Race Results For Friday September 7th, 2007
By Traci Palya

Mitch Johnson Victorious at 1^st Annual John Seitz Memorial Race
Race Report 9/7/07
By Mike Orness 

The 1^st Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational at River Cities Speedway was held this past weekend, September 6^th and 7^th. Prior to this year this event was called the Harvest Bowl of Late Models. With the unexpected passing of John Seitz this past winter, River Cities Speedway along with the Seitz Family organized to rename this great event to honor one of the speedways greatest drivers. The two day event started off with cloudy skies and a threat of rain, but gave way to sunshine later Thursday night to kick-off the event.

First up would be three MDRA/DTRA Street Stock heat races. Dave Wittner won the first heat race after racing Terry Blacklance side by side for a few laps. Rick Beier picked up the second spot from the third spot. Jim Geringer came from the fourth spot to win the second heat race over Steve Jose and Aaron Olson. Steffen Snare started on the pole of the first heat race and led every lap to claim the win with Greg Neumann in second and John Halvorson in third. 

The DTRA/MDRA Dempsey Truck Service Midwest Modifieds ran three heat races with Bryan Dtrdahl claiming the win in the first heat race from the third starting spot. SanGrait led at the start of the race but was passed by Dyrdahl, then Kraling made contact with SanGrait forcing both to retire. Bohlman finished second with Sobolik third. Johnny Zastrow started the second heat race on the pole and assumed the lead when the suspension gave out on Sparby’s car while leading. Sonstelie was second with Dan Ness third. Dustin Strand used the outside front row starting spot to his advantage and won the third heat race leading every lap. Eckerdt finished second in his Seitz tribute car from the third starting spot with pole sitter, Peterson third.

There were a total of fifty-three DTRA Super Late Models that were on hand to pay tribute to John and take home the beautiful traveling trophy for the 1^st Annual Memorial race. The first night’s race action were the heat races and the Dash that would pay the winner $920. The first heat race was won by Joel Cryderman from the pole position Jeff Hinkemeyer was second with Ricky Weiss third. Breeschoten came from the eighth spot to finish fourth and Matt Aukland rounded out the top five.

Terry Casey took control of the second heat race from the pole with Ashley Anderson running second. Tom Corcoran and Scott Greer raced side by side for the fourth spot with Corcoran picking up that position. Casey won the heat with Anderson and Larson chasing him across the line. Greer ended up in the fifth spot and would have to come through the consi to start the feature.

On the front row of the third heat race were Brad Seng and Chad Corbett. Seng grabbed the lead first with Chuckie DeSmith second and Mike Nutzmann third from the sixth spot. That is the way they would finish as Seng took the checkered flag. Tom Balcaen started fourth and finished in the same spot with James SanGrait fifth from the seventh starting spot.

Steve Laursen took the lead early in the fourth heat race with lance Mathees charging forward and picking up the second spot when Laursen took the checkered flag. Dave Mass ended up third with Ron Schreiner fourth from the sixth starting spot. Shaun Peterson rounded out the top five after starting outside the front row.

During the fifth heat race with Ryan Corbett and Dustin Hapka on the front row, Mitch Johnson charged forward from the seventh starting spot to take the checkered flag with Pat Doar following him to the front and finish second. Troy Olson started fourth and finished third with Hapka fourth and Corbett fifth.

Joey Pederson started on the pole of the sixth heat race with Jeff Provinzino outstide. Provinzino grabbed the early lead, with Pederson second and Zach Johnson third. Pederson passed Provinzino for the lead late in the race to pick up the win. Provinzino was second with Johnson third. Mike Balcaen would end up fourth after starting eighth while Don Shaw was fifth in his Seitz tribute car.  

The Dash for the late models would be the nights last event and would pay the winner $920 while also drawing a card to see where all eight drivers would start the feature. With Mathees and Laursen on the front row to start the dash, Laursen would grab the leed first and finish first with Pat Doar second and Lance Mathees third. While in victory lane, Laursen was interviewed and then drew a card to see how many drivers would be inverted. Laursen drew an 8 which would put the eighth finisher, Joey Pederson on the pole for the feature and Laursen would have to start eighth.

Just before the Late Model Dash, was the Midwest Modified feature race. This had Sonstelie and Dyrdahl on the front row, with Schroeder and Strand in the second row. On the start it was Dyrdahl that would grab the lead first, but would be passed by Strand for the lead with about five laps complete. Schroeder was running strong and was third with Sonstelie fourth. Eckerdt soon moved into the fourth spot, passing Sonstelie and looked to pass Schroeder for another spot while Strand was out front. With just three laps to go, there was a caution which would reset the field for a restart. Strand and Dyrdahl were both caught up in the caution with lap traffic, but were able to keep going. On the restart, Dyrdahl caught Strand and passed him for the win on the last lap. Strand finished second with Schroeder holding off Eckerdt for the third spot. Sonstelie rounded out the top five after starting on the pole.

