DIEMEL WINS THE BATTLE; GRESETH WINS THE WAR
Tyler Peterson took second coming off of turn four in the No. 33 QuickLift Rocket XR1 to complete the second lap and set his sights on Greseth for the top spot. Peterson made the pass for the lead at the end of the fifth lap, though the move was negated by a caution.
Following a second caution on the first attempt to resume the race, Greseth, Edginton, and Peterson battled for the top spot. Peterson pushed at the top of turn four allowing Edginton to retake the second spot.
The pair went on to go nearly three-wide at the completion of the following lap in a torrid battle for the top spot. Peterson pushed again at the top of turn four on the seventh lap allowing AJ Diemel to move into third and then to second past Edginton.
Diemel pulled the inside of Greseth on the tenth lap as the pair ended the lap side-by-side with Diemel taking the lead on the following circuit. Peterson followed Diemel into second but made contact with the new leader going into turn three ending Peterson's night.
Diemel brough the field back to green as Edginton and Greseth were joined by Scott Ward in a brief three-wide battle for the second spot. Those three drivers continued to battle hard for the runner-up spot as Diemel pulled away by half a straight away with ten to go.
Edginton was able to win the battle for second over Greseth and Ward, as the latter pair continued to battle for the final spot on the podium with five to go.
Diemel started working traffic at this point, but it failed to slow him down as he continued on for the victory in the final series race of the season over Edginton, Ward, Greseth, and Jordan Tollakson.
SEARING WINS THE POLE
Schill and Cole Searing made up the front row of the ‘Go Hard or Go Home’ Pole Dash which was won by Searing over Schill and Greseth. Mike Balcaen, Brad Seng, John Seng, Dustin Strand, Bryce Sward, and Brody Troftgruben were the other NLRA regulars to lock themselves into Saturday’s finale.
EDGINTON DEFENDS HOME TURF; WINS FIRST SEITZ MEMORIAL
Searing and Schill brought the Seitz Memorial championship to green with Schill taking the early lead in the No. 44* Mid Ag Dispatch MB Custom. Jeff Massingill spun in turn two on lap three, collecting Brad Seng’s No. 12S S&S Transport MB Custom, though both were able to continue.
Schill continued to lead on the restart with former Seitz champion Chad Mahder battling for the second spot. The leaders were just starting to work lap traffic when a caution came out on lap 17.
Tyler Peterson moved to the third spot with 20 laps in the books before the third caution of the race on lap 24. Peterson eventually capitalized on the restart, taking the second spot. The leaders held their spots in lap traffic in the final three laps before the scheduled fuel stop on lap 32.
When the race resumed, Peterson rode the cushion around Schill in going into turn three, taking the lead with 59 to go, leading through a pair of cautions in the first four laps following the respite for fuel.
Peterson entered lapped traffic with 50 to go in what would prove to be the longest green flag stint of the race which lasted 27 laps. During this time, Edginton had won the battle with Schill for second.
Another pair of cautions on laps 65 and 66 saw Peterson continue to lead over Edginton and Schill as 20th starting Chad Becker moved into fourth.
With 20 to go, Edginton continued to stalk Peterson for the lead as they worked lapped traffic before Peterson hit a tractor tire at the bottom a turn two with 15 to go. Edginton took the lead two laps later as Peterson tried to nurse his injured mount, but made contact with Cole Searing five laps later, bringing out the final caution, ending his hopes.
Becker and Searing capitalized on the restart, becoming the new second and third place runners as Edginton began to pull away from the rest of the field. Edginton led the final 13 laps to win his first Seitz Memorial Championship over Becker, Searing, Schill, and Bryce Sward.
“Oh man, I've been wanting to get to this victory lane for so, so long and we struggled so bad to start this year and to win this thing, this is just amazing!” Edginton said in victory lane.
“We were standing here, getting ready to go, and standing with Mike Greseth. I said if I don't win this thing, you better win it. And he said the same with you buddy. To do this in front of everybody is just huge. All my friends and family are here, everybody came down. It's such a big event to Canadians and my family and everybody… it’s just wicked to win this deal.”
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.