePier, Aaron Olson, Lance Schill and Mike Anderson all won their respective heat races with Olson the only driver to win from the pole. Heat race winners for the street stocks were Rusty Kollman, Kelly Hagel, and John Halvorson.

The Feature event for night one of the street stocks was won by Rusty Kollman in what some say is controversial. The feature was plagued by cautions and Kollman is the 3^rd Annual John Seitz Memorial event street stock feature winner. Steffen Snare passed for the lead and continued on through some cautions but they were cautions when the leaders were coming to take the checkered flag. Kollman was sitting in second and Snare got caught up in one of those cautions and was unable to continue. Tyson Anderson was second with Jason Babcock third and Joe Potter chasing him across the line under the checkered flag.

The Midwest Modified feature event also seen some controversy when Lance Schill was racing hard for the lead and made contact with Aaron Olson. Olson spun and the caution was thrown. Olson had to pit for tires and officials sent Schill to the pits. Olson tagged the field and this set Strand in the lead on the restart. Strand continued on to win night one with Todd Johnson second and Rich Pavlicek third. Bryan LePier, Derek Bernstein and Jason Vandekamp all had strong runs to finish in the top six spots.

Night two for the street stocks and Midwest modifieds had less cautions and basically no controversy. In the Street Stock division, heat winners were Bryce Reimer, Logan Salazar and James Wall. For their feature event, Nate Keena basically led the whole feature to claim the feature event win. Jim Geringer placed second with Rusty Kollman third ahead of Joe Potter and Rick Schulz.

After many visits to RCS and usually bad luck, Brock Gronwold finally pulled out a win. He started sixth and passed Strem for the lead and continued on to grab the checkered. Strem lead early on, and there was one major caution when a car got crossways on the backstretch causing a scramble of cars, many not able to restart. Strem would hold on to finish second with Schroeder third from the seventh spot.

There was only one other division the second night, which was the NOSA Outlaw Sprints. Only thirteen sprints checked in the back gate and were split into two heat races. Caset Mack won the first heat race with Bob Martin second. Chris Shirek led the second heat race and grabbed the win with Nygaard second and Chris Ranten third. The feature event was led early on by Chris Shirek. Nygaard shot up to the second spot and ran there for a handful of laps with Mack closing in on the top two spots. At about midway, Mack motored his way past Nygaard and Shirek for the lead using one of the higher grooves in the track. Mack continued on to claim the win and add a sweep to his stats. Nygaard passed Shirek to claim the second spot with Shirek holding on to the third spot.

Feature Win Dash Win Dash For Cash 1. 11D-Pat Doar 2. 99-Doyle Erickson 3. F15-Justin Fegers 4. 55-Cory Mahder 5. 32-Shaun Peterson 6. 73-Zach Johnson 7. 9-Steve Anderson 8. 12S-Brad Seng 9. 2-Mike Nutzmann 10. 75-Cody Skytland 11. 22C-Don Copp 12. T1-Tom Corcoran Late Models - Feature 9/11/09 and 9/12/09

Justin Fegers Earns Honors at Seitz Memorial Race

9/6/08 Race Report
Prepared by: Orness Creations
Grand Forks, ND

The 2^nd Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational was held this past weekend on their scheduled raindate for the event. The original schedule dates were cancelled due to the weather, so a full program was ran Saturday. Even at that, the weather was cooperative till about two hours into the program when threatening weather was moving in and the program switched up a little.

The biggest news of the night was the winner of the $9200 first place prize. Justin Fegers of Mound, MN put on a show for the fans, as he was named the 2^nd Annual Champion. Fegers won his heat race, placed sixth in the dash and started sixth for the feature event. Fegers grabbed the lead from Jeff Provinzino and then slipped off the track allowing five cars to get past him. He then motored his way back to the front to capture the title after a long couple of days waiting for the weather.