The Unicel Street Stock feature started twenty-four cars with Aaron Olson and Jim Geringer on the front row to bring the field around to the green flag. With two immediate cautions before a lap was complete, there was one unfortunate car that had to pit and change a tire. That being outside pole sitter, Geringer. This had moved Rick Beier up to race with Olson for the lead on the restart. They raced side by side for a couple laps with Olson claiming the first spot with four laps complete. The race went green will there were eleven laps to go and then the red flag came out for James Meagher who rolled his car off turn three and four. Meagher was ok, but his car was not and his helmet was said to crack in two places. With that accident cleaned up, the field was given the green flag again with Olson out front. Beier continued to pressure Olson but was not enough to claim the lead. National points contender, VandeKamp moved into the picture and raced Beier for the second spot along with Snare who started in the eleventh spot. Eventually, the three raced three wide for the lead but Olson was too fast through the corners and claimed the checkered flag with Snare in tow. VandeKamp settled for third and Beier fourth. Geringer came all the way from the back after that early tire change to finish in the top five.  

With the Late Model consolation races set for the next night and feature, the Midwest Modifieds and Streets would run another full program Friday. The NOSA Sprint Cars would also be added to the Friday night program to make the Premier Racing Series complete for the racing fans of River Cities Speedway.

On Friday night, The Unicel MDRA/DTRA would run four heat races. Dan Arends came out in the first heat race to claim the win from the fifth starting spot with Blacklance passing Schill for the second finishing spot. Jason VandeKamp used the outside pole position to his advantage to grab the lead and win during the second heat race with Kerry Austreng second and Tyson Anderson third. Steffen Snare won the third heat race passing Beier and Jose. Beier had the lead but spun on his own to give Snare the lead late in the race. Jose was second with Beier third. Jim Geringer started on the pole and led every lap to claim the win during the last heat race. Jason Babcock started second and finished in the same spot holding off Aaron Olson and Dave Wittner. 

The DTRA Dempsey Truck Service Midwest Modifieds had a total of twenty two cars split into three heat races. Gary Sonstelie and Dale Kraling brought the field around to the green flag to start the first heat race. Sonstelie went on to claim the win after Kraling slipped back and late in the race retired after making contact with Johnny Zastrow in turn two. Strand chased Sonstelie across the line with Dyrdahl third. Dave Mass, who was here for the late model portion of the special, drove the 17s home in first place during the second heat race. John Sertich was second with LePier third. The third heat race went to Bobby Eckerdt in the 92 tribute car from the fourth starting spot. Schroeder led the first lap but then got sideways in turn two causing a yellow and having to restart in the back. Eckerdt held off Sparby for the win with Schmidt finishing in third.

Up next in the program was the two heat race for the NOSA Sprints. Matejcek and Fredrickson brought the field around for the green flag to start the first heat race. Matejcek was passed by Kennedy and then they both were passed by Dobmeier who claimed the win. Matejcek was second with Kennedy third. Wade Nygaard came from the eighth starting spot to win the second heat race over Chris Shirek and Bob Martin who finished second and third. Wilde ran second and then third for much of the race, but slipped back to finish fourth.

There would have to be two consi races for the DTRA Super Late Models which would only take the top two drivers for the feature event later that evening. Sixteen cars would start each consi race with the first having Schriener and Balcaen on the front row. Schriener pretty much had the field covered for the transfer spot while Balcaen was able to hold off Nesbit for the other transfer spot. Corbett, Sexton and Greer would race for that third spot, along with Aukland moving forward but coming up short. Ricky Weiss and James SanGrait would start the second consi on the front row and both would make it into the feature, but not before some exciting race action from the fans viewpoint as Doyle Erickson and Shaun Peterson exchanged slide jobs and some rubbing during the race. Peterson finished second after the last exchange of contact forced Erickson to the pits. There was also contact between Skytland and Anderson, which was not intentional but would force Skytland to restart in the back. Anderson finished the race in third after Weiss took the checkered flag.  

The MDRA/DTRA Unicel Street Stock feature event was up after an intermission which gave officials a chance to work on the track and the Seitz Family to present some awards to some well deserved individuals. They also presented Josh Hills with John Seitz’s flamed firesuit which brought plenty of emotions to the surface. John’s mom also spoke and thanked the fans of River Cities for coming out and supporting the 1^st Annual Memorial Race in memory of John Seitz. 

