Dustin Strand gets fourth Performance Auto Late Model win of the year

Photo by Mike Spieker | speedway-shots.com

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, ND (August 3, 2018) - Shane Edginton raced to the early lead of the Performance Auto Late Model feature. Edginton led Travis Robertson on lap one, but Brandon Fuller and Dustin Strand both got by Robertson on the following lap. ​

Two laps later, Strand took the second spot from Fuller before taking the lead from Edginton on lap seven. Once out front, Strand never relinquished the lead and picked up his fourth win of the season at River Cities.

A series of cautions slowed the race, which gave Strand a clear track ahead on the fast, tacky, and narrow racing surface.

“At the end, I didn’t mind those yellows. When you got to the back of the pack, those guys were racing two wide. The track was barely two racing lanes wide, so yeah it got pretty difficult,” said Strand after the race.

On the final restart, a hard-charging Brad Seng threatened to steal the win from Strand. Seng dove to the low side of Strand on the final lap and pulled even with the fellow Grand Forks driver. A lapped car in Seng’s groove on the final lap was all Strand needed to hold on for the win.

“I was trying to play it cool with those lapped cars and ended up getting my right front over the cushion. That’s what opened up the door,” said Strand of his battle with Seng. “Brad was right there at the end. I was glad we got it going in the right direction. It was a great race.”

​A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 71-Dustin Strand, [8]; 2. 12S-Brad Seng, [7]; 3. 10-Mike Balcaen, [9]; 4. 4-Shane Edginton, [3]; 5. 7P-Joey Pederson, [12]; 6. 11-Troy Schill, [6]; 7. 44-Cole Schill, [13]; 8. T1-Tom Corcoran, [10]; 9. 10R-Kevin Robertson, [11]; 10. 00-Robert Bladow, [14]; 11. 1M-Nicholas Minske, [15]; 12. 14-Brody Troftgruben, [5]; 13. 9R-Erik Robertson, [17]; 14. 55-Mike Martin, [1]; 15. 345-Bryce Reimer, [16]; 16. 3H-Gerald Hauge, [19]; 17. 33-Ryan Dahl, [18]; 18. 2D-Don Platow, [20]; 19. (DNF) 16-Greg Platzer, [21]; 20. (DNF) F9-Brandon Fuller, [4]; 21. (DNF) 1R-Travis Robertson, [2]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. F9-Brandon Fuller, [1]; 2. 4-Shane Edginton, [3]; 3. 14-Brody Troftgruben, [5]; 4. T1-Tom Corcoran, [4]; 5. 44-Cole Schill, [6]; 6. 345-Bryce Reimer, [2]; 7. 3H-Gerald Hauge, [7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Dustin Strand, [2]; 2. 12S-Brad Seng, [1]; 3. 10-Mike Balcaen, [6]; 4. 10R-Kevin Robertson, [5]; 5. 00-Robert Bladow, [4]; 6. 9R-Erik Robertson, [3]; 7. 2D-Don Platow, [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Mike Martin, [2]; 2. 1R-Travis Robertson, [1]; 3. 11-Troy Schill, [4]; 4. 7P-Joey Pederson, [5]; 5. 1M-Nicholas Minske, [3]; 6. 33-Ryan Dahl, [6]; 7. 16-Greg Platzer, [7]