Thursday: Diemel Wins The Race; Strand Wins Second Series Title
Defending Seitz Memorial champion AJ Diemel of Elk Mound, WI kicked off his title defense in style with a win Thursday night at the 'Prelude to the Johnny' at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND.
Diemel and Joey Pederson, driver of the No. 7P Dahlstrom Motors MB Custom, shared the front row at the start, in a rematch of last years' finale at the Seitz Memorial, as the pair was separated by just .114 seconds last September.
Defending Seitz Memorial champion AJ Diemel of Elk Mound, WI kicked off his title defense in style with a win Thursday night at the 'Prelude to the Johnny' at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND.
Diemel and Joey Pederson, driver of the No. 7P Dahlstrom Motors MB Custom, shared the front row at the start, in a rematch of last years' finale at the Seitz Memorial, as the pair was separated by just .114 seconds last September.
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Diemel took the at the start, and lead all 25 laps, and became the fourth different Wisconsin native to win the event in five races. The top five included four previous Seitz Memorial champions, as Diemel was followed home by 2009 champ Pat Doar, who finished second after charging from 18th, 2010 champ Cody Skytland, who finished third, and two-time winner Brad Seng, who finished fourth.
Dustin Strand, driver of the No. 71 Q&Z Plumbing & Heating Moyer Longhorn, rounded out the top five, and in doing so, secured his second NLRA series title in three years. John Kaanta finished sixth after starting 19th, with Joey Pederson, Jake Redetzke, Chad Mahder, and Tommy Waseleski rounding out the top ten. |
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AJ Diemel (left) and Dustin Strand (right) after their victories on Thursday night. Photos courtesy of Mike Spieker.
Some other big movers included Steve Anderson, driver of the No. 9 Hi-Per-Flex Panel Systems Pierce, who improved eleven spots, finishing 13th after starting 22nd, while Don Shaw, Dave Smith, and Cole Schill, driver of the No. 44S Rivinius Ranch MasterSbilt by JMR, also moved up six spots each. Mahder, Pederson, Strand, Diemel, and Redetzke won the heats, while Steffen Snare, driver of the No. 71 Todd's Electric Bloomquist, and Mike Balcaen, driver of the No. 10 Northstar Canada Black Diamond, won the B Mains. Snare's B Main victory was his third in five days, as he picked up both B Mains at the Viking Speedway in Alexandria the Sunday prior. An incredible 47 cars entered the show Thursday night.
Dustin Strand secured his second series title in three years by 32 points over Brad Seng, driver of the No. 12S S&S Transport MB Custom. Four-time champion Mike Balcaen finished third in the standings, with Ricky Weiss and Steffen Snare rounding out the top five. Steve Anderson finished in the sixth spot, with Bill Mooney, driver of the No. 2 OMG Candy MasterSbilt by JMR, in seventh, and Jeff Hapala, driver of the No. 16S Auto Solutions Rocket in eighth. Cole Schill and Norm Olson, driver of the No. 29 Disabled American Veterans MasterSbilt, round out the top ten.
Pat Doar after winning the dash Friday night. Photo courtesy of Mike Spieker.
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Friday: Doar Takes The Pole
Jake Redetzke, Don Shaw, defending Seitz Memorial winner AJ Diemel, newly crowned NLRA champ Dustin Strand, Shane Edginton, and Jeff Provinzino were winners of the 15 lap qualifying heat races. Some big movers in the heat events included Redetzke and Edginton who each started sixth. Doar finished second in his heat after starting eighth. Dave Smith, along with Viking speedway regulars Zach Johnson and Shawn Kirwin, each improved five spots in their heats. |
Pat Doar received the three in the inaugural revenge draw, and took the lead from Shane Edginton, driver of the No. 4 Performance Auto Victory by Moyer, on lap six to win the 25 lap 'go hard or go home pole dash'. Diemel finished second after starting eleventh, with Jake Redetzke, Chad Mahder, and Dustin Strand rounding out the top five. John Kaanta improved four spots in his heat, and six spots in the dash, finishing sixth after starting twelfth. NLRA series regular Jeff Hapala also made the dash, ending the race in 17th.
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Saturday: Mahder Takes The Cash
Steffen Snare and Steve Laursen split the B Mains, with Blake Jegtvig winning the last chance race. Snare and Laursen each lead their 20 lap races flag-to-flag, while Blake Jegtvig fended off challenged by NLRA series regulars Steve Anderson, Cole Schill and Bill Mooney to earn the final spot into the feature race. Pat Doar and AJ Diemel shared the front row at the start, with Doar leading at the end of the front stretch. Doar continued to lead, after the first start was waved off, and was unchallenged for just over ten laps. |
AJ Diemel (58), Dustin Strand (71), and Shane Edginton (4) three-wide at River Cities. Photo courtesy of Mike Spieker.
