Hastings, Troftgruben, Dvergsten, Hunter, and Klostreich Score Opening Night Wins

Friends and family of Julie Pederson honor her pre-race on Friday night.

Grand Forks, N.D. (May 15, 2024) - The 70th anniversary of weekly racing in Grand Forks has begun as River Cities Speedway roared back to life last Friday night with five classes on hand at the Bullring.

The evening started with the crowd and the entire pit area remembering those we lost over the offseason. Julie Pederson's family and friends honored her and were joined by Matt Jarvis as the group also paced around the track during the anthem in honor of Bruce Hart. Hank Albers, Don Mack, Tim Mulvaney, and Rick Noyes were also remembered before racing began.

Jack Croaker and Josh Swangler brought the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint feature to the green with Croaker leading the opening circuit.

Croaker and Swangler remained side-by-side for the first few laps. Hastings and Austin Pierce, who was subbing for Mark Dobmeier, ran third and fourth before the first caution on lap three. 

Hastings moved into second and brought Brendan Mullen with him in the third on the ensuing restart as the pair of No. 8 cars battled for the lead. Hastings took the lead at the completion of the third circuit.

Hastings began to build a comfortable lead as Mullen and Croaker battled for the second spot. Hastings led through the midway point, remaining unchallenged while the best battle in the place became the battle for third which was eventually won by Gage Pulkrabek. 

With 12 laps to go, the center section of Brendan Mullen's wheel broke, sending him flipping off of turn number one. He was okay. Following the final caution with nine to go. Pulkrabek made a peak to the inside of Hastings in turns one and two but it was clear sailing for Hastings as he went on to the victory.

Pulkrabek, Pierce, Weston Olson, and Croaker completed the top five.

Brody Troftgruben and Lance Schill led the Cirrus Aircraft NLRA Late Models to green. Following a multi-car pile up on the initial start Troftgruben led the opening lap with Strand battling Schill for the second spot.

The top three remained the same through the first six laps but when they started working lapped traffic on the following lap, a couple of lapped cars made contact, causing the leaders to check up. Strand and Schill were involved in the incident.

Schill was able to resume in the second spot, though Strand’s night was over. Ryan Corbett moved his newly-renumbered 50 machine into the second spot on the restart while Troftgruben started to build an advantage at the front of the field.

Troftgruben eventually started working through lap traffic with eight to go but remained unchallenged as he held the point. Corbett pulled to the infield in the closing laps moving Schill and Brad Seng into the top three.

Troftgruben continued on to the victory over Schill, Seng, Joey Pedersonn and Nathan Higginbotham.

Kelsi Pederson and Dexter Dvergsten brought the Lightning Sprint feature to green though Pederson was off the pace from the drop of the green suffering mechanical woes.

This allowed Evan Yanish and ARCA driver Bryce Haugeberg to move into the second and third spots while Dvergsten pulled away from the field.

Haugeberg took second and brought Kate Taves with him in the third before a brief stoppage of the race on lap 6, Dvergsten continued to dominate up front while Taves kept pace with Haugeberg in the battle for second.

One final caution restacked the field with six to go. On the restart, Haugeberg faced challenges from both of the Taves family of drivers with Kate taking second and Matt moving up from the rear of the field to challenge for third in the closing laps.

Dvergsten continued on to victory, his 16th at the track which ties him with Darren Pallen for the most in class history. Kate Taves, Haugeberg, Matthew Taves, and Mark Williams finished second through fifth. Matthew Taves started 14th and Williams started 12th.

Austin Hunter and Reise Stenberg led the Happy Harry’s WISSOTA Midwest Mods to green.

Hunter and Stenberg went door-to-door early in the race with Jory Berg making it a three-car battle for the lead on the third lap. Hunter began to inch away from the battle for second on lap five, which Berg took at that point.

Following a lap six caution Hunter continued to lead as Manitoba racer Ted Doell moved in on Berg and Stenberg in a battle for second. Hunter led by a straightaway at the midway point while Matt Schow moved into third.

Schow took the second spot with five to go as the leaders entered lap traffic. This allowed Schow to close late. Schow showed Hunter his nose coming off of two while the pair were shown the white flag but Schow washed up coming off of the corner allowing Hunter to continue on to the victory.

Berg, Doell, and Jamie Dietzler rounded out the top five.

Chris Dudley and Seth Klostreich led the Big Al’s Construction WISSOTA Street Stocks to green.

Dudley led the first lap over Klostreich and Cole Greseth, though Klostreich took the lead on the second circuit. Greseth moved into second on the fifth lap as Klostreich started to build his first advantage of the race.

Klostreich had to deal with a little bit of lap traffic before the midway point allowing Greseth to close. Greseth continued to hound Klostreich as lap traffic became more of an issue for the leaders.

Klostreich, again, appeared to be safe once he cleared the traffic qs he continued to lead with three to go though one final caution gave Greseth and Aaron Blacklance one last shot at the victory.

