Edginton, Breidenbach, Greseth and Thomas haul in River Cities victories

I made it back to River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks on what turned into a pleasant June evening.   With a High Limit sprint race scheduled (and canceled because of rain) at I-94 EMR Speedway, the NOSA Sprints had the night off.

The Wissota Modifieds were in town for the first time in 2026, and there were only four classes racing. There are a couple of things I appreciate about River Cities Speedway, at least on a regular basis. They almost always start on time, sometimes a few minutes early even, and they generally do a good job of keeping the show moving unless the sprint car feature turns into a marathon. Friday’s show started on time and wrapped up at 9:50 p.m. As a fan and a blogger I REALLY like nights like that.

The track had some character, including a hole in turn two which gave several drivers trouble.

Shane Edginton of East St. Paul, Manitboa jumped ahead in the NLRA/Wissota Late Model feature with Amelia Eisenschenk of Fargo second and Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks third ahead of Travis Robertson of Moorhead. Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks moved into fifth.

It took only four laps for Edginton to catch the back of the field but a caution flew for Tucker Pederson who had slid off turns three and four to reset the field.

The race struggled to get restarted with a pair of cautions. On the restart Strand slid high in turn three and four and slid back to fourth while Edginton was cruising out front.  Cole Schill of Hawley climbed to sixth.

After the fourth caution of the race Robertson moved into second with Strand in third and Eisenschenk in fourth ahead of Schill.  The top five would get spread out as Edginton encountered lapped heavy lapped traffic with 10 to go. Strand was working on Robertson for second as Edginton built a 2.2 second lead.

With five to go the caution came out for an incident involving Dylan Langevin and Eisenschenk. On the restart a big mess happened on the frontstretch with several cars involved, including Jeff Hapala, Dan Dowling and Laela Eisenschenk were among the cars involved; Eisenschenk left on the hook.

After the cleanup Strand grabbed second from Robertson and looked to chase down Edgington as Schill moved into third. Amelia Eisenschenk was looking to get around Robertson as the white flag waved.

Edginton was in control late, opening a one-second lead by the checkered to top Dustin Strand. Schill, Robertson and Amelia Eisenschenk rounded out the top five. Robertson edged out Eisenschenk by just .286 seconds. Pederson and Brody Troftgruben were not far behind the fourth-place battle over the final laps. The hard charger of the night was Troy Schill of Thompson, who went from 23^rd to ninth for a very solid roun.

 I am going to say this – there are a lot of good cars and drivers in the late models at River Cities, but Edginton, Strand and Tyler Peterson (TPO) have won features so far, and it looks like the 5E, 71 and 1TPO (when he is in town), at least early, are the cars being chased so far at RCS.  

Greg Jose of Grand Forks had the inside pole and took the lead in the Wissota Street Stock feature over Chris Dudley of Bemidji. Cole Greseth of Harwood, who has won both features at RCS this season, was working the high side of Dudley, as John Halvorson of Warren and Doug VanMill of Bagley were among the cars fighting for fourth.

Greseth took the lead with 14 to go as he flew around Jose on the high side. Bryce Reimer’s 03 stalled on the frontstretch to bring out the yellow; on the restart Dudley and Jose were dueling for second as Josh Barker of Thompson joined VanMill and Halvorson in a fight for fourth.

Greseth opened a 3.3 second lead by the halfway point as the  fight for second was tense between Jose and Dudley. The caution flew with five to go for Drew Peterson’s #06 machine that went off the track.

The restart didn’t deter Greseth ass the 19 car was flawless at the Bullring once again. He survived a pair of late cautions and rolled to the win. Dudley edged Jose for second with VanMill and Halvorson rounding out the top five. Greseth has figured out RCS and that car works on whatever line he needs it to.

Two cars who had DNFs in their heat – Blaine Barnes of Grand Forks and Stoney Kruk of Langdon – both advanced a good ways through the field. Kruk went from 16^th to eighth while Barnes went from 17^th to ninth.

I want to extend well wishes to John Halvorson, who has battled some health issues recently and is on the mend. It was good to chat with him on Friday.

Kenna Breidenbach of Grand Forks moved in front of Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Taylor Jacobson of Roseau running second and  Austin Hunter of Winnipeg fighting Connor Drewry for third. Brennan Schmidt of Bemidji settled into fifth. The first caution waved in the feature for debris in turn one.

Breidenbach resumed out front as Drewry and Hunter fought for third. Schmidt and McCaughan ran side-by-side for fifth as another caution flew for two cars spinning in turns one and two.

Breidenbach stuck her 15 machine to a lower line as Hunter threatened Jacobson for second. Schmidt had taken over fourth from Drewry.  Breidenbach, meanwhile had opened a about a 2-3 car length lead on Jacobson. Drewry’s night would come to an end after an incident in turn two with four to g o.

Hunter and Jacobson’s fight for second never relented as Breidenbach opened some breathing room as the white flag flew. Breidenbach held off a late attempt from Jacobson to earn her first victory of 2026 by .256 seconds. I’ve had a chance to visit a little bit with the Breidenbachs this season, another nice racing family.

 Hunter was a solid third, and the race felt like he was glued to Jacobson’s 46J.  Jory Berg of Grand Forks quietly had worked through the field; he had trouble late in his heat and had to start 15th on the field; he was patient, and avoided mishaps, and climbed to fourth by the checkered. Schmidt edged Logan Salazar of Neche for fifth.