Provinzino, Cryderman, Balcaen, Shaw all were in the mix for the lead at some point of the event. The top eight spots were all exchanging positions throughout the race, as well as some notables that came through a consolation race many of which finished in the top fifteen spots. Drivers transferring out of the consi’s were Zach Johnson, Seng, Turk, Skytland, Breeschoten, Hapka, Peterson and Howie Schill.

Valley Oral & Facial Surgery stepped up as the title sponsor for the night along with many associate sponsors, such as, Wes’s Plumbing, 71 Bar, Shaw Trucking, S&S Transport, Northern Plumbing Supply, and the North Dakota Eye Clinic. $920 Dash Winner was Joel Cryderman who started on the pole and led every lap.

Heat winners consisted of Mike Balcaen who started third and passed Mike Johnson for the win. Joey Jensen used the pole position to win the second heat race over Cryderman. Jeff Provinzino passed Tom Corcoran with about 3 laps to go in the third heat race to capture the win. Justin Fegers started outside the front row and led every lap to finish ahead of Steve Laursen. Ricky Weiss started fourth and found his way around Matt Aukland for the last heat race win.

The WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds sponsored by Dempsey Truck Service of Grand Forks, had four heat races scheduled. Dustin Strand grabbed control of the first heat race and won from the fourth starting spot. Traveler, Jason VandeKamp and rookie in the MWMod Class won the second heat race from the third starting spot. Bryan Dyrdahl won the third heat race from the pole, holding off Aaron Olson who finished second. Davey Mills won the last heat race starting outside last weeks feature winner, Ryan Schroeder on the front row.

The Midwest Modified Feature event was a repeat winner from the First Annual Race. Bryan Dyrdahl has finished second so many times this year at RCS, and finally made it stick by winning the feature event. Dyrdahl started third and basically lead the caution filled event from flag to flag. 2008 Track Points Champion, Dustin Strand struggled to get past LePier who ran second most of the race, finally completed the pass on LePier later on in the race, but could not catch Dyrdahl. Dyrdahl is the first repeat winner for the night which would still see the NOSA Sprints and MDRA Street Stocks complete their feature race. 

The Transystems MDRA Street Stocks had a total of twenty teams split into three heat races and one feature event. Joe Potter led Steffen Snare across the line in the first heat race while Jason Babcock led every lap in the second heat race to win. James Wahl started on the pole of the last heat race and passed Terry Blacklance for the win late in the race.

The MDRA Street Stock feature probably ended differently than two other drivers wanted it to end. Early leader Jim Geringer would have to start tailend after one of the four cautions. Joe Potter then assumed the lead and led every lap therafter until the last lap in which Steffen Snare snuck past him on the highside coming out of turn four to the checkered flag. Snare edged out Potter for the win. Terry Blacklance had a strong run finishing third with heat race winners, James Wahl and Jason Babcock rounding out the top five spots. 

The NOSA Sprint Car heat races were won by a pair of Chris’s. Chris Burke took the checkered flag in the first race with Nygaard passing Wilson for the second finishing spot. Chris Shirek won the second heat race, coming from the fourth spot to pass Dave Glennon who finished second. Chris Burke also lead the first ten laps of the feature event only to be passed by Nygaard who went on to claim the win and also another repeat winner from last year. Nygaard started eighth and quickly made his way towards the front to chase down Burke. Heat winner Chris Shirek finished a strong second while Ryan Wilson also snuck past Burke for the third spot and Bob Martin following Burke across in the fifth spot.

River Cities Speedway still has a month of racing left in September. The speedways website has all the dates and classes of cars running each night listed at rivercitiesspeedway.com. This upcoming weekend fans will get to see the mini-sprint class added to the program.

