September 13th, 2021

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 11) - The 15th annual John Seitz memorial at River Cities Speedway came to an end Saturday night with AJ Diemel becoming the first three-time winner of the event.

Dave Mass and Diemel led the field to the green to start the 92 lap feature. Diemel took the point at the drop of the green and led through a pair of early cautions. 

Chad Mahder chased down Diemel for the lead, and took the spot on lap 24. Mahder led through the fuel stop on lap 30, until Diemel took the lead for good on lap 36.

Diemel put on a clinic from there, as he went unchallenged for the remainder of the race. The final 60 laps went green to checkered as Diemel went on to win by an unprecedented 13-and-a-half seconds over Don Shaw.

WISSOTA national point leader Cole Searing completed the podium.

Matt Aukland and Dale Ames shared the front row to start the 30 lap WISSOTA Modified main event. Aukland led through a few cautions in the first ten laps of the race, but relinquished the lead at the beginning of the 15th lap due to mechanical woes. Seventh starter Tyler Peterson took the point following Aukland's exit.

Peterson held off Mike Stearns and Ames on a late restart, and went on to complete the sweep of the weekend over Stearns and Ames.

Jason Halverson and Jamie Dietzler made up the front row for the 25 lap WISSOTA Midwest Modified finale. Halverson set a torrid pace early, but just past the halfway point, Preston Carr, who started third, took the point as the leaders worked lapped traffic.

Matt Schow stalked Carr in the waning laps, but it was Carr that ended up first to the checkers. Halverson finished third.

Daniel Aberle and Trey Hess brought the 25 lap WISSOTA Street Stock feature to the green. Aberle led the opening nine trips around the quarter-mile oval before Aaron Blacklance and fifth starter Justin Vogel made it a three car battle for the top spot.

Blacklance and Vogel swapped the first and second spots through the next ten laps, but Vogel took the lead for good with five laps left to score the victory. Ryan Johnson finished second with Blacklance third.
WISSOTA Late Models:
A Feature (92 Laps): 1. 58-AJ Diemel[2]; 2. 42S-Don Shaw[14]; 3. 10S-Cole Searing[11]; 4. 5E-Shane Edginton[4]; 5. 2-Dave Mass[1]; 6. 12S-Brad Seng[10]; 7. 17G-Mike Greseth[18]; 8. 27-Jake Redetzke[19]; 9. 1 2-Bryce Sward[12]; 10. 21-Aaron Turnbull[20]; 11. 32-Jordan Tollakson[5]; 12. 20-Trevor Anderson[6]; 13. 71S-Dustin Strand[8]; 14. 7P-Joey Pederson[21]; 15. 44-Cole Schill[9]; 16. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[17]; 17. 2*-Cole Babcock[25]; 18. 37-Scott Ward[22]; 19. 73-David Carlson[23]; 20. 10R-Kevin Robertson[26]; 21. 37JR-Morgan Ward[24]; 22. (DNF) 55C-Chad Mahder[3]; 23. (DNF) 14-Brody Troftgruben[15]; 24. (DNF) 4-Troy Schill[7]; 25. (DNF) 29K-Ryan Kereluk[13]; 26. (DNF) 10-Mike Balcaen[16]

B Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[3]; 2. 27-Jake Redetzke[4]; 3. 7P-Joey Pederson[6]; 4. 73-David Carlson[1]; 5. 2*-Cole Babcock[8]; 6. 10R-Kevin Robertson[9]; 7. F9-Brandon Fuller[5]; 8. 14M-Greg Moore[10]; 9. C4-Ryan Corbett[14]; 10. 16S-Jeff Hapala[13]; 11. 3-Clarence Washburn[12]; 12. (DNF) T1-Tom Corcoran[2]; 13. (DNF) 17-Lance Schill[7]; 14. (DNF) 1M-Nicholas Minske[11]; 15. (DNF) 2D-Don Platow[15]; 16. (DNS) 47-Kreig Kasin

B Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 17G-Mike Greseth[2]; 2. 21-Aaron Turnbull[3]; 3. 37-Scott Ward[4]; 4. 37JR-Morgan Ward[1]; 5. 28-Jeff Provinzino[11]; 6. 35-George Ledin Jr[8]; 7. 9-Steve Anderson[6]; 8. 28D-Cory Dumpert[14]; 9. 71-Steffen Snare[7]; 10. 42-Matthew Jarvis[9]; 11. 12F-Greg Friestad[13]; 12. 11M-Paul Mueller[5]; 13. 5S-Chris Smeby[10]; 14. (DNF) 9R-Erik Robertson[15]; 15. (DNF) 9A-Blake Anderson[12]

Go Hard or Go Home Pole Dash (15 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass[3]; 2. 58-AJ Diemel[6]; 3. 55C-Chad Mahder[1]; 4. 5E-Shane Edginton[2]; 5. 32-Jordan Tollakson[7]; 6. 20-Trevor Anderson[5]; 7. 4-Troy Schill[4]; 8. (DNF) 71S-Dustin Strand[8]

Heat 1 (15 Laps): 1. 58-AJ Diemel[7]; 2. 44-Cole Schill[3]; 3. 42S-Don Shaw[5]; 4. 1 2-Bryce Sward[9]; 5. 17G-Mike Greseth[8]; 6. 17-Lance Schill[4]; 7. 7P-Joey Pederson[10]; 8. 28-Jeff Provinzino[6]; 9. 16S-Jeff Hapala[2]; 10. (DNF) 9R-Erik Robertson[1]

Heat 2 (15 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass[2]; 2. 32-Jordan Tollakson[8]; 3. 14-Brody Troftgruben[1]; 4. 37-Scott Ward[4]; 5. 37JR-Morgan Ward[9]; 6. 11M-Paul Mueller[7]; 7. 42-Matthew Jarvis[5]; 8. 3-Clarence Washburn[6]; 9. (DNF) 28D-Cory Dumpert[3]; 10. (DNS) 47-Kreig Kasin

Heat 3 (15 Laps): 1. 5E-Shane Edginton[3]; 2. 20-Trevor Anderson[4]; 3. 10-Mike Balcaen[2]; 4. 73-David Carlson[6]; 5. T1-Tom Corcoran[9]; 6. 9-Steve Anderson[1]; 7. 14M-Greg Moore[5]; 8. 9A-Blake Anderson[7]; 9. (DNF) 2D-Don Platow[8]

Heat 4 (15 Laps): 1. 71S-Dustin Strand[7]; 2. 29K-Ryan Kereluk[2]; 3. 12S-Brad Seng[6]; 4. 27-Jake Redetzke[3]; 5. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[8]; 6. 2*-Cole Babcock[5]; 7. 10R-Kevin Robertson[4]; 8. 5S-Chris Smeby[9]; 9. (DNF) C4-Ryan Corbett[1]

Heat 5 (15 Laps): 1. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 2. 4-Troy Schill[5]; 3. 10S-Cole Searing[6]; 4. 21-Aaron Turnbull[2]; 5. F9-Brandon Fuller[1]; 6. 71-Steffen Snare[4]; 7. 35-George Ledin Jr[8]; 8. 1M-Nicholas Minske[3]; 9. 12F-Greg Friestad[9]

Past Champions (12 Laps): 1. 42S-Don Shaw[2]; 2. 55C-Chad Mahder[1]; 3. 58-AJ Diemel[3]; 4. 12S-Brad Seng[4]; 5. 27-Jake Redetzke[8]; 6. 17-Lance Schill[7]; 7. (DNF) 21-Aaron Turnbull[6]; 8. (DNS) 71S-Dustin Strand