For the start of the Street Stock feature, Lance Schill and Jim Geringer would start on the front row with Kris Austreng and Tyson Anderson in the second row. This feature was caution filled before the field could complete a lap. Once the field completed tow laps there were already five cautions. Geringer was leading the race with pressure from Potter and Anderson. Snare and VandeKamp would race into the picture just another lap later and passing Anderson for the second and third spots. With just seven laps to go, Snare and VandeKamp really gave the crowd a show when racing Geringer for the lead. The racing was tight and the eventual winner would be Geringer with VandeKamp second. Potter was always in the top five holding off Blacklance for the fourth spot when Geringer crossed the finish line. Tyson Anderson slipped by Blacklance for the last top five spot during the last lap.

The Dempsey Truck Service DTRA Midwest Modifieds would be next with Dustin Strand on the pole and Bobby Eckerdt outside of him to take the green flag. Strand would grab the lead first with Eckerdt second and LePier third. Those three raced for the top spot but Strand would slowly pull away from them until a caution cam out for an altercation between Schmidt and Sobolik. Sobolik was called for the yellow and restarted tailend. With Strand still leading under green flag again, there would be three more cautions within two more laps for various cars. After that, the field went till the checkered flag with no other cautions while Strand was leading. Strand would hold off Eckerdt for the win with LePier third and Dyrdahl fourth. Sonstelie started third and would finish in the fifth spot with Dave Mass right behind him.

During the Eide Motors Sprint Car feature race there were a total of four cautions for the twenty-five lap feature event. Matejcek and Wilde started on the front row but would slip back immediately when the green flag came out with Nygaard and Martin racing to the front first. Nygaard started in the eighth spot and Nikitenko followed them to the front from the eleventh spot within just two laps. With 6 laps complete the leaders entered lap traffic, and it was Nygaard that would use it to his advantage. After the second caution Lou Kennedy Jr. would pressure Martin for the second spot and would complete the pass on the long green flag run. Dobmeier, who started seventh, was in the mix also, but with the track slicking off, Nygaard couldn’t make a mistake or the others would capitalize. After the last caution, Nygaard would increase his lead and left the second place to be settled between Dobmeier and Kennedy. Wade Nygaard would race under the checkered flag first with Kennedy able to hold off Dobmeier for the second spot. Nikitenko was able to get past Martin who ran the high groove and lost the spot late in the race. Egeland, who started sixteenth, ended up finishing sixth, just one spot out of a top five finish.

The DTRA Super Late Model feature race was the final even of the night to settle would become the first Seitz Memorial race winner. The drivers pulled up on the track and would be introduced by Chris Stepan one by one starting from the back. After the driver introductions, the field fired up their engines and pulled away to race for $9,200. The field gave the crowd the four-wide salute leaving one spot empty, reminding everyone of John Seitz, one of River Cities Speedway’s best drivers. With that accomplished, the field lined up side by side for the green flag. Pederson and Cryderman would take the green flag for the start of the fifty lap event.

Immediately, Cryderman grabbed the lead with Mitch Johnson close behind from the third spot. Pederson found himself running in the fourth spot and in close quarters with Mathees and Casey. Seng also slipped back after the first caution and was the first to pull off the track with Zach Johnson soon after that. With twenty laps complete, Cryderman was entering lap traffic which gave Johnson a chance to catch up. Johnson completed the pass on Cryderman just before the yellow flew. Johnson held the lead with Cryderman second and Casey third. Under green again, Casey would be the next to pass Cryderman who once again was in traffic with twenty laps to go. Casey would have some good runs into the corners, but Johnson would pull away out of each corner. Doar and Laursen had been racing eachother for the fourth spot with Larson in tow. With just sixteen laps to go, Casey looked to the inside of the leader, and with some contact Johnson spun around and collected Cryderman who was close behind. Cryderman was not able to continue with right front damage and after many caution laps, officials had to make a tough call for the yellow and charged it to Casey. Casey exited the track before the restart. Johnson led the last sixteen laps and with a lap car in between he and Laursen, pulled away to add two to three cars lengths between them. Laursen was able to hold off Doar who finished in the third spot with Larson fourth and Pederson fifth. Mitch Johnson would take the checkered flag in honor of John Seitz at the first ever Annual John Seitz Memorial Late Model Invitational.

Johnson will hang on to the traveling trophy till next year when the same race will take place to honor one of our best drivers. In victory lane, Johnson was greeted by the Seitz family and was given a can of PBR, John’s favorite beer, and slammed the whole thing before finishing up with the photographs and greeting family and friends. Johnson was also awarded the first place trophy and a special chrome diecast replica of John Seitz’s late model. For photos and complete race results, visit rivercitiesspeedway.com.  

September 14^th will be River Cities Speedway’s last event with all classes running as well as the Hornet 4 cylinder cars, and Pure Stocks. Race time will be 7:30 with hot laps starting at 6:30.