Greseth pulled even in turns one and two with two to go on the restart but Klostreich remained strong in the closing laps to pick up the victory, his second opening night win in-a-row. BlackLance, Dudley, and Trey Hess rounded out the top five.

All five classes will be back this Friday night as racing is once again slated to start at 7 o’clock.

RESULTS:
NOSA 410 Sprints
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 8H-Jade Hastings[4]; 2. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[9]; 3. 13-Austin Pierce[5]; 4. 27-Weston Olson[10]; 5. 8-Jack Croaker[1]; 6. 52-Adam Sobolik[8]; 7. 0-Nick Omdahl[6]; 8. 4-Colton Young[12]; 9. 41T-Travis Strandell[13]; 10. 50-Brad Flaten[15]; 11. (DNF) 11M-Brendan Mullen[3]; 12. (DNF) 10S-Josh Swangler[2]; 13. (DNF) 14-Tom Egeland[11]; 14. (DNF) 17-Zach Omdahl[7]; 15. (DNF) 78-Bill Wagner[14]; 16. (DNF) 26-Blake Egeland[16]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8H-Jade Hastings[4]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[1]; 3. 8-Jack Croaker[3]; 4. G5-Gage Pulkrabek[7]; 5. 10S-Josh Swangler[2]; 6. 14-Tom Egeland[6]; 7. 41T-Travis Strandell[5]; 8. 78-Bill Wagner[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Adam Sobolik[1]; 2. 13-Austin Pierce[4]; 3. 11M-Brendan Mullen[3]; 4. 17-Zach Omdahl[2]; 5. 27-Weston Olson[5]; 6. 4-Colton Young[6]; 7. 50-Brad Flaten[8]; 8. (DNS) 26-Blake Egeland
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 8H-Jade Hastings, 00:11.764[13]; 2. G5-Gage Pulkrabek, 00:12.117[10]; 3. 13-Austin Pierce, 00:12.292[14]; 4. 8-Jack Croaker, 00:12.496[2]; 5. 0-Nick Omdahl, 00:12.524[7]; 6. 52-Adam Sobolik, 00:12.709[6]; 7. 27-Weston Olson, 00:12.771[12]; 8. 4-Colton Young, 00:12.966[1]; 9. 41T-Travis Strandell, 00:13.495[4]; 10. 50-Brad Flaten, 00:13.912[16]; 11. (DNF) 11M-Brendan Mullen, 00:12.136[9]; 12. (DNF) 10S-Josh Swangler, 00:12.557[15]; 13. (DNF) 14-Tom Egeland, 00:13.920[8]; 14. (DNF) 17-Zach Omdahl, 00:13.920[3]; 15. (DNF) 78-Bill Wagner, 00:13.920[11]; 16. (DNF) 26-Blake Egeland, 00:13.920[5]

LIGHTNING SPRINTS
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 11-Dexter Dvergsten[2]; 2. 72-Kate Taves[5]; 3. 22-Bryce Haugeberg[6]; 4. 87-Matthew Taves[14]; 5. 1W-Mark Williams[12]; 6. 12-Loki Bjerke[11]; 7. 7S-Sean Enright[9]; 8. 21B-Hunter Bugge[10]; 9. (DNF) 18-Hayden Koehmstedt[7]; 10. (DNF) 40E-Evan Yanish[4]; 11. (DNF) 24-Jake Haugeberg[13]; 12. (DNF) 04-Richard Rygg[8]; 13. (DNF) 93-Kelsi Pederson[3]; 14. (DNF) 19S-Travis Surerus[1]; 15. (DNS) 8-Brady Heilman
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Bryce Haugeberg[5]; 2. 93-Kelsi Pederson[4]; 3. 18-Hayden Koehmstedt[2]; 4. 40E-Evan Yanish[6]; 5. 7S-Sean Enright[1]; 6. 1W-Mark Williams[3]; 7. 21B-Hunter Bugge[8]; 8. (DNF) 24-Jake Haugeberg[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 72-Kate Taves[1]; 2. 11-Dexter Dvergsten[5]; 3. 19S-Travis Surerus[6]; 4. (DNF) 04-Richard Rygg[3]; 5. (DNF) 8-Brady Heilman[2]; 6. (DNF) 12-Loki Bjerke[4]; 7. (DNS) 87-Matthew Taves

