Weiss, Thomas and Burrows collect Prelude win Friday afternoon; Strand claims third NLRA championship

By Mike Spieker

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (September 9, 2018) – After rain washed out Thursday night’s program, the Prelude to the Johnny became the interlude as it was run on Saturday afternoon ahead of the John Seitz Memorial finale Saturday night.

Complete shows were held for the Wells Concrete WISSOTA Street Stocks, Happy Harry’s WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds and the NLRA Late Models. The event was the season finale for the NLRA Late Models. Entering the afternoon matinee, Dustin Strand held a slim eight point lead over Mike Balcaen atop the NLRA standings.

The NLRA season came to a close with Jeffrey Massingill and Ricky Weiss on the front row for the 25-lap feature. Weiss grabbed the lead by driving around the outside of Massingill exiting turn two.

Kasey Ussatis led the opening circuit of the Wells Concrete Street Stock feature. On lap two, Rory Opp pulled alongside Ussatis as Ussatis led the lap by a nose. Exiting turn two on lap three, Ryan Johnson made it a three car battle as he dove to the inside of both Ussatis and Opp. Johnson went from third to the lead with a three-wide pass. The top three went three wide for the lead again on lap five as Ussatis found his way back into the lead.

Johnson cut down a left front tire on the following circuit, which brought his run to an end. Opp found some speed up on the high side and reclaimed the lead on the front stretch. Opp went on to take the win, but was later disqualified after a block of weight fell off his car during the race. That handed the win over to 2018 River Cities Speedway track champion, Adam Burrows.

Joseph Thomas claimed his second career Midwest Modified feature win in the Happy Harry’s feature. Thomas led from the drop of the green all the way to the checkers, but had heavy pressure from Hunter Hougard. As Thomas sliced through lapped traffic in the second half of the race, Hougard was never more than three car lengths from the rear bumper of Thomas. At one point Thomas and Hougard made slight contact racing for the lead, but Thomas was able to fend off Hougard. At the checkers, Thomas picked up the win over Hougard and his father, Corky.

