Hastings, Halvorson, Schow and TPO (x2) nab River Cities Victories
- tombergie01
- May 23
- 7 min read
River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks got its second night of racing in the books on Thursday with 85 cars in the pits.
There was a lot of doubt whether the show would get moved to Friday after a rainy first few days of the week, but RCS was determined to get the show in for its scheduled Thursday night show. The Fargo area, at least according to WDAY, got between 2-3 inches of rain this week but reported less in the Grand Forks area (I didn’t get an official report from my GF/EGF friends).
The track had some character in turns three and four and was surprisingly dry, and the pit area, while muddy in spots, was at least walkable for me. It was a beautiful night weather wise without a lot of wind.
Gage Pulkrabek of East Grand Forks and Austin Pierce of Grand Forks, driving Shane Roemeling’s 31A machine, led the 20-car Buffalo Wild Wing NOSA Sprint feature to the green on the first night of the Wayne Anderson Cup.
Some track work was done prior to the 30-lap sprint feature and I was curious what impact that would have on the racing. Pierce flew out to the lead but soon Gage Pulkrabek overtook him for the top spot. Mark Dobmeier of Grand Forks settled into third.
Adam Sobolik’s 52 machine slowed on the backstretch for the first caution, he would need a push to the pits and his night was done. One of the contenders, Brendan Mullen, also slowed under that caution with trouble and would pull in.
Pulkrabek, looking for his first career win, was the leader. Jade Hastings of Grand Forks went up high and got around Pierce with Andy Pake of Felton running fourth.
Pulkrabek had about a one-second lead on Dobmeier, who was well ahead of third place Hastings. However, the top two caught the back of the field but the caution flew with 23 to go with Pierce’s machine stalled on the backstretch with a flat left-front tire.
Pake was pressuring Hastings for third with Zach Omdahl of East Grand Forks having a nice run in fifth. Pake’s night would come to an end with a mechanical issue, and he would pull into the infield.
Amelia Eisenschenk of Fargo was having a strong run into the top five after starting 11th.
Hastings moved into second as the leaders were locked in heavy lapped traffic and soon would overtake Pulkrabek for the lead and would just fly the rest of the way. The high line where Hastings was really good, and he had a straightaway advantage on Dobmeier, who had cleared Pulkrabek for second.
Zach Omdahl was fourth and the car who made a lot of progress on the field was Jack Croaker of Grand Forks, who started in the back but had moved to fifth.
Hastings was in his own area code building a seven-second lead by the checkered. Dobmeier was second and Pulkrabek was third. Croaker, who started 19th, finished fourth with a great run with Omdahl capping off a good night in fifth. There were no red flags and after the early cautions the race went pretty quickly over the final 20 laps or so.
John Halvorson of Warren led the early part of the Wissota Street Stock feature with Cole Greseth of Harwood giving chase.
Greseth has been tough wherever he’s unloaded this year, with four wins and six top fives in seven starts coming into the night. His feature came to an early end on Thursday, however, with mechanical trouble just four laps in, and he would leave on the hook. A broken spindle was the culprit.
On the restart Halvorson led Seth Klostreich of Grand Forks and Stoney Kruk of Langon, with Kolton Brauer of Eyota soon working past those two into second, which included some contact with Kruk’s 69.
Greg Jose of Grand Forks was running well and moved past Klostreich, and soon got by Brauer for second. Just as Jose was making a run up front the caution waved for Brauer, who had right-front suspension damage and was done. Brauer is a driver who will be in the running for the national title.
Halvorson was pulling away up front from Jose, who had pressure on the outside from Klostreich. Weston Ramsrud of Bagley had worked to fourth ahead of Kruk.
Jose and Klostreich were fighting for second but were also closing on Halvorson was the white flag waved. Klostreich made one last charge in turn four but Halvorson held on for the win.
Halvorson is a guy who is easy to root for. He builds his own cars and is a clean, steady competitor each night. I enjoyed my interview with him a couple of years ago.
Jose went from eighth to second and was good on the bottom. Klostreich finished third after starting fifth. Ramsrud, who had dropped back early in the race, came back for fourth ahead of Stoney Kruk.
Aaron Blacklance of Thief River Falls seized the lead of the Wissota Midwest Modified feature with Reise Stenberg of Argusville and Matt Schow of McIntosh fighting for second.
The caution waved two laps into it as Nate Raasakka of Grand Forks was stopped against the frontstretch wall. He would drive away but go into the pits. Raasakka has a new look this year that includes some green, and it’s sharp.
Blacklance resumed the lead with Schow in second and Stenberg in third. Winnipeg driver Brenden Luschinski and Taylor Jacobson of Roseau were also in the top five.
