News

Weiss Dominates Seitz Weekend; Strand Captures Third Series Title

9/12/2018

Ricky Weiss won all three features contested at River Cities on the John Seitz Memorial weekend.
Dustin Strand won the pole dash, and clinched his third series title with a fourth place run on Saturday afternoon.
Mike Spieker photos.

It was a big weekend for two-time series champion Ricky Weiss, driver of the No. 7 Keewatin Truck Service Bloomquist, as he won all three main events contested during the 12th annual John Seitz Memorial weekend at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks.

NLRA Event Preview - 8th Annual 'Prelude To The Johnny'

9/5/2018

Mike Spieker photo.

This Thursday night, September the 6th, the 21st season of NLRA action comes to a close with the annual running of the 'Prelude to the Johnny' at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, which will kick off the twelfth annual John Seitz Memorial weekend. This Thursday's event will be the 37th time the Speedway has hosted the series since 1999.

John Seitz Remembered 10 Years On - February 4

2/4/2017

Ten years ago today, we lost a friend, a competitor, a champion, a son, a husband, a father, and a great man. John Seitz passed away at just 36 years of age, leaving a void that is still left unfilled today.

During John's time with us, he was a three-time NLRA series champion, and 2001 series tour champion. Seitz won 26 features with the series, which topped the list from August 2006, until Brad Seng broke the mark in May 2015.

He has since been inducted onto the River Cities Speedway Hall-of-Fame, and had the track's fall Late Model special renamed in his honor.

The following is an article that was first published in the Grand Forks Herald in February 2007, written by fellow River Cities Hall-of-Famer Wayne Nelson.

Seitz Memorial Recap

9/13/2016

Another John Seitz Memorial is in the books as the tenth running of the event took place at the River Cities Speedway last week. Thursday night was marred by rain delays, but produced a new track record holder in Wissota national point leader Dustin Strand, and a new three-time NLRA series champion in Brad Seng. Friday saw the original Seitz memorial pole sitter, Steve Laursen, earn the pole once again. Saturday saw Elk Mound, Wisconsin native AJ Diemel join Brad Seng as the only two-time champions in the events' history.

John Seitz Remembered 10 Years On - September 9

9/9/2016

Ten years ago today, John Seitz raced in his final NLRA event at the Red River Co-Op Speedway in Winnipeg. Seitz had won his 26th and final NLRA feature at the track three weeks prior. Seitz won his heat, and finished third in the feature behind Kevin Sexton and Howie Schill. Troy Olson and Cody Skytland were crowned co-champions, joining Seitz, the four-time series champion, and winner of the previous three at that point, as the sixth and seventh champions of the series at the time.

Strand Wins The Battle, Ties All-Time Wins Record; Seng Wins The War

9/9/2016

Dustin Strand took the lead on lap ten, and lead the rest of the way, to win the 'Prelude to the Johnny' at the River Cities Speedway on Thursday night. With the win Strand tied the record for wins in a season with seven, set by John Seitz in 2004. Strand also set a new track record in the heat race, putting down a blistering 11.422 second lap at 94 Mph. for an average speed. The record was reset by Brad Seng on April 22 of this year at 11.514. Speaking of Seng, his sixth place finish was enough to secure his third NLRA series championship. Seng won the title by just eight markers over Strand. Bill Mooney won yet another hard charger award, charging from twelfth on the starting grid to finish second. David Mcdonald had a strong River Cities debut, as he finished third. Defending Seitz Memorial winner Chad Mahder and Don Shaw rounded out the too five. Full Results. Final Points.

John Seitz Remembered 10 Years On - September 8

9/8/2016

Ten years ago today, John Seitz raced in his final race at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. It was the Harvest Bowl Late Model Nationals, and some of the best in the region were on hand that night, as Steve Laursen, Brent Larson, Joel Cryderman, Mike Nutzmann, Don Shaw, and Terry Casey just to name a few. Seitz finished 24th in the event, a race he won in 2004, and the race that would be renamed in his honor the following season.

NLRA Event Preview - Sixth Annual 'Prelude to the Johnny' at River Cities

9/6/2016

On Friday night, September the 8th, the NLRA will but a ribbon on its' 19th season with the sixth running of the 'Prelude to the Johnny' at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND. The event kicks off the three day, tenth annual John Seitz Memorial.

Last season, Elk Mound, Wisconsin's AJ Diemel, became the fourth native of the dairy state to win the Prelude in its' five years history. Adam Hensel of Barron, John Kaanta of Elk Mound, and Pat Doar on New Richmond, were winners of the event in 2011, 2012, and 2013 respectively. Ricky Weiss became the first non-Wisconsinite to win the race in 2014.

John Seitz Remembered 10 Years On - August 25

8/25/2016

Ten years ago today, John Seitz won his his 19th and final feature at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. Seitz won his first late model feature on May 21, 1999, moving over from the Super Stock division, where he won around two dozen more features in the class at what was then the Grand Forks Speedway. Seitz, who had won the previous Friday after starting 24th, beat Mike Balcaen, Doyle Erickson, eventual NLRA series co-champion Cody Skytland, and Brad Seng, who rounded out the top five that night.

John Seitz Remembered 10 Years On - August 18

8/18/2016

Ten years ago today, after winning the NLRA series feature in Winnipeg the night before, John Seitz won his second to last feature at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, in what is one of the greatest performances in the history of the Speedway. John won many races at Grand Forks/River Cities in Super Stocks and Late Models, but this win was a standout by how impressive it was. River Cities decided to try something different on this night in August by running double features. The second feature would be inverted by the way the drivers finished in the first feature. Seitz finished second to Mitch Johnson in first feature. There were 25 car in attendance that night, so Seitz would be slated to start outside of the twelfth row in the 24th position at the start of the second feature. When all was said and done, Seitz was parked in Rydell cars victory lane at the end of the second feature. After the race, Seitz said he believed he could win, "I always think I have a shot at winning" Seitz told the Grand Forks Herald. He continued, "I went from 24th to first, and I didn't touch a single car, there was no muscling guys out of the way."