WISSOTA LATE MODEL
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 14-Brody Troftgruben[1]; 2. 17S-Lance Schill[2]; 3. 12S-Brad Seng[8]; 4. 7P-Joey Pederson[9]; 5. 57H-Nathan Higginbotham[10]; 6. 2*-Cole Babcock[17]; 7. 21S-John Seng[6]; 8. 4C-Brandon Corbett[12]; 9. 29K-Ryan Kereluk[11]; 10. 33-Ryan Dahl[21]; 11. 70-Jesse Teunis[18]; 12. 27P-Tucker Pederson[16]; 13. 42-Matthew Jarvis[24]; 14. 97-Dan McNamee[20]; 15. (DNF) 57-Blake Higginbotham[15]; 16. (DNF) F50-Ryan Corbett[14]; 17. (DNF) 9A-Blake Anderson[22]; 18. (DNF) 71S-Dustin Strand[4]; 19. (DNF) 56-Laine Schwehr[3]; 20. (DNF) 6R-Nate Reynolds[23]; 21. (DNF) 14M-Greg Moore[7]; 22. (DNF) 17-Jim Harris[13]; 23. (DNF) T 1-Tom Corcoran[19]; 24. (DNF) 17G-Mike Greseth[5]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Brody Troftgruben[7]; 2. 56-Laine Schwehr[3]; 3. 21S-John Seng[4]; 4. 57H-Nathan Higginbotham[1]; 5. 17-Jim Harris[8]; 6. 27P-Tucker Pederson[5]; 7. (DNF) 9A-Blake Anderson[6]; 8. (DNF) 6R-Nate Reynolds[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 71S-Dustin Strand[3]; 2. 17G-Mike Greseth[1]; 3. 14M-Greg Moore[4]; 4. 29K-Ryan Kereluk[5]; 5. F50-Ryan Corbett[8]; 6. 2*-Cole Babcock[2]; 7. T 1-Tom Corcoran[7]; 8. 33-Ryan Dahl[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12S-Brad Seng[1]; 2. 7P-Joey Pederson[4]; 3. 17S-Lance Schill[5]; 4. 4C-Brandon Corbett[2]; 5. 57-Blake Higginbotham[6]; 6. 70-Jesse Teunis[7]; 7. 97-Dan McNamee[3]; 8. (DNF) 42-Matthew Jarvis[8]

WISSOTA MIDWEST MODS
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 44-Austin Hunter[1]; 2. 2S-Matt Schow[8]; 3. BO-Jory Berg[4]; 4. 95-Ted Doell[3]; 5. 39-Jamie Dietzler[5]; 6. 28S-Ryan Schow[7]; 7. 17S-Lance Schill[11]; 8. 29-Cylen Vargason[14]; 9. 8-Tyler Doell[17]; 10. 15-Landon Gross[15]; 11. 1S-Scott Bintz[19]; 12. 007-Alex Johnson[18]; 13. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[9]; 14. (DNF) 13-Devyn Weleski[6]; 15. (DNF) 87S-Reise Stenberg[2]; 16. (DNF) 188-Hunter Hougard[10]; 17. (DNF) 34-Ryne Uhrich[16]; 18. (DNF) 12-Jaden Varnson[12]; 19. (DNS) 46J-Taylor Jacobson; 20. (DNS) 77JR-Brody Kraft; 21. (DNS) 77X-Dylan McCaughan; 22. (DNS) 57-Nathan Raasakka
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Ted Doell[3]; 2. 39-Jamie Dietzler[7]; 3. 13-Devyn Weleski[5]; 4. 188-Hunter Hougard[6]; 5. 46J-Taylor Jacobson[1]; 6. 34-Ryne Uhrich[8]; 7. (DNF) 77JR-Brody Kraft[4]; 8. (DNF) 57-Nathan Raasakka[2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2S-Matt Schow[3]; 2. 87S-Reise Stenberg[2]; 3. 44-Austin Hunter[6]; 4. 17S-Lance Schill[1]; 5. 29-Cylen Vargason[4]; 6. 8-Tyler Doell[7]; 7. 1S-Scott Bintz[5]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15TRX-Chris Edmonds[1]; 2. BO-Jory Berg[2]; 3. 28S-Ryan Schow[3]; 4. 12-Jaden Varnson[4]; 5. 15-Landon Gross[7]; 6. 007-Alex Johnson[5]; 7. (DNF) 77X-Dylan McCaughan[6]

WISSOTA STREET STOCK
A Feature (20 Laps): 1. 30-Seth Klostreich[2]; 2. 19-Cole Greseth[5]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[8]; 4. 70-Chris Dudley[1]; 5. 4-Trey Hess[4]; 6. 67-Weston Ramsrud[3]; 7. 35-John Halvorson[7]; 8. 99-Josh Barker[9]; 9. 49-Rodney Hulst[11]; 10. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[13]; 11. 37-Chris Ekren[12]; 12. 34-Billy Binkley[14]; 13. 92-Mason Scholin[15]; 14. 29-Rachael McNamee[17]; 15. (DNF) 12W-Chris Welk Jr[16]; 16. (DNF) 28-Greg Jose[6]; 17. (DNF) 7-James Meagher[10]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Seth Klostreich[3]; 2. 4-Trey Hess[5]; 3. 35-John Halvorson[4]; 4. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[7]; 5. 99-Josh Barker[2]; 6. 49-Rodney Hulst[1]; 7. B2-Brodee Eckerdt[8]; 8. 92-Mason Scholin[9]; 9. 29-Rachael McNamee[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Cole Greseth[4]; 2. 70-Chris Dudley[1]; 3. 67-Weston Ramsrud[8]; 4. 28-Greg Jose[5]; 5. 7-James Meagher[3]; 6. 37-Chris Ekren[2]; 7. 34-Billy Binkley[7]; 8. 12W-Chris Welk Jr[6]