2007 RESULTS

The 1st Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational

DTRA Super Late Models

Heat #1

1. 51-Joel Cryderman

2. 4F-Jeff Hinkemeyer

3. 7W-Ricky Weiss

4. 66-Eric Breeschoten

5. 9-Steve Anderson

6. 12A-Matt Aukland

7. 4T-Troy Hueple

8. 84-Mike Johnson

9. 1B-Mike Bruns

Heat #2

1. 42-Terry Casey

2. 81-Ashley Anderson

3. B1-Brent Larson

4.T1-Tom Corcoran

5. 31-Scott Greer

6. 99-Doyle Erickson

7. 1J-Jeff Pritchard

8. 4N-Nolan Olmstead

9. 77-Brady Dyrdahl

Heat #3

1. 12-Brad Seng

2. 05-Chuckie DeSmith

3. 2-Mike Nutzman

4. 54-Tom Balcaen

5. 52-James SanGrait

6. 06-Dave Smith

7. 21-Chad Corbett

8.11-Troy Schill

9.15-Johnny Johnson

Heat #4

1. 19-Steve Laursen

2. 90-Lance Mathees

3. 42M-Dave Mass

4. 97-Ron Schreiner

5. 32-Shaun Peterson

6. 1-Tom Nesbitt

7. 00-Cory Wheeler

8. 27-Dave Zimmerman

9. U1-Dave Tyrchniewicz

Heat #5

1. 00-Mitch Johnson

2. 11D-Pat Doar

3. 0-Troy Olson

4. 18-Dustin Hapka

5. 5C-Ryan Corbett

6. 57-Kevin Sexton

7. 75-Dale Skytland

8. 09-Brandon Burke

9. 14-Bruce Hart

Heat #6

1. 7P-Joey Pederson

2. 28-Jeff Provinzino

3. 73-Zach Johnson

4. 10-Mike Balcaen

5. 92-Don Shaw

6. F9-Brandon Fuller

7. 75JR-Cody Skytland

8.7X-Jody Olson

Dash
1. 19-Steve Laursen

2. 11D-Pat Doar

3. 90-Lance Mathees

4. 12-Brad Seng

5. 42-Terry Casey

6. 00-Mitch Johnson

7. 51-Joel Cryderman

8. 7P-Joey Pederson

B Main #1

1. 97-Ron Schreiner

2. 54-Tom Balcaen

3. 1-Tom Nesbit

4. 5C-Ryan Corbett

5. 57-Kevin Sexton

6. 31-Scott Greer

7. 12A-Matt Aukland

8. 18-Dustin Hapka

9. 75-Dale Skytland

10. U1-Dave Tyrchniewicz

11. 09-Brandon Burke

12. 21-Chad Corbett

13. 84-Mike Johnson

14. 14-Bruce Hart

15. 11S-Troy Schill

16. 1B-Mike Bruns

B Main #2

1. 7-Ricky Weiss

2. 32-Shaun Peterson

3. 9-Steve Anderson

4. F9-Brandon Fuller

5. 52-James SanGrait

6. 92-Don Shaw

7. 7X-Jody Olson

8. 06-Dave Smith

9. 00-Cory Wheeler

10. 15-Johnny Johnson

11. 27-Dave Zimmerman

12. 77-Brady Dyrdahl

13. 75JR-Cody Skytland

14. 4N-Nolan Olmstead

15. 99-Doyle Erickson

16. 1J-Jeff Pritchard

Feature

1. 00-Mitch Johnson

2. 19-Steve Laursen

3. 11D-Pat Doar

4. B1-Brent Larson

5. 7P-Joey Pederson

6. 66-Eric Breeschoten

7. 2-Mike Nutzman

8. 32-Shaun Peterson

9. 05-Chuckie DeSmith

10. 97-Ron Schreiner

11. 81-Ashley Anderson

12. 28-Jeff Provinzino

13. T1-Tom Corcoran

14. 7-Ricky Weiss

15. 90-Lance Mathees

16. 0-Troy Olson

17. 4F-Jeff Hinkemeyer

18. 92-Don Shaw

19. 42M-Dave Mass

20. 54-Tom Balcaen

21. 52-James SanGrait

22. 10-Mike Balcaen

23. 51-Joel Cryderman

24. 42-Terry Casey

25. 73-Zach Johnson

26. 12S-Brad Seng

2006 Results