The bottom was the place to be for the Wissota Midwest Modified feature as the top four stayed the same until a debris caution flew with seven to go.  On the restart Jacobson made a serious challenge for the lead and pulled beside Breidenbach, but she would survive that challenge as Hunter continued to pester Jacobson for second.

Greenbush driver Dustin Wahl led the Wissota Modified feature over Aaron Holtan of Newfolden with Joe Thomas of Glyndon running third and Bryce Borgen of Perley in fourth. Bryce Sward of Nelson was running fifth. Thomas was applying heavy pressure to Holtan but soon had Sward to contend with  for third.

Sward took over third and went to work on Holtan as the bpttom line waswere the mods settled into. Thomas and Sward were exchanging positions as Rick DeLaine moved into the top five.  The first caution of the race came for Ryan Johnson’s 25 on the backstretch.

On the restart Thomas passed Holtan for second as was challenging Wahl for the lead.  Borgen and DeLaine were fighting fifth.

On the while flag lap, things changed dramatically at the front as Wahl slid high in turns one and two, allowing both Thomas and Sward to get by. Thomas would pick up the victory in a close finish over Sward as Wahl settled for third.  Holttan was fourth and Duray, who started ninth, was fifth.

It turned into a three-car fight at the front as Sward closed in on the top two. Jordan Duray had moved into the top five.

Things got crazy on the final lap as Wahl slid up high in turns one and two, allowing both Thomas and Sward to advance. Thomas would grab the win with Sward second. Wahl settled for third with Holtan in fourth and Duray going from ninth to fifth.

RCS notes

--Bemidji driver Josh Beaulieu has moved into the Wissota Late Model class after spending recent years in the Wissota Modified. Beaulieu had a solid eighth-place finish in the feature.

--Loki Bjerke of Argusville, a former Lightning Sprint driver, has moved into a Wissota Modified. The 18-year-old finished ninth fin the feature for a pretty solid debut.

--I talked with Wissota Mod driver Bryce Borgen of Perley. He is driving a Cade Dillard Racing chassis this season.  He had damaged the front clip earlier this season and had to take the car to Arkansas to get it fixed early in the week. He got back on Wednesday and got things put together to race at Norman County Raceway on Thursday, where he finished fourth.  Borgen ran in the top five quite a while on Friday.

--The long haul award goes to Dylan Zabel of Selby, S.D.; he was also on hand at NCR on Thursday in his 11Z Wissota Modified.

--One driver I had not seen race in a while was Logan Salazar of Neche, driver of the #3L Wissota Midwest Modified. I’ve watched him at Devils Lake in the past . He ran well on Friday, going from sixth to 10th in the feature.

--I talked to Wissota Mod driver Ryan Johnson of Karlstad, a former street stock track champion at RCS. He bought a Millenium Chassis about a year and a half ago. Friday was his second night out of the year but unfortunately he ended up with a DNF.

Fix It Forward wins to Jochim, Orvedal, Pavlicek, Hendrickson, Wilke and Skalicky

Andrew Jochim of Harwood topped Jonny Carter of Lisbon to win the IMCA Stock Car feature Friday night at Fix It Forward Speedway in West Fargo. Rob VanMil of Barnesville, who won on opening night, was third with Brody Carlsrud of Moorhead and Kalvin Kesselberg of Ada rounding out the top five.

Brad Orvedal of Fargo won the IMCA Hoby Stock feature over Todd Gettel of Mahnomen. Tim Church of Moorhead was third, Hunter Goulet of Fargo fourth and Daniel Beckman of Mahnomen was fifth.

Rich Pavlicek of Casselton won the IMCA Sport Mod feature over Austin Veralrud of Audubon. Scott Jacobson of Fargo, the opening night winner, was third, Kelly Jacobson of Fargo fourth and Brody Johnson of Moorhead fifth. Pavlicek also won Thursday at Norman County Raceway.

Evan Hendrickson of Mapleton topped Jerzee Rosinski of Grand Forks for the IMCA RaceSaver Sprint feature. Ty Hanten of West Fargo, last week’s winner, was third with the Taves siblings from Detroit Lakes, Matthew and Kate, finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Jesse Skalicky of Fargo dominated the IMCA Modified feature over Dave Shipley of Argusville. Tyler Hall of Fertile, the Week 1 winner, was third with Jacoby Traut of Jamestown fourth and John Nord of Enderlin fifth.

Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes topped Ryan Braseth of Ulen for the INEX Legends feature win. Joshua Wiest of Fargo was third, Sean Johnson of Kindred fourth and Brian Frederick of Lison fifth.

Friday notes

--The Structural Buildings Wissota Late Model Challenge Series was rained out at Fiesta City Speedway on Friday, they will run on Saturday as it was a two-day doubleheader.

--The High Limit Sprint Car Series race at I-94 EMR Speedway in Fergus Falls was canceled because of rain.  There will be no reschedule date, according to the High Limit Facebook page.   This was the High Limit’s call, not I-94. Reading some Facebook comments, some folks were not happy High Limit canceled so soon; between that and not rescheduling for Sunday when I-94, which they should have done, you won’t see me supporting that tour if it comes back into this region.