9-15 Page 26

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Despite the fact there were only two slowdowns in the race and the track was congested with lots of traffic, there were some impressive charges through the field. Thomas went from 16th to second, Gierke from 14th to fourth and Blake Adams from 22nd to seventh.

Thomas especially made a nice recovery for the night. During the opening lap of his heat, the Thursday night winner clobbered one of the dreaded infield ute tires and was lucky to be even able to race as hard as he hit it. However, he was able to pass a few cars from the tail of the heat, which allowed him to fight his way into the main and then go forward after that.

A late entrant and a surprise one was Shane Sabraski. He was not expected to be racing here originally. He had only his Modified with him on Friday and was using his old JMR car and a small rig to get him to the track. And after his effort to get to the track, things went nothing but downhill for him after that. He was moving forward in his heat and looked like he would have a good chance of winning it when he brushed slightly with another driver and got a flat tire.

He started in the back of a B feature and early on clipped that same ute tire as Thomas, turning his left front tire into a useless flopping device. He soldiered on but failed to make the cut for the feature and watched the main from the sidelines.

The reason Sabraski was at River Cities and not Gondik, where he was expected to run all three of his cars, was family related. His son Mason is a sophomore wide receiver at Concordia Moorhead and they are playing a home football game at 7 p.m. on Saturday night against St. Olaf. He was able to race his Mod here only about an hour or so away from the game site and then be on hand for the game Saturday night. There will be no racing for Sabraski on Saturday, even though he is in a national point battle in three different divisions. I think it nice there are other things more important than WISSOTA national points from time to time.

In other news, it was noted that Chad Becker is now back in the MB camp with his Late Model program. A new car was just completed for him last week and he raced here this week at Grand Forks for the first time with the new combination.

Iowa Late Model star Chris Simpson has been in the pits this week, serving as a racing coach for the Eisenschenk sisters at the behest of uncle Donny Schatz, who was also seen in the pits on Thursday night. Also, Chad Simpson, brother to Chris, was on hand as he is working with Cole Searing this week on his Late Model program. We should have had these guys bring their race cars with them. They could have added to the show, for sure.

Cody Carlson is helping out the Adams team this weekend, who opted to leave their Midwest Mod home and focus this week on the Modified before things get crazy next week. But Carlson also delivering his own personal Modified to Rick Delaine from the Winnipeg area, who has now purchased the car from him. As far as what Cody will do in 2027, it remains to be seen. That will be an off-season decision for him.

I saw this week the announcement that Gondik Law Speedway is going to run WISSOTA Street Stocks on a weekly basis in 2027. I had been expecting that move to take place for at least a couple years now, but with the resurgence of their Pure Stocks this year, perhaps it made the decision a bit tougher. However, the Hornet class has “tanked” in the Northland and they will only be racing that class from time to time next year.

The question now is whether or not Proctor and ABC or Hibbing will also jump on board with the change, which would make it more attractive for new drivers and existing drivers in other classes to race a Street Stock instead.

Now the question is, who will be the first driver to switch over to Street Stocks from some other class, which could open the gates for others to follow?

Saturday, September 12

The good weather hung on for a third straight night and despite some cooler, fall-like feeling temperatures, the 20th annual John Seitz Memorial Race was completed at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota on Saturday night, September 12.

Along with the longest race in WISSOTA for the Late Models, the Street Stocks, Midwest Mods and Modifieds all had main events with good money on the line to complete the long weekend of racing.

With the addition of Ryan Hagen to the Modified field, which indeed was the only division where new drivers could enter on Saturday night, 185 race teams entered the racing over the weekend at “The Bullring.”

A third full program was held for the Modifieds, while the Late Models and MidMods ran Last Chance races to try and get into the main event. The Street Stock field was set on Friday night and no Last Chance race was needed, as they failed to field a full field of drivers.

With around 16 or more drivers racing in the B feature races and going feature length laps in some cases, it was like a night full of feature races.

You knew it was a tough field to crack when drivers such as Cole Searing, Mike Stearns, A.J. Diemel, Shane Edginton and Chase Gelling had to get in through B feature races, and Zach Johnson and Dustin Strand only qualified through the Last Chance race.

This entire event is highlighted by the 92-lap Late Model feature, which was moved up to the second feature race in the running order this year. Track officials wanted to try and provide the Late Model drivers with a track that was not too used up and to start it early enough in the evening so that it could be completed before things got too late.

After the driver introductions, 28 Late Model drivers started the 92-lap main event on a freshly prepared track that seemed likely to provide blinding speed in the early going.

This race had good battles for the top spot, multiple leaders, a dominating performance ended by mechanical issues, and then persistence to keep the lead when racing circumstances made holding the top spot challenging.

The first 30 laps were a blazing display of speed. The fresh track was only about one lane wide. To slip out of the groove proved to be costly and we soon saw 28 drivers flying around the track at warp speed and circling the entire track. When the leaders got to the back of the pack, they were afraid to step out of line for fear of getting passed, much like a super high-speed, rubbered up track.

James Giossi led the first nine laps before Tyler Peterson was able to get past when Giossi got hung out of line. Peterson then led for a fast 20 laps until he caught the back of the pack, made a move to go around a backmarker and had the same thing happen to him; Giossi then got back in front. It seemed that Peterson had returned the favor but he did so on lap 33, which wasn’t counted because of the lap 32 built-in fuel stop.

Some year we hope circumstances are such that this portion of the program can be eliminated. It still seems unnecessary, but they got to that point probably at record time this year with the track being so fast and no yellows for any other reason. All 28 drivers were still on the track at this point.

Jayson Good was having an excellent run in third, with Gavin Tarras and Joey Pederson next in line. When racing resumed, things started to change; some drivers started to fade a bit, while others were on the move.

