Since I’ve been off for a week, I decided to put together a RaceChaser notebook on some things happening in the region.
Here it is:
Tight NLRA Points Race
The NLRA show at Jamestown has been called off because of the tire shortage. There are four points shows left — Aug. 15 at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon, Aug. 20 at River Cities Speedway, Aug. 21 at Red River Valley Speedway and Sept. 9 at River Cities.
Mike Greseth of Harwood and Shane Edginton of Winnipeg have been dueling for the points lead all year. As of July 31, Greseth had a 12-point lead, but that was before shows at Greenbush (which Edginton won) and at Nodak Speedway in Minot, which Brad Seng of Grand Forks won. Seng was only 68 points back as of July 31 while teenager Bryce Sward of Nelson, who won his first NLRA feature in July at Devils Lake, also is within realistic distance of the lead.
Greseth has four NLRA wins in what has turned out to be a great rookie season in the late models with Edginton and veteran Don Shaw of Ham Lake with two each. Dave Mass of East Bethel, Dustin Strand of East Grand Forks, Ryan Mikkelson of Alexandria, Bryce Sward and Seng each have one.
It should be a good points race. And keep in mind, Greseth will be one of the drivers I consider a favorite there. He won the Wissota Mod special there in 2020.
Peterson, Broking and Sabraski Fighting for Advantage RV Mod Title
It’s a three-man race for the Advantage RV Mod Tour title as the series enters its final weekend. The Advantage Tour is at I-94 Sure Step Speedway on Friday before going to Miller, S.D., on Saturday and Casino Speedway in Watertown, S.D., on Sunday for the finale.
Tyler Peterson of Hickson leads the standings by eight points over Grand Rapids, Minn., driver Johnny Broking. Shane Sabraski of Rice is only 18 points back. It’s been a highly competitive points race from the outset.
Interestingly, Peterson does not have a tour win this year — although he was very close at Bemidji in late July — but has been very consistent. Broking has three wins, Dan Ebert has two while Dave Cain, Jeremy Nelson, Cole Spacek, Zach Johnson and Sabraski have one each.
Rueben Meyer does a great job with this tour, which was cancelled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I’ve enjoyed the five shows I’ve seen this summer, and this weekend should be fun with a tour title on the line.
Speaking of Peterson, he’s in a battle with Sabraski, Brandon Copp of Brule, Wis., and Jody Bellefeuille of Duluth for the Wissota Mod national championship. In the latest standings Peterson trails Sabraski by 41 points for the top spot. And they will see each other this weekend three times on the Advantage RV tour.
Joseph Thomas of Glyndon is seventh in the most recent national points while Ryan Gierke of Villard is ninth.
Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls is the top RaceChaser-area driver in the Wissota Midwest Modified standings; he is sixth, 148 points out of first. That race is far from over however as there are a lot of races in the coming weeks.
Steffes Street Stock Tour champion Parker Anderson is in a strong position to win the Wissota Street Stock national title, but Justin Vogel of Brooten is sitting 134 points back. Vogel is a former national champion.
Kyle Anderson of Jamestown is seventh in the standings while Ryan Satter of Dent is eighth. Kyle Dykhoff of Starbuck is 10th.
Shane Edginton is third in the Wissota Late Model national points while Sward is sixth.
Travis Scott of Glenwood is sixth in the Wissota Super Stock national points. He’s also a leading contender for rookie of the year.
IMCA Points
Torey Fischer of West Fargo is fifth in the IMCA Lady Eagle National Points with 680. Skyla Miller of Harwood is ninth. Those points are through Aug. 5.
Fischer is sixth in the Minnesota State IMCA Sport Mod points and is the top RaceChaser-area driver in the standings.
Redwood Speedway Shuts Down
The Redwood Speedway in Redwood Falls, Minn., announced on its Facebook page on Tuesday that it is shutting down, for the season.
The track didn’t run in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and has been in limbo for a few years. What happens when a track’s opening is uncertain — less local drivers race. And combine that with coming off the pandemic year, the car counts were not good. And if car counts aren’t good, usually there aren’t many fans there either.
Redwood is sanctioned IMCA in most classes.
I have a soft spot for Redwood, since I went there as a kid. They used to pack that place in the 1980s and even when I went there in the early 2000s, the crowds and car counts were fantastic. It’s a flatter half-mile that isn’t very wide but has produced good racing. I’ve also seen some good fights there over the years :)
I hope this is the only track I see having such an announcement, but I fear it is not. It’s been a tough year economically for some tracks.
USA Nationals
I was at the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway last weekend — awesome show despite not a very good weather day on Saturday — and Jonathan Davenport won. There were 49 cars competing in the WOO and most of the big names were there.
There were a pair of RaceChaser-area cars there. Shawn Kirwin of Morris competed in the World of Outlaws portion while Josh Johnson of Harwood competed in the Cedar Lake (local) late model portion.
Kirwin didn’t compete Saturday but Johnson ran both nights. Johnson is a true old-school racing diehard — he races an IMCA Modified, a sprint car and a late model during the summer. He ran his sprint car with the NOSA Sprints on Sunday at Buffalo River Speedway.
Rodin Wins Rebel Title
Congrats to Lucas Rodin of Marion for winning the Rebel Midwest Mod Tour title. The tour was a big success — despite some rainouts — with great car counts. The finale, which is a non-points race, will be Aug. 22 at Sheyenne and will pay $5,000 to the winner. Stayed tuned to the Rebel Midwest Mod Tour page for more details on that race.
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