Brody Troftgruben (14), Shane Edginton (5E), and Brad Seng (12S) battle at River Cities last Friday night.
Speedway Shots photo.
Speedway Shots photo.
Kicking off the three-day 17th annual John Seitz Memorial at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks will be the 14th running of the 'Prelude to the Johnny' which gives the series the opportunity to crown its champion on home turf while the field of around 50 drivers get a night of racing at the high-banked quarter-mile Bullring under their belts before the qualifying heat races on Friday night.
| The Prelude was dominated by drivers of the Badger State as four of the first five editions of the race were won by Wisconsin natives. Adam Hensel won the inaugural event in 2011 and was joined by "The Sheriff" John Kaanta in 2012, "The Double-One Express" Pat Doar in 2013, and AJ Diemel in 2015. Wisconsin drivers have won seven of the 13 previous Preludes with Diemel adding two more wins in 2015 and 2021. When it comes to parlaying a Prelude win into a Seitz win on Saturday night, it took until 2017 when Don Shaw won the Thursday NLRA finale and then Saturday's $9,200-to-win 92 lap main event. Ricky Weiss in 2018 and Diemel in 2021 are the other two to win both features. |  Mike Greseth brings an 84-point lead into the Prelude after sweeping Greenbush last weekend. Speedway Shots photo. |
101 drivers have made the Seitz Memorial with only two starting all 16 previous races. Those drivers are Brad Seng and Don Shaw, both of whom are two-time Seitz Memorial champions. 2014 Seitz runner-up by a matter of inches, Joey Pederson, driver of the Dahlstrom Motors Rocket XR1, is the only other driver to enter all 16 previous Seitz Memorials but missed making the feature in 2010 and 2011.
As far as what else is on the line on Thursday night…
Mike Greseth, driver of the No. 17 Quality Engines Rocket XR1, brings an 84-point advantage over Brad Seng and his No. 12S S&S Transport MB Custom into the Prelude in hopes of securing his third consecutive series title.
Greseth won his 16th and 17th NLRA main events last weekend at Greenbush Race Park in Greenbush, MN. Those 17 wins in his 55-career series starts gives Greseth a .309 win percentage, meaning he wins an average of one of every three races he enters.
Greseth's third series title would leave just three other drivers with more championships. Mike Balcaen leads all drivers with five series titles while Brad Seng and Dustin Strand are four-time series champions.
Also on Thursday night, Dustin Strand, who wrapped up his sixth River Cities Speedway title in dominating fashion last Friday night in the Q&Z Plumbing & Heating No. 71, will have one last opportunity to become the second driver in series history to win 30 features. Brad Seng became the first with a win at Devils Lake Speedway on July 18, 2015.
With a win on Thursday night, Tyler Peterson, driver of the QuickLift Rocket XR1 which will be numbered 33 this weekend, has a chance to tie Mike Greseth for most wins by a series rookie. Peterson's five wins this season trails Greseth's six triumphs just two seasons ago.
Rounding out the top five behind Greseth, Seng, Strand, and Peterson is Brody Troftgruben, driver of the No. 14 Gateway Auto Tech Rocket, who kicked off the series season with a victory for the second straight year. This year it was at Devils Lake Speedway where he just scored his second track title.
Shane Edginton is sixth as driver of the No. 5E Performance Auto Sniper, with John Seng seventh with his No. 21S Charlie's Public House MB Custom, and Jesse Teunis, who picked up a feature win at Victory Lane Speedway last week, sits eighth in points as pilot of the No. 70 Grand Prix Amusements MB Custom.
Rusty Kollman and Bryce Sward complete the top ten in their MB Customs with Kollman ninth with the Carr's Grain Service No. 2K and Sward tenth with the Mike Rasmusen Trucking No. 1-2.
Racing all weekend can be watched on watchfye.tv with racing action beginning at seven on Thursday and Friday and at six on Saturday.
As far as what else is on the line on Thursday night…
Mike Greseth, driver of the No. 17 Quality Engines Rocket XR1, brings an 84-point advantage over Brad Seng and his No. 12S S&S Transport MB Custom into the Prelude in hopes of securing his third consecutive series title.
Greseth won his 16th and 17th NLRA main events last weekend at Greenbush Race Park in Greenbush, MN. Those 17 wins in his 55-career series starts gives Greseth a .309 win percentage, meaning he wins an average of one of every three races he enters.
Greseth's third series title would leave just three other drivers with more championships. Mike Balcaen leads all drivers with five series titles while Brad Seng and Dustin Strand are four-time series champions.
Also on Thursday night, Dustin Strand, who wrapped up his sixth River Cities Speedway title in dominating fashion last Friday night in the Q&Z Plumbing & Heating No. 71, will have one last opportunity to become the second driver in series history to win 30 features. Brad Seng became the first with a win at Devils Lake Speedway on July 18, 2015.
With a win on Thursday night, Tyler Peterson, driver of the QuickLift Rocket XR1 which will be numbered 33 this weekend, has a chance to tie Mike Greseth for most wins by a series rookie. Peterson's five wins this season trails Greseth's six triumphs just two seasons ago.
Rounding out the top five behind Greseth, Seng, Strand, and Peterson is Brody Troftgruben, driver of the No. 14 Gateway Auto Tech Rocket, who kicked off the series season with a victory for the second straight year. This year it was at Devils Lake Speedway where he just scored his second track title.
Shane Edginton is sixth as driver of the No. 5E Performance Auto Sniper, with John Seng seventh with his No. 21S Charlie's Public House MB Custom, and Jesse Teunis, who picked up a feature win at Victory Lane Speedway last week, sits eighth in points as pilot of the No. 70 Grand Prix Amusements MB Custom.
Rusty Kollman and Bryce Sward complete the top ten in their MB Customs with Kollman ninth with the Carr's Grain Service No. 2K and Sward tenth with the Mike Rasmusen Trucking No. 1-2.
Racing all weekend can be watched on watchfye.tv with racing action beginning at seven on Thursday and Friday and at six on Saturday.
The NLRA would like to thank tour sponsors, Performance Auto, Wes’ Plumbing, S & S Transport, Adams Automotive and Machine, White Water Truck Wash, Grand Forks Subaru/Kia, Signs by deSigns, Storbakken & Sons Construction, Millar Engines, Gateway Cenex, SRT Specialties, Q & Z Plumbing, Fargo Forum, Hugo’s Family Marketplace, EGF American Legion Post 157, Greg’s Lawn Care, Checkered Flag Services, Smeby Construction, Advanced Drain Systems, Signature Graphics & Apparel, and contingency sponsors, Performance Auto, Schaeffer’s Oil & Lubricants, Hoosier Tire North, and FYE Motorsports Promotion, for their continued support.
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