Arneson Races to IMCA Modified Win at River Cities

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (July 6, 2018) – Casey Arneson jumped out to the lead of the IMCA Modified feature at the drop of the green flag. On lap three, pole sitter Bryce Borgen reeled in Arneson and pulled even with him down the back straightaway. The lead duo nearly touched as they raced hard for the top spot. Arneson prevailed as his momentum on the highside carried him back into the lead. ​

Behind Arneson and Borgen, a four wide battle for third ensued between Jesse Skalicky, Michael Greseth, Rich Pavlicek and Tyler Peterson. Contact was made between Greseth and Skalicky, which forced Greseth to pull of the track. As he was exiting the speedway, he collected Peterson and Greg Friestad to bring out the caution. Both Friestad and Peterson were able to continue.

Following a mid-race restart, Josh Rogotzke moved into the second spot and set his sights on Arneson. In the closing laps, Rogotzke had his hands full with Borgen and Skalicky for second. Borgen was able to regain the position, but found himself nearly a half lap behind Arneson.

Arneson ran unchallenged the remainder of the race as he collected his first career River Cities Speedway win. Borgen, who was running a leaf-spring car prepared by legendary modified driver Bob Sagen, finished second. Rogotzke, Skalicky and Peterson rounded out the top five.

RESULTS:
​Feature (20 Laps): 1. 2A-Casey Arneson, [2]; 2. 99B-Bryce Borgen, [1]; 3. X-Josh Rogotzke, [7]; 4. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [9]; 5. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [13]; 6. 5T-Marcus Tomlinson, [16]; 7. 1R-Joey Rowell, [10]; 8. 12-Greg Friestad, [8]; 9. 86C-Darren Pfau, [15]; 10. 40-Rob VanMil, [6]; 11. 6Z-Zach Dockter, [4]; 12. 2-Rusty Kollman, [14]; 13. 174-Rich Pavlicek, [3]; 14. 12C-Nick Curtis, [18]; 15. 119-Chad Bush, [17]; 16. (DNF) 21-Jamie Schulz, [19]; 17. (DNF) 17-Mike Greseth, [5]; (DNS) 71-Dustin Strand, ; (DNS) 19-Lucas Rodin,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 174-Rich Pavlicek, [2]; 2. 19-Lucas Rodin, [3]; 3. 17-Mike Greseth, [5]; 4. 6Z-Zach Dockter, [4]; 5. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [6]; 6. 5T-Marcus Tomlinson, [7]; (DNS) 21-Jamie Schulz,
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Greg Friestad, [2]; 2. 1R-Joey Rowell, [4]; 3. 2A-Casey Arneson, [5]; 4. 40-Rob VanMil, [6]; 5. 2-Rusty Kollman, [3]; 6. 119-Chad Bush, [1]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. X-Josh Rogotzke, [1]; 2. 71-Dustin Strand, [2]; 3. 99B-Bryce Borgen, [3]; 4. 3S-Jesse Skalicky, [4]; 5. 86C-Darren Pfau, [5]; 6. 12C-Nick Curtis, [6]