Josh Skorczewski, who started eighth, moved into third, while 10th-starter Jesse Glenz first appeared in the top five. Just at the halfway point, Peterson made his move and he passed Giossi for the lead. Glenz moved up to third with Good and Skorczewski next in line.

Glenz and Giossi battled for second, with Glenz getting the spot by lap 55 when the yellow flew for Cole Schill, who went off the track.

A long period of green flag racing then took place and Peterson was flexing his muscle then, pulling away from the pack and looking for all the world like the future winner. Glenz and Giossi continued to swap second, with Giossi holding it until lap 75 when Shane Edginton went off the track. Glenz took the spot following the restart.

Shortly after Peterson, still in front, suddenly slowed on the back chute and eased over the banking, done with a blown powerplant. This gave Glenz the lead for the lap 81 restart with Giossi and 17th-starter Cole Searing battling for second.

The last 11 laps were difficult for Glenz in the lead, as the yellow waved five times in those last laps.

Every time he took off, the yellow flew once again and he was subject to the double-file restarts, a dangerous time to protect the lead.

And he had a new challenger in the form of former two-time winner Aaron Turnbull. Driving a Corbett team car for the first time, he was doing a fantastic job of working his way to the front after having started 12th. He was working the outside lane and was alongside Searing by lap 86 and then, on the following restarts, he provided a severe challenge to leader Glenz. A couple times he was very close to making the pass for the lead, but just couldn’t quite get it done.

Glenz decided to hold the bottom line but he was forced to pull off a nearly perfect first corner time after time to hold on to the lead, including after the final yellow which set up a green, white and checkered situation.

To his credit, Glenz took everything that was thrown at him and fought off all challengers as he crossed the line with a scant few car lengths distance over runner-up Searing, with Turnbull a close third. It was a grueling race with the last half providing many surprises and some drivers making outstanding charges to the front. Twelve of the 28 starters were in the pits before the race was completed but there were no serious accidents or collisions. The skill these drivers show, running so hard while so close together just can’t be overlooked.

An added dimension on Saturday that hadn’t been a factor the previous two nights was the track itself, which got rather bumpy in spots and challenging. It caused some anxious moments. The drivers described the track as very “technical” which is driver speak for rough — but not wanting to use that term for various reasons

Glenz has had a sensational season so far this year across several sanctioning bodies and he likely isn’t done yet with a number of big cash races still to be run. He runs a pick-and-choose schedule and isn’t often seen anymore for the weekly shows in our area, which probably undersells his ranking.

The Modified feature was one of the best races of the weekend. A three-driver battle among Peterson, Blake Adams and Mike Stearns. Those three, plus Bryce Sward, all held the lead at some point during the race.

Sward led the first six laps before Stearns passed him. Stearns then led until lap 22 when Peterson took over the point but before that, lap after lap of battling among the three provided an exciting race.

Adams started fifth and eventually found his best line was high on the track, and he worked forward into the fray. As the three diced through traffic on an increasingly “technical” track, the crowd was wowed by the moves they made.

Adams grabbed the lead on lap 27, but one lap later Peterson retook the top spot. The two were side by side in turn one when Adams got run up the track in traffic; this opened the door for Peterson to gain a bit of ground and he then led to the finish with Adams and Stearns next in line. Peterson made a nice comeback from his previous race disappointment.

The top point drivers in WISSOTA again went at it head to head in the Street Stocks and for the second time this weekend, Cole Greseth came out as the victor. Keith Tourville came from the second row to pass both Darek Turner and Levi Randt to take the early lead. Once in front, Tourville continued to hold command but both Greseth and Randt started to close in on him. Greseth has the inside line figured out at this track and he used it to drive under Tourville one lap past the halfway point of the race. He then continued to hold that spot for the rest of the race.

It is not often Tourville gets passed when leading a feature race but Greseth had the hot hand this weekend. Randt was also able to pass Tourville for second.

This race got off to a wild beginning when a second lap crash sent Dustin Ebensteiner on the scariest crash of the weekend.

He was turned sideways on the back chute and then vaulted over the banking, launched into the air like a rocket. He collided with one of the advertising billboards on the back chute, putting a hole in that, and then spun like a top, finally falling to earth on the car’s side.

Fortunately, no reported injuries came of the wild ride. Is an outside wall here that out of the question?

The Midwest Mods were the last class to race on Saturday, after they were put in the “penalty box” for their actions on Thursday night. Thus they got to run their feature when the track was at its most challenging and the field had their hands full.

Dawson Zabel started on the pole and he got the early jump on Austin Hunter, who was doing double duty tonight after he raced for the first time in the Modifieds earlier. Jory Berg ran in third early, while the driver on the move was Matt Schow. He started sixth but quickly began to move ahead.

He found some openings to make passes and using a strong move between Zabel and Hunter, he took over the lead on lap 11.

Schow opened up a relatively comfortable lead but that was challenged when the yellow waved three times in a row with just two laps to go as collisions and crashes slowed the ending.

However, Schow managed to get away cleanly each time and when the final checkers waved, he was in control with Hunter, Berg, Zabel and Dylan McCaughan completing the top five.

It was quite the record-breaking weekend for River Cities and their premier Late Model event, honoring John Seitz, seems to just get bigger each year. Crowds were average the first two nights but the Saturday night crowd, despite the cool weather, was very good. If this event keeps getting bigger, I’m not sure where they’re going to put everyone that competes. This land-trapped facility keeps losing more and more of its facility for other uses.

In any event, it is a fun weekend that folks from both sides of the border enjoy. By the way, I’m told that the number of Canadian campers, generally huge for this race, was down this year with significant openings in the campground area. Any guesses why?