Turnbull earns pole for the 14th John Seitz Memorial 92-lapper with Pole Dash win

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 11, 2020) - A three-hour rain delay put a damper on the opening night of the 14th annual John Seitz Memorial at River Cities Speedway on Friday night. But it was only temporary. 

Once the racing action commenced the River Cities faithful in the grandstands who weathered the rain and cool temps were treated to incredible racing on the fast and tacky three-tenths mile bullring. 

One hundred fifty-nine cars were checked in for action among the five divisions on hand. WISSOTA Street Stocks and Midwest Mods raced just their heat races while the Late Models ran qualifying heats and the Go Hard or Go Home Pole Dash. The WISSOTA Modifieds and Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints had complete programs. 

Defending Seitz Memorial champion, Aaron Turnbull, was able to make his way across the border to attend this year’s event and he will lead the field to green for the 92-lapper on Saturday night. 

Turnbull won the 15-lap, $920-to-win Go Hard or Go Home Pole Dash with a last lap, last corner pass for the lead on 2014 champion Don Shaw. 

Shaw led coming to the white flag, but had heavy pressure from Turnbull and Seitz Memorial rookie Jesse Glenz. Turnbull had a run on Shaw heading into the final set of corners. Things got tight off turn four between Turnbull and Shaw. Shaw pushed up the track exiting the corner which was all Turnbull needed to lead the three wide race for the win back to the checkers. 

“It paid $920 to win. I’m not here to run second,” said Turnbull after the race. “I’m not a big fan of the pole, but I guess I’ll take it. Track position and clean air is always good.”

It was in question whether or not Turnbull would even be able to defend his Seitz Memorial championship this year due to the U.S./Canadian border being closed due to COVID-19 restrictions. “I was going to do everything I could to get down (into the U.S.). There’s no restriction on flying (into the U.S.), we just have to quarantine for two weeks,” said Turnbull of his efforts to make the trip from Estevan, Saskatchewan, Canada to Grand Forks, N.D. “I didn’t want to miss it.”

The Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints had 21 cars for 30-laps in the sixth annual Buffalo Wild Wings Blazin’ Challenge. Six qualified drivers took their shot at starting at the back of the field for bonus money. An extra $2,900 was up for grabs if either Jade Hastings or Jordan Adams could win from the back row.

Shane Roemeling drove around front row starters Tim Estenson and Nick Omdahl to lead the opening circuit. Roemeling led until the lap 12 restart when Omdahl took the point as Brendan Mullen followed him into second. 

The red was displayed on lap 14 as Jack Croaker got upside down on the front stretch. Croaker was okay. He was running in the sixth position at the time from the 18th starting spot.

Mullen was running in the second spot until he slid off the top of the banking in turn two to bring out the yellow. On the restart, contact with another driver sent Mullen upside down on the front stretch, ending his night. He was okay. 

Austin Pierce restarted in the second spot, but took the lead from Omdahl as the race resumed. Lee Grosz, who had to start at the tail of the field after spinning on the first lap, ran third in his 360c.i. motor. 

Pierce checked out and claimed his eighth win of the season at the Bullring as Omdahl, Hastings, Grosz and Roemeling rounded out the top five. 

Twenty-eight WISSOTA Modifieds were checked in for action with the fastest 24 making the starting grid for the 25-lap main event. 

Aaron Holtan led early, but was chased by Michael Greseth. Holtan held the advantage as Greseth raced all over the three-tenths mile Bullring in search of a way around the Newfolden, Minn. driver. Entering lapped traffic at the midpoint of the race, Greseth lost the handle on the machine and spun in turn two. 

Holtan went on to lead every lap as he held off Rick Jacobson and Tyler Peterson for the win. 

SUMMARY:
WISSOTA Late Models:
Go Hard or Go Home Pole Dash (15 Laps): 1. 21-Aaron Turnbull[1]; 2. 42S-Don Shaw[2]; 3. 7X-Jesse Glenz[3]; 4. 2-Dave Mass[4]; 5. 03-Casey Meyer[5]; 6. 14-Brody Troftgruben[6]; 7. (DNF) 7P-Joey Pederson[7]; 8. (DNS) 15*-Ryan Mikkelson

Past Champions Race (12 Laps): 1. 58-AJ Diemel[1]; 2. 55C-Chad Mahder[2]; 3. 12S-Brad Seng[3]; 4. 21-Aaron Turnbull[4]; 5. 17-Lance Schill[8]; 6. 71S-Dustin Strand[5]; 7. 42S-Don Shaw[7]; 8. C4-Ryan Corbett[6]
Last Chance Race (20 Laps): 1. 12-Chad Becker[1]; 2. 20-Trevor Anderson[7]; 3. 71G-Trent Grager[4]; 4. 9-Steve Anderson[5]; 5. 11-Troy Schill[6]; 6. 71X-Cory Tammen[9]; 7. 37JR-Morgan Ward[10]; 8. 45-Dustin Bluhm[2]; 9. 35-George Ledin Jr[11]; 10. 11M-Paul Mueller[8]; 11. 2*-Cole Babcock[12]; 12. (DNF) F9-Brandon Fuller[3]

