Mike Spieker photo.
On Saturday night, the pair shared the front row, with Weiss taking the early lead from the pole after the initial start was waved off after Greg Meyer was pushed off turn three. Weiss had a ten car length lead go away after a yellow with five laps complete. Another five laps went in the book before another yellow with ten laps down. Shaw pulled even with Weiss in one and two on the following restart, and took the lead down the backstretch before that restart was waved off. Weiss took what he learned from Shaw's excellent restart to get off to a better start on the next restart, while Edginton moved past Dustin Bluhm for third and Shawn Meyer completed the top five. Shaw pulled even again after a restart with twelve remaining, but Weiss persevered, regaining the lead, and pulling away. The best racing in the final green flag period of the feature was for the fifth spot as Shawn Meyer, Mike Prochnow, and Brad Seng fought for a top five. Weiss was unfazed by the couple of lapped cars he encountered in the waning laps as the final twelve rounds went off without a hitch. Shaw finished second, with Edginton third, Bluhm fourth, and Prochnow winning the battle over Seng and Meyer for fifth. | Ricky Weiss in victory lane on night one. Mike Spieker photo. Related |
Seng and Meyer finished sixth and seventh respectively, while the remainder of the top ten fought their way from the B Main to round out the top ten. Dan Ebert finished eight after winning the second B Main, and Kent Arment crossed in ninth after winning the first consi. Viking Speedway champion Zach Johnson rounded out the top ten after climbing from tenth to second in the second B.
Jeff Hapala was the hard charger, moving up from 21st to eleventh. Shaw, Bluhm, Weiss, and Mike Balcaen were the heat winners. A season high 36 cars took to the high flyin' half-mile on Saturday night.
Sunday night's main event saw Viking regular Casey Meyer and Weiss lead the field to the green. Weiss, again, wasted little time building a lead, as fellow Canadian Shane Edginton worked on Meyer for second as fifth starting Shaw followed close behind in fourth.
Four-wide action at Viking on Saturday. Mike Spieker photo. | Edginton and Shaw took the final two spots on the podium on the next round. The top five remained the same from there, as Weiss' incredible pace put him at the back of the field within five laps. Weiss maneuvered through traffic until the first caution with eleven complete. Shaw moved to Weiss' inside just as he did one night prior on the restart, but this time Shaw's pass for the lead stuck as he came by the flag stand to lead lap twelve. Shaw and Weiss built relatively comfortable advantages over third through fifth, as Edginton and Pat Doar drag raced for the final podium spot, with Brad Seng close in toe. One final caution with ten to go bunched up the field a final time. Shaw resumed his lead as Edginton briefly took second from Weiss. Seng took fourth from Doar as Weiss muscled back by Edginton for second. |
Darrell Nelson was sixth, with Ryan Mikkelson seventh, Dustin Bluhm eighth, Ryan Corbett ninth, and Shawn Meyer rounding out the top ten. Seng was the hard charger having started eleventh. Weiss, Edginton, Zach Johnson, and Casey Meyer won the heats, with Cole Schill winning the B Main. 32 drivers competed on night two in Alexandria.
The 20th season of NLRA competition concludes this Thursday, September the 7th at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, ND, for the 7th annual 'Prelude to the Johnny' that will kick off the 11th anual John Seitz Memorial weekend.
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