Gilbertson, Schow and Blacklance race to Seitz Memorial wins Saturday at River Cities

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 8, 2018) – The 12th edition of the John Seitz Memorial at River Cities Speedway came to a close Saturday night with B-mains and features for the WISSOTA Street Stocks and Midwest Mods and a complete show for the WISSOTA Modifieds.

Sophomore Wells Concrete Street Stock driver, Tucker Pederson, led the opening circuits of the feature from his front row starting position. The race was quickly brought to yellow on lap three for a three car pile up in turn two. Greg Jose, Cliff Reeves and Bryce Reimer were all collected, but continued.

On the restart, fourth place runner Ryan Johnson was spun in turn one and collected four other cars. Rory Opp was charged for the caution and Johnson returned to the fourth position for the restart.

Opp found trouble again shortly after the restart as he spun in turn four and collected four other cars including 2018 River Cities Speedway track champion, Adam Burrows. Just before the incident, Pederson’s machine slowed significantly, which handed the lead over to Dan McNamee. Aaron Blacklance moved alongside McNamee on the restart and the two raced side by side for several consecutive laps.

Finally, Blacklance took the point with 11 to go using the low side of the speedway. Aberle followed Blacklance into second as Blacklance went on to score the win.

A John Seitz Memorial record 57 Happy Harry’s Midwest Modifieds were signed in for action. Troy Randall and Matt Schow led the field of 24 to the green for the main event. Schow and Lance Schill ran one-two at the completion of lap one. A restart on lap nine gave Schill a chance to take the lead, but Schow remained tough on the top side of the speedway. Schill peaked to the inside of Schow into turn three on lap 11, but that’s as close as he got to the McIntosh, Minn. driver. Two laps later, Schill hooked a rut in turn one and slid off the embankment at a high rate of speed. Schill’s car landed hard on the right front on the access road outside of turns one and two. His No. 17 machine suffered heavy damage which brought his night to an end.

Schow checked out from the field on the restart and took the win over Preston Carr and Nate Reynolds.

Twenty-eight Popeyes Chicken WISSOTA Modifieds stormed onto the Bullring for their 25-lap feature. Aaron Holtan and Mike Stearns led the field off turn four to the green. Stearns held the lead on lap one over fifth place starter, Matt Gilbertson.

Stearns, Gilbertson and Tyler Peterson briefly raced three wide for the lead out of turn two on lap seven. Gilbertson took the point as Peterson followed into second. The leaders found themselves in heavy lapped traffic on lap 10. Peterson moved to the inside of Gilbertson to take the lead on lap 11, but Peterson was held up by a group of lapped cars running the same line as him right around the berm. That allowed Gilbertson to make a three-wide pass among traffic to reclaim the lead.

It took several laps for Peterson to clear the traffic, which helped Gilbertson race to a full straightaway lead. A restart with three to go gave Peterson new life. Peterson was all over the back of Gilbertson, but Gilbertson was able to hang on to claim his third career win at River Cities.

SUMMARY

WISSOTA Modifieds:
A Feature  (25 Laps): 1. 23-Matt Gilbertson, [5]; 2. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [6]; 3. 74-Dustin Wahl, [8]; 4. 51-Alex Guthmiller, [4]; 5. 24S-Mike Stearns, [2]; 6. 6X-Zach Johnson, [13]; 7. 17-Lance Schill, [9]; 8. 5G-Scott Greer, [10]; 9. 5M-Tyler McDonald, [12]; 10. 88XXX-Randy Klein, [3]; 11. 99S-Brody Strachan, [14]; 12. 7-Dale Kraling, [16]; 13. 2-Aaron Holtan, [1]; 14. 1R-Rick Delaine, [22]; 15. 99-Jake Wildman, [19]; 16. 2S-Matt Schow, [18]; 17. 48-Jerome Guyot, [28]; 18. 39-Shawn Teunis, [27]; 19. 92-Justin Bronk, [15]; 20. 57H-Blake Higginbotham, [21]; 21. 31-Eric Klassen, [24]; 22. 8-Al Giesbrecht, [17]; 23. 57-Michael Tiani, [20]; 24. 33-Ryan Hagen, [25]; 25. (DNF) 88-Chad Dyrdahl, [26]; 26. (DNF) 10W-Ward Imrie, [7]; 27. (DNF) 29K-Ryan Kereluk, [11]; 28. (DNF) 27-Chris Unrau, [23]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 88XXX-Randy Klein, [2]; 2. 74-Dustin Wahl, [1]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson, [3]; 4. 5G-Scott Greer, [7]; 5. 6X-Zach Johnson, [8]; 6. 99-Jake Wildman, [5]; 7. 1R-Rick Delaine, [9]; 8. 33-Ryan Hagen, [10]; 9. (DNF) 7-Dale Kraling, [4]; 10. (DNF) 48-Jerome Guyot, [6]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 17-Lance Schill, [2]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns, [4]; 3. 2-Aaron Holtan, [5]; 4. 29K-Ryan Kereluk, [6]; 5. 99S-Brody Strachan, [9]; 6. 8-Al Giesbrecht, [7]; 7. 57-Michael Tiani, [3]; 8. 27-Chris Unrau, [8]; 9. (DNF) 39-Shawn Teunis, [1]
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 51-Alex Guthmiller, [1]; 2. 10W-Ward Imrie, [3]; 3. 23-Matt Gilbertson, [7]; 4. 5M-Tyler McDonald, [9]; 5. 92-Justin Bronk, [2]; 6. 2S-Matt Schow, [5]; 7. 57H-Blake Higginbotham, [6]; 8. 31-Eric Klassen, [4]; 9. 88-Chad Dyrdahl, [8]

WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
A Feature  (8 Laps): 1. 2S-Matt Schow, [2]; 2. 5C-Preston Carr, [7]; 3. 6R-Nate Reynolds, [13]; 4. 7T-Joseph Thomas, [6]; 5. 16T-Randy Thompson, [5]; 6. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [16]; 7. 10C-Cole Haugland, [15]; 8. 24-Victoria Stutsky, [9]; 9. 16S-Skyler Smith, [18]; 10. 27-Les Schoon, [17]; 11. 99-Doyle Erickson, [3]; 12. 11S-Darren Engesser, [11]; 13. 88XXX-Randy Klein, [21]; 14. 44-Austin Hunter, [25]; 15. 21-Todd Johnson, [22]; 16. 169-Justin Olson, [12]; 17. 32-Eric Haugland, [23]; 18. 12-Jaden Varnson, [10]; 19. 23V-Scott Vasichek, [8]; 20. 81X-Matt Sparby, [20]; 21. 57-Nathan Raasakka, [24]; 22. (DNF) 17S-Lance Schill, [4]; 23. (DNF) 34-Troy Randall, [1]; 24. (DNF) 2G-Brock Gronwold, [14]; (DNS) 23-Matt Gilbertson,
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 88XXX-Randy Klein, [3]; 2. 32-Eric Haugland, [4]; 3. 22S-Tyler Schow, [7]; 4. 8-Jason Schuh, [10]; 5. 00-Steve Hougard, [9]; 6. 4H-Grant Hall, [16]; 7. 1TPO-Corky Thomas, [17]; 8. 77B-Logan Bauer, [12]; 9. 54-Lance Relf, [13]; 10. 20-Nick Audette, [18]; 11. 4B-Brandon Rehill, [6]; 12. 3-Adam Unrau, [11]; (DNS) 39-Jamie Dietzler, ; (DNS) 735-Tanner Theis, ; (DNS) 69R-Terry Reilly, ; (DNS) 21L-Jarett Lovcik, ; (DNS) 6-Dean Eggebraaten, ; (DNS) 14-Scott Harrington,
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 21-Todd Johnson, [2]; 2. 57-Nathan Raasakka, [4]; 3. 188-Hunter Hougard, [12]; 4. 96-Jeremy Lizakowski, [7]; 5. 33A-Austin Overwater, [8]; 6. 44-Austin Hunter, [14]; 7. 74-Gary James Nelson, [9]; 8. 29X-Brandon Bahr, [10]; 9. 10T-Tom Morriseau, [6]; 10. 13B-Jess Brekke, [18]; 11. 16-Brenden Luschinski, [17]; 12. (DNF) 5-Aaron Blacklance, [5]; 13. (DNF) 1S-Scott Bintz, [1]; (DNS) B4-Jory Berg, ; (DNS) 111-Jason Halverson, ; (DNS) 68-Joe Henninger, ; (DNS) 33X-Justin Froemming, ; (DNS) 3L-Logan Salazar,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 34-Troy Randall, [2]; 2. 7T-Joseph Thomas, [4]; 3. 11S-Darren Engesser, [3]; 4. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [6]; 5. 39-Jamie Dietzler, [5]; 6. B4-Jory Berg, [7]; 7. 4B-Brandon Rehill, [1]; 8. 33A-Austin Overwater, [10]; 9. 29X-Brandon Bahr, [11]; 10. 188-Hunter Hougard, [9]; (DQ) 20-Nick Audette, [8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16T-Randy Thompson, [1]; 2. 5C-Preston Carr, [6]; 3. 169-Justin Olson, [4]; 4. 27-Les Schoon, [3]; 5. 1S-Scott Bintz, [10]; 6. 32-Eric Haugland, [11]; 7. 10T-Tom Morriseau, [9]; 8. 00-Steve Hougard, [5]; 9. 3-Adam Unrau, [2]; 10. (DNF) 44-Austin Hunter, [8]; 11. (DNF) 4H-Grant Hall, [7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17S-Lance Schill, [3]; 2. 23V-Scott Vasichek, [2]; 3. 6R-Nate Reynolds, [4]; 4. 16S-Skyler Smith, [5]; 5. 735-Tanner Theis, [6]; 6. 57-Nathan Raasakka, [10]; 7. 22S-Tyler Schow, [9]; 8. (DNF) 68-Joe Henninger, [11]; 9. (DNF) 14-Scott Harrington, [1]; 10. (DNF) 6-Dean Eggebraaten, [8]; (DNS) 16-Brenden Luschinski,
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Doyle Erickson, [2]; 2. 24-Victoria Stutsky, [4]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold, [5]; 4. 23-Matt Gilbertson, [6]; 5. 21-Todd Johnson, [3]; 6. 69R-Terry Reilly, [1]; 7. 96-Jeremy Lizakowski, [7]; 8. 74-Gary James Nelson, [9]; 9. 111-Jason Halverson, [11]; 10. 54-Lance Relf, [8]; 11. (DNF) 3L-Logan Salazar, [10]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 2S-Matt Schow, [7]; 2. 12-Jaden Varnson, [2]; 3. 10C-Cole Haugland, [9]; 4. 81X-Matt Sparby, [1]; 5. 88XXX-Randy Klein, [6]; 6. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [3]; 7. 21L-Jarett Lovcik, [8]; 8. 8-Jason Schuh, [5]; 9. 77B-Logan Bauer, [4]; 10. 33X-Justin Froemming, [10]; 11. 1TPO-Corky Thomas, [11]