WISSOTA Modifieds:
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[7]; 2. 24S-Mike Stearns[5]; 3. 6-Dale Ames[2]; 4. 6X-Zach Johnson[9]; 5. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[4]; 6. 81-Jordan Duray[15]; 7. 53-Ryan Damm[6]; 8. 2-Aaron Holtan[18]; 9. 32-Jon Tollakson[12]; 10. 74-Dustin Wahl[21]; 11. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[17]; 12. 25-Jamie Trautner[10]; 13. 6V-Austin Veralrud[13]; 14. 22-Davey Mills[20]; 15. (DNF) 23-Matt Gilbertson[8]; 16. (DNF) 96-Erv Grossman[22]; 17. (DNF) 7T-Joseph Thomas[3]; 18. (DNF) 33-Ryan Hagen[11]; 19. (DNF) 37-Scott Ward[19]; 20. (DNF) 12-Matt Aukland[1]; 21. (DNF) 48-Brent Dutenhoffer[14]; 22. (DNF) 57-Michael Tiani[16]; 23. (DNS) 39-Shawn Teunis; 24. (DQ) 51T-Tim Thomas[24]

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 6-Dale Ames[2]; 2. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[5]; 3. 53-Ryan Damm[6]; 4. 33-Ryan Hagen[3]; 5. 6V-Austin Veralrud[1]; 6. 57-Michael Tiani[8]; 7. (DNF) 96-Erv Grossman[7]; 8. (DQ) 51T-Tim Thomas[4]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7T-Joseph Thomas[2]; 2. 23-Matt Gilbertson[1]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[6]; 4. 6X-Zach Johnson[8]; 5. 48-Brent Dutenhoffer[3]; 6. 2-Aaron Holtan[4]; 7. 37-Scott Ward[7]; 8. 74-Dustin Wahl[5]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 24S-Mike Stearns[1]; 2. 12-Matt Aukland[6]; 3. 25-Jamie Trautner[2]; 4. 32-Jon Tollakson[3]; 5. 81-Jordan Duray[4]; 6. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[7]; 7. 22-Davey Mills[5]; 8. (DNS) 39-Shawn Teunis
WISSOTA Midwest Mods:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 5C-Preston Carr[3]; 2. 2S-Matt Schow[7]; 3. 111-Jason Halverson[1]; 4. B0-Jory Berg[13]; 5. 2G-Brock Gronwold[9]; 6. 39-Jamie Dietzler[2]; 7. 77R-Ryan Schroeder[18]; 8. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[11]; 9. 27-Les Schoon[15]; 10. 169-Justin Olson[19]; 11. 33-Jeff Nelson[24]; 12. 29X-Brandon Bahr[4]; 13. 57-Nathan Raasakka[5]; 14. 35-Tanner Theis[21]; 15. 54-Terry Nelson[22]; 16. 33G-Connor Graff[23]; 17. (DNF) 3L-Logan Salazar[17]; 18. (DNF) 8-Jason Schuh[20]; 19. (DNF) 86C-Darren Pfau[6]; 20. (DNF) 16-Randy Thompson[10]; 21. (DNF) 87S-Reise Stenberg[14]; 22. (DNF) 2-Rusty Kollman[12]; 23. (DNF) 87-Chris Kruk[16]; 24. (DNF) 71-Trent Grager[8]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 3L-Logan Salazar[1]; 2. 77R-Ryan Schroeder[5]; 3. 169-Justin Olson[3]; 4. 8-Jason Schuh[2]; 5. 35-Tanner Theis[4]; 6. 54-Terry Nelson[6]; 7. 33G-Connor Graff[7]; 8. 33-Jeff Nelson[11]; 9. 88-Chad Puschinsky[9]; 10. 007-Alex Johnson[12]; 11. 18X-Connor Drewry[14]; 12. 12-Jaden Varnson[15]; 13. 77B-Logan Bauer[10]; 14. 21-Joel Olson[8]; 15. (DNS) 91-Richard Reed