Heat 1 (15 Laps): 1. 7X-Jesse Glenz[4]; 2. 15*-Ryan Mikkelson[6]; 3. 10R-Kevin Robertson[2]; 4. 37-Scott Ward[3]; 5. 71-Steffen Snare[8]; 6. 35-George Ledin Jr[7]; 7. 9-Steve Anderson[10]; 8. 11M-Paul Mueller[9]; 9. (DNF) 18-Dustin Hapka[5]; 10. (DNF) 20-Trevor Anderson[1]

Heat 2 (15 Laps): 1. 2-Dave Mass[8]; 2. 02-Dan Dowling[2]; 3. F9-Brandon Fuller[3]; 4. 18X-Shawn Meyer[10]; 5. 71X-Cory Tammen[6]; 6. 71G-Trent Grager[1]; 7. 16S-Jeff Hapala[7]; 8. 37JR-Morgan Ward[4]; 9. 9R-Erik Robertson[9]; 10. (DNF) 11-Troy Schill[5]

Heat 3 (15 Laps): 1. 03-Casey Meyer[6]; 2. C4-Ryan Corbett[2]; 3. 2S-Josh Skorczewski[1]; 4. 28-Jeff Provinzino[5]; 5. 10-Cole Searing[10]; 6. 4V-Billy Vogel[7]; 7. 2*-Cole Babcock[4]; 8. 12S-Brad Seng[9]; 9. 3-Clarence Washburn[3]; 10. 9A-Blake Anderson[8]

Heat 4 (15 Laps): 1. 7P-Joey Pederson[1]; 2. 21-Aaron Turnbull[4]; 3. 71S-Dustin Strand[5]; 4. 44-Cole Schill[7]; 5. 12-Chad Becker[9]; 6. (DNF) 55C-Chad Mahder[3]; 7. (DNF) 17-Lance Schill[2]; 8. (DNF) 47-Kreig Kasin[10]; 9. (DNF) Z17-Zach Naastad[8]; 10. (DNF) 32-Jordan Tollakson[6]

Heat 5 (15 Laps): 1. 42S-Don Shaw[3]; 2. 14-Brody Troftgruben[7]; 3. 58-AJ Diemel[6]; 4. 45-Dustin Bluhm[4]; 5. T1-Tom Corcoran[9]; 6. 1 2-Bryce Sward[8]; 7. 6M-Jeffrey Massingill[5]; 8. (DNF) 1M-Nicholas Minske[1]; 9. (DNF) 54-Terry Nelson[2]

WISSOTA Modifieds
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2-Aaron Holtan[2]; 2. 7J-Richard Jacobson[1]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[4]; 4. 23-Matt Gilbertson[14]; 5. 85-Jayson Good[11]; 6. 24S-Mike Stearns[19]; 7. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[17]; 8. 74-Dustin Wahl[20]; 9. 81-Jordan Duray[24]; 10. 6-Dale Ames[22]; 11. 15F-Devin Fouquette[21]; 12. 57H-Nathan Higginbotham[10]; 13. 51T-Tim Thomas[15]; 14. 1CTO-Corky Thomas[9]; 15. 57-Michael Tiani[13]; 16. (DNF) 26G-Ryan Gierke[18]; 17. (DNF) 32-Jesse Young[6]; 18. (DNF) 22-Davey Mills[12]; 19. (DNF) 2S-Matt Schow[8]; 20. (DNF) 48-Brent Dutenhoffer[7]; 21. (DNF) 32T-Jon Tollakson[5]; 22. (DNF) 17-Mike Greseth[3]; 23. (DNF) 5P-Ryan Pommerer[23]; 24. (DNS) 71-Dustin Strand

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[4]; 2. 26G-Ryan Gierke[2]; 3. 24S-Mike Stearns[5]; 4. 74-Dustin Wahl[7]; 5. 15F-Devin Fouquette[3]; 6. 6-Dale Ames[8]; 7. 5P-Ryan Pommerer[6]; 8. 81-Jordan Duray[10]; 9. 3-Arne Anderson[1]; 10. 18-Scotty Messner[9]; 11. (DNF) 7T-Joseph Thomas[12]; 12. (DNF) 6X-Zach Johnson[11]
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 17-Mike Greseth[1]; 2. 32T-Jon Tollakson[4]; 3. 2S-Matt Schow[5]; 4. 22-Davey Mills[2]; 5. 51T-Tim Thomas[6]; 6. 26G-Ryan Gierke[3]; 7. 3-Arne Anderson[10]; 8. 74-Dustin Wahl[8]; 9. 18-Scotty Messner[9]; 10. 81-Jordan Duray[7]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[1]; 2. 2-Aaron Holtan[5]; 3. 57H-Nathan Higginbotham[2]; 4. 32-Jesse Young[9]; 5. 57-Michael Tiani[7]; 6. 15F-Devin Fouquette[3]; 7. 24S-Mike Stearns[8]; 8. (DNF) 6X-Zach Johnson[4]; 9. (DNF) 7T-Joseph Thomas[6]

Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 7J-Richard Jacobson[2]; 2. 48-Brent Dutenhoffer[1]; 3. 1CTO-Corky Thomas[5]; 4. 85-Jayson Good[6]; 5. 23-Matt Gilbertson[7]; 6. 71-Dustin Strand[8]; 7. 22B-Josh Beaulieu[9]; 8. 5P-Ryan Pommerer[4]; 9. 6-Dale Ames[3]
WISSOTA Midwest Mods:
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 188-Hunter Hougard[1]; 2. 6R-Nate Reynolds[4]; 3. 2R-Jeff Reed[2]; 4. 96L-Jeremy Lizakowski[8]; 5. 11S-Darren Engesser[5]; 6. 735-Tanner Theis[7]; 7. 77B-Logan Bauer[6]; 8. 46-Cole Neset[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. B0-Jory Berg[1]; 2. 17-Lance Schill[4]; 3. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[2]; 4. 87S-Reise Stenberg[6]; 5. 33-Jeff Nelson[5]; 6. 2S-Matt Schow[8]; 7. 57-Nathan Raasakka[3]; 8. 39-Jamie Dietzler[7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Jaden Varnson[2]; 2. 77R-Ryan Schroeder[3]; 3. 67-Mike Nichols[4]; 4. 32F-Chad Fouquette[6]; 5. 21-Jake Smith[7]; 6. 57X-Blake Higginbotham[1]; 7. 28-Tommy Nichols[5]; 8. (DNF) 4X-Phil Christlieb[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Jason Schuh[6]; 2. 27-Les Schoon[1]; 3. 69R-Terry Reilly[5]; 4. 55-Dustin Burke[2]; 5. 28S-Ryan Schow[3]; 6. 4-Michael Miller[4]; 7. 29X-Brandon Bahr[7]

WISSOTA Street Stocks:
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 21J-Brian Johanson[2]; 2. 11-Kyle Dykhoff[8]; 3. 34-Bill Gustafson[5]; 4. 28-Greg Jose[3]; 5. 2U-Kasey Ussatis[7]; 6. 4-Trey Hess[6]; 7. 10T-Darek Turner[1]; 8. (DNF) 87-Alan Lane[4]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 5P-Ryan Pommerer[2]; 2. 99-Josh Barker[1]; 3. 8T-Doug VanMill[6]; 4. 34X-Ryne Uhrich[5]; 5. 00-Dustin Ebensteiner[4]; 6. 10-Joe Potter[7]; 7. 7-James Meagher[8]; 8. 5S-Chris Smeby[3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 27P-Tucker Pederson[2]; 2. 33-Daniel Aberle[1]; 3. 1J-Cody Armstrong[4]; 4. 3L-Zach Lee[7]; 5. 30-Seth Klostreich[6]; 6. 29-Dan McNamee[3]; 7. 27-Parker Anderson[5]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 5BA-Aaron Blacklance[1]; 2. 5-Brittany Smith[2]; 3. 25-Ryan Johnson[4]; 4. 48-Chase Boen[6]; 5. 5H-Jason Havel[5]; 6. 00C-Brandon Corbett[3]; 7. (DNS) 5J-Royce Jawaski
​
NOSA Sprints
​A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 2A-Austin Pierce[10]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[2]; 3. 8H-Jade Hastings[20]; 4. 4J-Lee Grosz[8]; 5. 31-Shane Roemeling[4]; 6. 14T-Tim Estenson[1]; 7. 20A-Jordan Adams[19]; 8. 35-Brenden Wilde[14]; 9. 10TRB-Bob Martin[6]; 10. 6-Zach Wilde[9]; 11. 17-Zach Omdahl[3]; 12. 10S-Josh Swangler[15]; 13. 41T-Travis Strandell[11]; 14. (DNF) 11M-Brendan Mullen[7]; 15. (DNF) 14-Tom Egeland[16]; 16. (DNF) 8BALL-Jack Croaker[18]; 17. (DNF) 26-Blake Egeland[5]; 18. (DNF) 9N-Wade Nygaard[17]; 19. (DNF) 4-Colton Young[12]; 20. (DNF) 2-Tee Young[13]; 21. (DNS) 99-Jordan Graham

Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 14T-Tim Estenson[1]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[4]; 3. 8H-Jade Hastings[3]; 4. 20A-Jordan Adams[5]; 5. 8BALL-Jack Croaker[8]; 6. 9N-Wade Nygaard[6]; 7. 17-Zach Omdahl[7]; 8. 14-Tom Egeland[11]; 9. 10S-Josh Swangler[10]; 10. (DNF) 31-Shane Roemeling[2]; 11. (DNF) 26-Blake Egeland[9]

Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 10TRB-Bob Martin[2]; 2. 11M-Brendan Mullen[3]; 3. 4J-Lee Grosz[5]; 4. 6-Zach Wilde[1]; 5. 2A-Austin Pierce[4]; 6. 41T-Travis Strandell[7]; 7. 4-Colton Young[9]; 8. 2-Tee Young[6]; 9. (DNF) 99-Jordan Graham[8]; 10. (DNF) 35-Brenden Wilde[10]