​B Modifieds
​A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 7T-Joseph Thomas, [2]; 2. 188-Hunter Hougard, [4]; 3. 1TPO-Corky Thomas, [8]; 4. 12-Jaden Varnson, [6]; 5. 6R-Nate Reynolds, [5]; 6. 88XXX-Randy Klein, [14]; 7. 23-Matt Gilbertson, [7]; 8. 5C-Preston Carr, [9]; 9. 10C-Cole Haugland, [1]; 10. 32-Eric Haugland, [3]; 11. 1S-Scott Bintz, [16]; 12. 74-Gary James Nelson, [11]; 13. 13B-Jess Brekke, [19]; 14. 29X-Brandon Bahr, [13]; 15. 4H-Grant Hall, [18]; 16. 21-Todd Johnson, [20]; 17. 33A-Austin Overwater, [17]; 18. 44-Austin Hunter, [22]; 19. 24-Victoria Stutsky, [10]; 20. 17-Lance Schill, [24]; 21. 4B-Brandon Rehill, [12]; 22. 27-Les Schoon, [21]; 23. (DNF) 2G-Brock Gronwold, [15]; 24. (DNF) 11S-Darren Engesser, [23]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 13B-Jess Brekke, [2]; 2. 27-Les Schoon, [3]; 3. 11S-Darren Engesser, [1]; 4. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [11]; 5. 20-Nick Audette, [4]; 6. 96-Jeremy Lizakowski, [8]; 7. 3-Adam Unrau, [16]; 8. 8-Jason Schuh, [9]; 9. 10T-Tom Morriseau, [10]; 10. 54-Lance Relf, [15]; 11. (DNF) 21L-Jarett Lovcik, [7]; 12. (DNF) B4-Jory Berg, [5]; 13. (DNF) 77B-Logan Bauer, [14]; 14. (DNF) 57-Nathan Raasakka, [12]; 15. (DNF) 16-Randy Thompson, [6]; (DNS) 39-Jamie Dietzler, ; (DNS) 6-Dean Eggebraaten, ; (DNS) 2R-Jeff Reed, ; (DNS) 69R-Terry Reilly, ; (DNS) 3L-Logan Salazar,
B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Todd Johnson, [1]; 2. 44-Austin Hunter, [5]; 3. 17-Lance Schill, [7]; 4. 23V-Scott Vasichek, [4]; 5. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [9]; 6. 169-Justin Olson, [8]; 7. 16S-Skyler Smith, [11]; 8. 16L-Brenden Luschinski, [3]; 9. 735-Tanner Theis, [6]; 10. 22S-Tyler Schow, [13]; 11. 00-Steve Hougard, [14]; 12. (DNF) 81X-Matt Sparby, [12]; 13. (DNF) 2S-Matt Schow, [2]; (DNS) 34-Troy Randall, ; (DNS) 111-Jason Halverson, ; (DNS) 68-Joe Henninger, ; (DNS) 01-Zach Bruer, ; (DNS) 14-Scott Harrington, ; (DNS) 28S-Ryan Schow,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 10C-Cole Haugland, [3]; 2. 23-Matt Gilbertson, [7]; 3. 29X-Brandon Bahr, [4]; 4. 11S-Darren Engesser, [10]; 5. 20-Nick Audette, [2]; 6. 735-Tanner Theis, [6]; 7. 8-Jason Schuh, [5]; (DNS) 68-Joe Henninger, ; (DNS) 01-Zach Bruer, ; (DNS) 28S-Ryan Schow,
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 6R-Nate Reynolds, [7]; 2. 1TPO-Corky Thomas, [3]; 3. 88XXX-Randy Klein, [5]; 4. 21-Todd Johnson, [6]; 5. 23V-Scott Vasichek, [4]; 6. 21L-Jarett Lovcik, [10]; 7. (DNF) 22S-Tyler Schow, [8]; 8. (DNF) 00-Steve Hougard, [1]; (DNS) 2R-Jeff Reed, ; (DNS) 3L-Logan Salazar,
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Eric Haugland, [2]; 2. 5C-Preston Carr, [4]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold, [5]; 4. 13B-Jess Brekke, [6]; 5. B4-Jory Berg, [1]; 6. 17-Lance Schill, [3]; 7. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [9]; 8. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [10]; 9. 57-Nathan Raasakka, [8]; 10. (DNF) 3-Adam Unrau, [7]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7T-Joseph Thomas, [1]; 2. 24-Victoria Stutsky, [2]; 3. 1S-Scott Bintz, [3]; 4. 2S-Matt Schow, [7]; 5. 44-Austin Hunter, [5]; 6. 96-Jeremy Lizakowski, [9]; 7. 10T-Tom Morriseau, [6]; 8. 16S-Skyler Smith, [8]; (DNS) 14-Scott Harrington,