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5C-Preston Carr[2]; 2. 39-Jamie Dietzler[7]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[5]; 4. 3L-Logan Salazar[1]; 5. 87S-Reise Stenberg[8]; 6. 54-Terry Nelson[3]; 7. 33-Jeff Nelson[4]; 8. 91-Richard Reed[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Nathan Raasakka[1]; 2. 2S-Matt Schow[3]; 3. 2-Rusty Kollman[5]; 4. B0-Jory Berg[6]; 5. 27-Les Schoon[8]; 6. 77R-Ryan Schroeder[7]; 7. 77B-Logan Bauer[2]; 8. (DNF) 12-Jaden Varnson[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 86C-Darren Pfau[1]; 2. 29X-Brandon Bahr[5]; 3. 71-Trent Grager[6]; 4. 8-Jason Schuh[2]; 5. 87-Chris Kruk[8]; 6. 33G-Connor Graff[3]; 7. 007-Alex Johnson[4]; 8. 18X-Connor Drewry[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 111-Jason Halverson[4]; 2. 16-Randy Thompson[2]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold[6]; 4.169-Justin Olson[3]; 5. 35-Tanner Theis[7]; 6. 21-Joel Olson[5]; 7. 88-Chad Puschinsky[1]
WISSOTA Street Stocks:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 10V-Justin Vogel[5]; 2. 25-Ryan Johnson[4]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[3]; 4. 27P-Tucker Pederson[9]; 5. 46-Jonny Carter[17]; 6. 33-Daniel Aberle[1]; 7. 27-Parker Anderson[18]; 8. 4-Trey Hess[2]; 9. 34-Ryne Uhrich[7]; 10. 35-John Halvorson[8]; 11. 12X1-Kurt Becken[10]; 12. 19-Cole Greseth[21]; 13. 69-Stoney Kruk[14]; 14. 1J-Cody Armstrong[20]; 15. 79-Jeff Nowak[19]; 16. 10-Joe Potter[13]; 17. 30-Seth Klostreich[6]; 18. 8T-Doug VanMill[24]; 19. 29-Dan McNamee[12]; 20. 65-Jerome Berger[16]; 21. 31-Jason Marko[22]; 22. (DNF) 48-Chase Boen[15]; 23. (DNF) 7-James Meagher[23]; 24. (DNF) 99-Josh Barker[11]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 46-Jonny Carter[18]; 2. 27-Parker Anderson[12]; 3. 79-Jeff Nowak[1]; 4. 1J-Cody Armstrong[3]; 5. 19-Cole Greseth[14]; 6. 31-Jason Marko[2]; 7. 7-James Meagher[9]; 8. 8T-Doug VanMill[8]; 9. 00-Terry Blacklance[5]; 10. 1CJ-Jason Halverson[11]; 11. 87-Alan Lane[4]; 12. 21J-Brian Johanson[13]; 13. 0-Chad Hagen[10]; 14. 03-Bryce Reimer[15]; 15. (DNF) 10T-Darek Turner[6]; 16. (DNF) 51L-Justin Lundeen[16]; 17. (DNF) 22-Alex Minks[7]; 18. (DNF) 18-Scotty Messner[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10V-Justin Vogel[2]; 2. 35-John Halvorson[3]; 3. 29-Dan McNamee[1]; 4. 65-Jerome Berger[4]; 5. 79-Jeff Nowak[7]; 6. 31-Jason Marko[9]; 7. 27-Parker Anderson[5]; 8. 19-Cole Greseth[6]; 9. 51L-Justin Lundeen[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Trey Hess[3]; 2. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[6]; 3. 10-Joe Potter[1]; 4. 99-Josh Barker[7]; 5. 1J-Cody Armstrong[4]; 6. 22-Alex Minks[2]; 7. 7-James Meagher[8]; 8. 21J-Brian Johanson[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Daniel Aberle[5]; 2. 25-Ryan Johnson[6]; 3. 69-Stoney Kruk[1]; 4. 12X1-Kurt Becken[8]; 5. 87-Alan Lane[4]; 6. 10T-Darek Turner[7]; 7. 0-Chad Hagen[2]; 8. (DNF) 18-Scotty Messner[3]

​Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 34-Ryne Uhrich[1]; 2. 27P-Tucker Pederson[2]; 3. 30-Seth Klostreich[8]; 4. 48-Chase Boen[6]; 5. 00-Terry Blacklance[4]; 6. 8T-Doug VanMill[5]; 7. 1CJ-Jason Halverson[3]; 8. 03-Bryce Reimer[7]