Schow found some speed up high and surged around Blacklance for the lead. Jacobson was running down low and moved into third. Winnipeg driver Austin Hunter, who started seventh, had moved into the top five with Jory Berg of Grand Forks not far behind.
Schow opened up a one second lead on Blacklance. Jacobson was running well in third but well behind second. Hunter had gotten by Stenberg for fourth. Schow approached lapped traffic when the caution waved with seven to go when Connor Drewry of Bemidji went off of turns one and two.
On the restart Schow went back to the top side and the 2S seemed to work fine. The battle was for fourth between Stenberg, Hunter and Berg, but the caution waved for Tanner Theis’s spin in turn two one lap later.
The race never really had no flow at all because of numerous cautions until the final few laps. Blacklance made a run at Schow but hit a hole in turn four and fell back and leaving him to fight with Hunter for second. Stenberg was fourth and Jacobson right behind in fifth.
Schow pulled away over the final few laps for the win, with Hunter nipping Blacklance at the line for second. Jacobson edged Stenberg for fourth. Ryan Schow of McIntosh was the hard charger of the race, going from 18th to seventh.
I said this after Sunday’s show at Casino Speedway, but the 1TPO of Tyler Peterson is extremely tough on bullring tracks, and that certainly holds true at River Cities.
The two-time defending Wissota Late Model national champion took the lead from his pole position over Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks. Brad Seng of Grand Forks moved into third with Jason Strand of Portland running in fourth. Ryan Corbett of Grand Forks was fifth ahead of Cole Schill of Horace.
Strand was within a couple of car lengths of TPO as the two caught lapped traffic. The top lane was the place to be, and Peterson slid high in turns one and two, and Strand got beside him. But of course, as things were heating up, the caution waved.
John Seng of Grand Forks fell a few spots early but had moved past veteran Ryan Corbett into of Grand Forks climbed to fourth after the restart. Cole Schill had moved to fifth.
Strand was dogged in his pursuit of TPO up front as John Seng climbed up to third. Strand closed quickly on the final lap as TPO caught lapped traffic and was right there, but the 1TPO held on for his fifth late model feature of the season. The margin of victory was just .189 seconds.
Dustin Strand was second, John Seng was third and Brad Seng was fourth and Schill finished in fifth. Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks was the hard charger, going from 19th to 10th.
Former national champion Ward Imrie was the polesitter in the Wissota Modified feature and took the lead with Jason Strand taking second. Jordan Duray was third ahead of Bryce Borgen moving into fourth. Joe Thomas of Glyndon had captured a spot in the top five as well.
Jason Strand and Imrie were in a great duel up front as Borgen ran third. However, with 13 laps to go, Borgen would end up spinning. He would get his spot back.
Imrie led on the restart but TPO went down low and would make the pass of Imrie with 10 to go. Thomas was in third with Borgen in fourth. Bemidji driver Josh Beaulieu had quietly worked into fifth. The best battle was between Borgen and Thomas for third; but Thomas would break with six laps to go and his night would be over.
Peterson was pulling away to a 2.3 second advantage on Imrie, who was comfortably in second ahead of Borgen. TPO would win by 1.9 seconds over Imrie. Borgen finished in third, Beaulieu fourth and Duray captured fifth.
RCS Notes
--New faces in the Wissota Late Model class at RCS include Kelsi Pederson of East Grand Forks, up from the lightning sprints; Jamie Dietzler of Larimore, up from the Wissota Midwest Modified class, and Schow, who is still racing a Midwest modified.
--It is good to see Hunter Hougard of Warren back in a Midwest modified. He “retired” from racing after the 2020 season but made a return in 2023. He is running a 2013 MB Customs car.
--One driver who has not had good luck to start the year is Brody Troftgruben of Grand Forks. The #14 late model team has been plagued with engine issues and was not competing on Thursday. They are hoping to be back on the track soon. He's a good competitor in the NLRA lates locally.
--Two former lightning sprint drivers are now in the NOSA Sprints. Alex Truscinski of Greenbush made the move last year and is back, while Kate Taves of Detroit Lakes made the move this year. Taves had a pretty solid night, finishing in the top 10 in ninth. Weston Olson had previously moved up from the lightning sprints a few years ago.
--It’s year 56 in a late model for the veteran Tom Corcoran of East Grand Forks. He has a cool-looking wrap this year, with a black T-1 scheme going back to the first year he used the number in 1981. Another late model driver, Mitch Johnson of Hickson, is celebrating 50 years behind the wheel this summer.
--Aaron Holtan of Newfolden is celebrating his 25th year of racing in 2025, driving the #50 Wissota Modified.
--Three drivers did double-duty in the modified and late model ranks: TPO, Dustin Strand and Jason Strand. Dustin Strand was a scratch for the Wissota Mod feature, however.
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