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One of the best battles during the first segment of the race was between AJ Diemel, Dustin Strand, and Chad Mahder, as the trio stayed locked in a close battle for the first ten laps, until Mahder left Diemel and Strand behind, to set his sights on Doar for the lead. With Mahder down low and Doar up high, the pair went door-to-door as they caught the tail of the field on lap 15. Jeff Provinzino bought out a caution on lap 15, restacking the field. Doar never officially lost the lead, but Mahder was never more that a few thousandths away from the lead. After a caution on lap 20, Doar and Mahder continued their duel, as Don Shaw took fourth from AJ Diemel. Chad Mahder took the lead on lap 31, just before Shane Edginton bought out a caution, that turned into the fuel stop. Brad Seng had made his way all the way up to tenth from his 26th starting spot as the yellow flew for the fuel stop.
Seitz Memorial winner Chad Mahder (55) and Dave Smith (06) at speed at River Cities. Photo courtesy of Mike Spieker.
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On the restart, Mahder continued to lead, as Diemel, Strand and Shaw went three wide for third behind the lead duo. Strand and Shaw broke away from Diemel, after the trio had stayed three wide for at least two-and-a-half laps. Mahder broke out to a ten car lenght lead, as Strand battled Doar for second. Doar and Strand remained door-to-door for the next handful of laps. Troy Schill, driver of the No. 11 Forks Finest Auto Body Schwarz, brought out a caution at the half way point. On lap 49, Don Shaw went three wide with Strand and Diemel again, using the bottom to go from fifth to third. Shaw continued his march to the front as he and Doar went side-by-side with 42 laps remaining.
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Shaw took second from Doar for good on lap 55, and began to hunt down Mahder for the lead. Shaw took the lead on lap 61, as the field would again be into traffic in short order. As Shaw continued to lead, Doar and Diemel battled for third, and Jake Redetzke moved into the top five. Shaw cut through the lapped traffic cleanly early, but with 20 to go, the traffic was circling around the bottom where Shaw had been running. Any advantage Shaw had was gone as Mahder and Diemel started to stalk Shaw for the lead. Shaw remained unable to put the lapped car behind him, and on lap 81 Mahder moved up high, and regained the lead, as a lapped car got loose in front of Shaw. Shaw would then lose second to Diemel, as Mahder put two lapped cars between himself and Diemel, in what would eventually be the win clinching moment.
AJ Diemel finished second, with Don Shaw finishing third. Jeffrey Massingill and John Kaanta rounded out the top five. Pat Doar finished sixth, with Jake Redetzke in seventh, with Dustin Strand in eighth, Brad Seng from 26th to ninth, and Cody Skytland rounding out the top ten.
NLRA Regulars Experience Bad Luck At Seitz Memorial
Brad Seng had won his heat after starting seventh, but came up 25 pounds light at the scale, leading to a disqualification. Mike Balcaen's bad luck followed him home from Alexandria, as motor issues at the Viking Speedway the previous weekend, coupled with having to qualify through a B Main, officially ended his title hopes on Thursday night. Balcaen would go on to have more motor problems while running second in his heat, after starting fifth on Friday night, ending his weekend. Bill Mooney had a coil go bad, forcing him to start on the final row with Brad Seng in the first B Main Saturday night. Steve Anderson missed making the Seitz Memorial feature by one spot twice. Anderson was running in the third and final transfer spot in his B Main, but finished fourth to Tommy Waseleski after losing the spot with four laps left. Anderson then went on to lead two laps of the last chance race, before finishing second to Blake Jegtvig.
Brad Seng had won his heat after starting seventh, but came up 25 pounds light at the scale, leading to a disqualification. Mike Balcaen's bad luck followed him home from Alexandria, as motor issues at the Viking Speedway the previous weekend, coupled with having to qualify through a B Main, officially ended his title hopes on Thursday night. Balcaen would go on to have more motor problems while running second in his heat, after starting fifth on Friday night, ending his weekend. Bill Mooney had a coil go bad, forcing him to start on the final row with Brad Seng in the first B Main Saturday night. Steve Anderson missed making the Seitz Memorial feature by one spot twice. Anderson was running in the third and final transfer spot in his B Main, but finished fourth to Tommy Waseleski after losing the spot with four laps left. Anderson then went on to lead two laps of the last chance race, before finishing second to Blake Jegtvig.
Chad Mahder after his big win on Saturday night. Photo courtesy of Mike Spieker.
The NLRA would like to thank Tour Sponsors: Adams Automotive, S & S Transport, Wes' Plumbing, Initials Custom Embroidery (ICE), BOSS Signs & Graphics, Millar Race Engines, Todd's Electric, Gateway Cenex, White Water Truck Wash, ADrenaLize Graphics, Generous Jerry's/Gold-Silver Exchange, Gateway Sports, Grand Forks Subaru Kia, Forum Printing, On The Edge Graphics, Fastlane Racing Equipment, Victory Diesel, Forks Mobile Wash, Q&Z Plumbing, A&L Siding, The Ho Bar And Grill, AG Spray, and Cartunz, and Contingency Sponsors: Speedway International Fuel, Hi-Per Flex, Schaeffer's Oil & Lubricants, Mars Race Cars, Hoosier Tire North, FYE Motorsports Promotion, and CMD Shocks, for their support.
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