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 188-Hunter Hougard, [6]; 2. 74-Gary James Nelson, [5]; 3. 33A-Austin Overwater, [4]; 4. 27-Les Schoon, [7]; 5. 16-Randy Thompson, [1]; 6. 169-Justin Olson, [9]; 7. 34-Troy Randall, [8]; (DNS) 6-Dean Eggebraaten, ; (DNS) 69R-Terry Reilly,
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 12-Jaden Varnson, [5]; 2. 4B-Brandon Rehill, [4]; 3. 4H-Grant Hall, [6]; 4. 16L-Brenden Luschinski, [3]; 5. (DNF) 81X-Matt Sparby, [2]; 6. (DNF) 39-Jamie Dietzler, [8]; 7. (DNF) 77B-Logan Bauer, [1]; 8. (DNF) 54-Lance Relf, [7]; 9. (DNF) 111-Jason Halverson, [9]
Dirt Late ModelsA Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 7W-Ricky Weiss, [2]; 2. 6M-Jeffrey Massingill, [1]; 3. 27-Jake Redetzke, [5]; 4. 71-Dustin Strand, [7]; 5. 4-Shane Edginton, [9]; 6. 10-Mike Balcaen, [10]; 7. 12S-Brad Seng, [8]; 8. 42S-Don Shaw, [14]; 9. 11D-Pat Doar, [17]; 10. 9-Steve Anderson, [15]; 11. 44-Cole Schill, [16]; 12. 70-Jesse Teunis, [24]; 13. 17-Tyler Lambert, [21]; 14. F9-Brandon Fuller, [6]; 15. 13-Bryan LePier, [11]; 16. (DNF) Z17-Zach Naastad, [3]; 17. (DNF) 25-Dylan Barnhardt, [19]; 18. (DNF) 1R-Travis Robertson, [26]; 19. (DNF) 14-Brody Troftgruben, [18]; 20. (DNF) 11S-Troy Schill, [22]; 21. (DNF) T18-Steve Laursen, [13]; 22. (DNF) 7P-Joey Pederson, [12]; 23. (DNF) 90-Lance Matthees, [20]; 24. (DNF) 2-Bill Mooney, [25]; (DNS) 1S-Ryan Mikkelson, ; (DNS) 4C-Ryan Corbett,
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 44-Cole Schill, [2]; 2. 14-Brody Troftgruben, [1]; 3. 90-Lance Matthees, [5]; 4. 18X-Shawn Meyer, [3]; 5. 10TT-Tyson Turnbull, [4]; 6. 11S-Troy Schill, [6]; 7. 52X-David McDonald, [8]; 8. 32-Jordan Tollakson, [7]; 9. 1R-Travis Robertson, [9]; (DNS) 06-David Smith, ; (DNS) 2D-Don Platow, ; (DNS) 11M-Paul Mueller, ; (DNS) 37-Scott Ward, ; (DNS) 58-A.J. Diemel, ; (DNS) 03-Casey Meyer,
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 11D-Pat Doar, [1]; 2. 25-Dylan Barnhardt, [10]; 3. 17-Tyler Lambert, [3]; 4. 70-Jesse Teunis, [7]; 5. 1M-Nicholas Minske, [6]; 6. (DNF) 16S-Jeff Hapala, [11]; 7. (DNF) 55-Mike Martin, [8]; 8. (DNF) 86-Matthew Smith, [4]; 9. (DNF) 2-Bill Mooney, [2]; 10. (DNF) 4C-Ryan Corbett, [9]; 11. (DNF) 10X-Blake Swenson, [14]; (DNS) T1-Tom Corcoran, ; (DNS) 10K-Shawn Kirwin, ; (DNS) 11-Shane Holden,
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. Z17-Zach Naastad, [2]; 2. 12S-Brad Seng, [8]; 3. 13-Bryan LePier, [1]; 4. 14-Brody Troftgruben, [7]; 5. 17-Tyler Lambert, [4]; 6. 11S-Troy Schill, [6]; 7. (DNF) 06-David Smith, [3]; (DNS) 16S-Jeff Hapala, ; (DNS) 11-Shane Holden,
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 7W-Ricky Weiss, [3]; 2. F9-Brandon Fuller, [2]; 3. 7P-Joey Pederson, [8]; 4. 11D-Pat Doar, [6]; 5. 10TT-Tyson Turnbull, [1]; 6. 1M-Nicholas Minske, [5]; 7. 52X-David McDonald, [4]; 8. 1R-Travis Robertson, [7]; (DNS) 58-A.J. Diemel,
