RaceChaser made the trek north to River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks for the season opener on Friday night. 49 cars were on hand in the three classes that ran which is a solid debut night at the Bullring. Matt Schow of McIntosh, Minn. and Todd Carter of Lisbon each took home feature wins worth $700.
I honestly expected a few more cars, but one thing to consider about River Cities is the track does draw some cars from Canada weekly. Plus, the lightning sprints also have 2-3 Canadian drivers as well. With the ban on non-essential traffic between the two countries, those Canadian drivers can’t race in the United States right now. Plus, some drivers haven’t started their seasons yet. Once the non-essential ban is lifted and other tracks start to open the numbers will be fine.
The track was limited by county regulations to 500 fans in the stands — and spreading those out in a place that seats 6-7,000 people was not an issue. The pit area was spread out, too. No worries on social distancing, and many in attendance wore masks. Plus in the pit area an individual walked around spraying disinfectant on stairway handles, etc.
Truth is, I really hope the county eases restrictions on number of fans for River Cities — and soon. The track can handle more fans and still do the measures to protect the spread of Covid-19. Enough on that.
Schow, interviewed above, survived a flurry of cautions to win the Wissota Midwest Modified feature. It was Schow’s first night out in 2020 and he looked awful good. He was challenged briefly by Lance Schill of Langon and later Justin Froemming of Alexandria, but had a few car-length lead at the end to pick up the win.
Froemming started sixth but worked his way past School and Preston Carr of Carrington into second and had a good finish, which was worth $300.
Hunter Hougard of Warren, Minn., snuck past Carr for third. Schill was fifth. Jayson Good of Watertown started 12th but worked his way to sixth at the checkered.
Todd Carter of Lisbon has started three features this season and has two wins and a runner-up finish. The only negative was a blown engine at Devils Lake last week. But the #19 car looks awfully tough right now.
He took the lead from the outside pole and had to contend with Dan Aberle of Finley early. Carter opened a nice lead before the caution waved for a multi-car incident in turn two.
International Falls driver Jake Froemke was pressing Aberle for second and eventually took over the spot. After the caution flag, the top three spread out as Carter maintained a comfortable advantage.
Karlstad, Minn., drivers Ryan Johnson and Chase Boen waged a great battle for fifth behind Seth Klostreich of Grand Forks. Klostreich, who finished a solid fourth, picked up his second top five finish in four starts this season. Johnson topped Boen for fifth.
A dozen POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprints took the green for the feature. Dexter Dvergsten of Greenbush took the lead from the outside pole and led the whole way for the win. Alex Truscinski of Greenbush provided some pressure but Dvergsten was too strong to pick up the win. Kelsi Pederson of East Grand Forks picked up her second top three finish in a week by taking third, ahead of Alan Truscinski of Greenbush and Jason Berg of West Fargo.
River Cities Notes:
—Corey Storck of Morris was looking for his second feature win in five days but those hopes ended when he blew a motor in the dash. Storck won Monday at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon.
— Cory Dykhoff of Perham can’t catch a break to start the season in his #3C Wissota Street Stock. He was running in the top five at Devils Lake on May 16 and was involved in a wreck that was not of his doing that ended his night. On Saturday he was running in a pack of cars and again got wrecked, ending his night.
Area Notes
—Brock Gronwold of Fergus Falls finished second in the Wissota Midwest Modified feature Friday night at Miller Central Speedway in Miller, S.D. Cole Schill of Horace, ND, finished fifth in the Wissota Late Model feature.
—Dan Ebert of Lake Shore, Minn., won the Wissota Modified feature at Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wis., on Friday. Jeremy Nelson of Alexandria was third.
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