John Seng embraces competitive challenge of Wissota Late Model division

The Wissota Late Model competition at River Cities Speedway, on a weekly basis, is pretty stout.  Grand Forks driver John Seng doesn’t mind the tough foes he sees every week. In fact, he says the level of competition pushes him to be better.

“This region, for late model racing, is some of the most competitive. Anybody can win any night if they’ve got a little bit of luck,” Seng said. “There are probably eight guys that have the opportunity to win every night. It’s tough, but it’s nice, it keeps you pushing.”

Seng is a fifth-year late model driver. If the last name sounds familiar in Grand Forks, it is because it is – his father is Brad Seng. That is the same Brad Seng who is a five-time NLRA champion, leads with 45 NLRA series wins all-time and is a two-time winner of the John Seitz Memorial.

“Growing up and watching him race has formed how I do it now,” John Seng said. “From the way I try to drive my car to the relationships I try to have with my sponsors. I was lucky enough to learn about a lot of this as a kid, so it’s made the last five years really enjoyable.”

Seng, 29, raced karts when he was younger and then took some time away from racing.  His original thought was to get into the Wissota Street Stock class, but….

“I got the dirt racing bug. I wanted to race a street stock and my dad thought a late model would be a better idea,” Seng said.  “We went from not doing much to hopping in a late model.”

His first year in the class was a learning year; he raced 24 times and had no top fives, but did record eight top 10 finishes, finishing a season-best sixth three times.

Seng picked up his first career feature win on June 17, 2023 at Devils Lake Speedway, and added a second win at the same track on July 22 of that year. He finished with seven top fives that year.

“I felt pretty comfortable right off the get-go. It helps to have good equipment,” Seng said. “It’s been a fun five years.”

He finished fifth in the points at River Cities Speedway in 2023 and was sixth in 2024. Last year produced four top fives for Seng, who scaled back his racing to 12 nights in 2025.

“I want to build off last year. We slowed things down a little bit, and stuck closer to home and didn’t travel as much,” Seng said. “Last year, this track was kind of rowdy, and that’s kind of the tracks I don’t like a whole lot. I got pretty good on it and I also got to experience some dry slick tracks, too. I see some decent success on both (types of tracks).”

There is a goal for the 2026 season – get back to victory lane.

“I got two wins my second year and haven’t been back since,” Seng said. “Hopefully we’ll change that this year.”

The desire to win – and being pushed by the strong weekly competition at RCS – drives the five-year veteran.

“The competitiveness -- I love to compete,” Seng said. “I love to be better than people. I love to push myself and always do better. That’s the best part, the whole environment of competitive racing.”

Driver profile

John Seng

Wissota Late Model #21

Residence: Grand Forks, N.D.

Age: 29

Sponsors: Absolute Glass LLC, Action Adventures, Action Fabricating, Inc. & Minnesota Metalworks, Inc., Affinity Builders, Batzer Garage, Bob’s Oil, Charlie’s Public House, Custom Stripes, Darcy’s Café, Development Homes, Inc,. G&B Thompson Farms, Leisureland RV, Lights Out, Rachel’s Property Solutions, S&S Transport, Varsity Ice House