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 6M-Jeffrey Massingill, [4]; 2. 71-Dustin Strand, [5]; 3. T18-Steve Laursen, [3]; 4. 44-Cole Schill, [7]; 5. 86-Matthew Smith, [6]; 6. (DNF) 4C-Ryan Corbett, [1]; (DNS) 2D-Don Platow, ; (DNS) 11M-Paul Mueller, ; (DNS) 10X-Blake Swenson,
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 27-Jake Redetzke, [3]; 2. 10-Mike Balcaen, [4]; 3. 42S-Don Shaw, [1]; 4. 2-Bill Mooney, [2]; 5. 90-Lance Matthees, [7]; 6. 32-Jordan Tollakson, [6]; 7. (DNF) 25-Dylan Barnhardt, [5]; (DNS) 10K-Shawn Kirwin, ; (DNS) 03-Casey Meyer,
Heat 5 (10 Laps): 1. 1S-Ryan Mikkelson, [6]; 2. 4-Shane Edginton, [4]; 3. 9-Steve Anderson, [7]; 4. 18X-Shawn Meyer, [3]; 5. T1-Tom Corcoran, [2]; 6. 70-Jesse Teunis, [5]; 7. 55-Mike Martin, [1]; (DNS) 37-Scott Ward,
Street StocksA Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 18B-Adam Burrows, [6]; 2. 2U-Kasey Ussatis, [2]; 3. 5-Bradon Miller, [11]; 4. 5B-Aaron Blacklance, [23]; 5. 48-Chase Boen, [16]; 6. 29*-Jeff Crouse, [22]; 7. 27P-Tucker Pederson, [5]; 8. 00-Dusten Ebensteiner, [12]; 9. 21J-Brian Johanson, [8]; 10. 96-Jeremy Gust, [18]; 11. 27A-Parker Anderson, [19]; 12. 45-TYLER REIMER, [9]; 13. 7M-James Meagher, [14]; 14. 7-Dan Arends, [20]; 15. 14-Jeremy Castro, [15]; 16. (DNF) 29-Dan McNamee, [1]; 17. (DNF) 4-Trey Hess, [10]; 18. (DNF) 12S-Trajan Schmidt, [24]; 19. (DNF) 8T-Doug VanMill, [7]; 20. (DNF) 28-Greg Jose, [17]; 21. (DNF) 33-Daniel Aberle, [21]; 22. (DNF) 25-Ryan Johnson, [3]; 23. (DNF) 10-Joe Potter, [13]; (DQ) 43-Rory Opp, [4]
B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 33-Daniel Aberle, [2]; 2. 29*-Jeff Crouse, [3]; 3. 5B-Aaron Blacklance, [14]; 4. 12S-Trajan Schmidt, [7]; 5. 03-Bryce Reimer, [5]; 6. 61-Joe Engels, [10]; 7. 24T-Tiffany Noreikis, [1]; 8. 88-Chad Puschinsky, [8]; 9. 76-Ron Olafson, [6]; 10. 92-Megan McNamee, [11]; 11. (DNF) 9-Blake Anderson, [9]; 12. (DNF) 99-Josh Barker, [4]; (DNS) 5J-Royce Jawaski, ; (DNS) 74-Steve Nordhagen,
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2U-Kasey Ussatis, [1]; 2. 25-Ryan Johnson, [8]; 3. 45-TYLER REIMER, [4]; 4. 10-Joe Potter, [6]; 5. 28-Greg Jose, [5]; 6. 24T-Tiffany Noreikis, [3]; 7. 99-Josh Barker, [7]; 8. 76-Ron Olafson, [9]; 9. (DNF) 92-Megan McNamee, [2]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 29-Dan McNamee, [2]; 2. 27P-Tucker Pederson, [1]; 3. 4-Trey Hess, [5]; 4. 7M-James Meagher, [4]; 5. 96-Jeremy Gust, [8]; 6. 33-Daniel Aberle, [3]; 7. 03-Bryce Reimer, [6]; 8. 12S-Trajan Schmidt, [7]; (DNS) 74-Steve Nordhagen,
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 18B-Adam Burrows, [2]; 2. 21J-Brian Johanson, [3]; 3. 5-Bradon Miller, [6]; 4. 14-Jeremy Castro, [5]; 5. 27A-Parker Anderson, [7]; 6. 29*-Jeff Crouse, [8]; 7. (DNF) 9-Blake Anderson, [4]; (DNS) 5J-Royce Jawaski,
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 43-Rory Opp, [2]; 2. 8T-Doug VanMill, [4]; 3. 00-Dusten Ebensteiner, [1]; 4. 48-Chase Boen, [6]; 5. 7-Dan Arends, [5]; 6. (DNF) 88-Chad Puschinsky, [7]; 7. (DNF) 61-Joe Engels, [8]; (DQ) 5B-Aaron Blacklance, [3]


​