WISSOTA Street Stocks:
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 39-Aaron Blacklance, [7]; 2. 33-Daniel Aberle, [8]; 3. 29-Dan McNamee, [3]; 4. 25-Ryan Johnson, [5]; 5. 18B-Adam Burrows, [11]; 6. 14-Jeremy Castro, [20]; 7. 03-Bryce Reimer, [13]; 8. 91-Shane Swenson, [12]; 9. 21J-Brian Johanson, [1]; 10. 61-Joe Engels, [17]; 11. 5-Bradon Miller, [21]; 12. 48-Chase Boen, [18]; 13. 8T-Doug VanMill, [16]; 14. 43-Rory Opp, [6]; 15. 2U-Kasey Ussatis, [23]; 16. 28-Greg Jose, [9]; 17. 7-Dan Arends, [15]; 18. 1J-Joe Armstrong, [22]; 19. 9-Blake Anderson, [24]; 20. 99-Josh Barker, [25]; 21. (DNF) C4-Cliff Reeves, [4]; 22. (DNF) 29*-Jeff Crouse, [19]; 23. (DNF) 27P-Tucker Pederson, [2]; 24. (DNF) 45-TYLER REIMER, [10]; 25. (DNF) 17-Casey Vargason, [14]
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 29*-Jeff Crouse, [2]; 2. 14-Jeremy Castro, [1]; 3. 5-Bradon Miller, [4]; 4. 1J-Joe Armstrong, [5]; 5. 2U-Kasey Ussatis, [10]; 6. 9-Blake Anderson, [11]; 7. 27A-Parker Anderson, [14]; 8. 99-Josh Barker, [13]; 9. 92-Megan McNamee, [7]; 10. 10-Joe Potter, [9]; 11. (DNF) 7M-James Meagher, [12]; 12. (DNF) 24T-Tiffany Noreikis, [6]; (DNS) 12S-Trajan Schmidt, ; (DNS) 4-Trey Hess, ; (DNS) 76-Ron Olafson,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21J-Brian Johanson, [2]; 2. 28-Greg Jose, [6]; 3. 27P-Tucker Pederson, [10]; 4. 45-TYLER REIMER, [7]; 5. 03-Bryce Reimer, [11]; 6. 8T-Doug VanMill, [9]; 7. 14-Jeremy Castro, [5]; 8. 5-Bradon Miller, [1]; 9. 92-Megan McNamee, [3]; 10. (DNF) 9-Blake Anderson, [8]; (DNS) 99-Josh Barker,
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 39-Aaron Blacklance, [3]; 2. 33-Daniel Aberle, [9]; 3. 25-Ryan Johnson, [4]; 4. 18B-Adam Burrows, [2]; 5. 17-Casey Vargason, [1]; 6. 61-Joe Engels, [7]; 7. 29*-Jeff Crouse, [5]; 8. 1J-Joe Armstrong, [6]; 9. 4-Trey Hess, [10]; 10. (DNF) 7M-James Meagher, [8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. C4-Cliff Reeves, [2]; 2. 43-Rory Opp, [4]; 3. 29-Dan McNamee, [1]; 4. 91-Shane Swenson, [3]; 5. 7-Dan Arends, [6]; 6. 48-Chase Boen, [7]; 7. 12S-Trajan Schmidt, [5]; 8. 24T-Tiffany Noreikis, [8]; 9. 10-Joe Potter, [9]; 10. 2U-Kasey Ussatis, [10]

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