The northernmost journey part of the journey that is the World of Outlaws Late Model season began on Friday night, June 27th at the River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks North Dakota. The next three nights will see the Outlaws race once in Minnesota and once more in North Dakota after the opening night of the four night swing was rained out at I-94 emr Speedway in Fergus Falls Minnesota, a real shame since the Outlaws would have put on quite a show there.
Along with the Outlaws, the WISSOTA drivers in the Street Stock and Midwest Modified divisions would also get the chance to strut their stuff on national tv with both classes running a full program.
On what Johnny Gibson, the WoO Sprint Series announcer has proclaimed his favorite track, the Late Models also put on quite a show on this high banked quarter mile oval that has no outside walls and drivers frequently teeter on the brink of disaster as a trip off the end here is quite the ride. Still, most are not afraid to make that move as often the high side is the fastest way around this true bullring that qualifies for that title just as much as any track in America.
River Cities is dominated by the WISSOTA Late Models with great turnouts by them on each race night. However, the WISSOTA cars are true spec engine cars and they struggle to keep up with the open motored variety that the Outlaws show up with. So car counts for this event are always a hot topic.
This year, thirty one drivers signed in to race on Friday night. Seven drivers signed in to race using their WISSOTA equipment while three others opted to get open motors which they raced on this night. The top fourteen in WoO points were also among those that raced. Of the seven WISSOTA drivers in the pits, three made the show with one of them being the track provisional starter while Dustin Sorensen took the WoO provisional after a rocky qualifying session.
The quickest qualifier for the night was Brian Shirley who turned at 12.011 second lap, seemingly quick but on a dry track which got faster as the evening progressed following a "farming" session. Tyler Bruening topped the second group with a 12.105.
One of the drivers racing with the Outlaws this weekend was Wisconsin's Sam Mars. They told me that the car Sam was racing was the same one flipped at Tri City during Summer Nationals action last week and that they "stopped the presses" at MB this week to make sure they got the car repaired so Sam could make this swing.
Four heat races and just one big B Feature set the field for the forty lapper. Weather moving into the area, which has been such a prominent factor in area racing for the last few weeks, was threatening once again so they made one big B Feature and also moved up the Late Models in the feature running order as lightning was getting increasingly brighter and closer so the forty lapper was hustled on to the track.
They did a farming session shortly before the Late Model appeared on track which really sped things up and produced a hard charging feature by all the drivers. They were going at it hot and heavy and not many cars ended up the feature race without a few war dents on them.
Nick Hoffman started on the pole but he slipped up the track in the first corner and both Ashton Winger and Brian Shirley got past him. As Hoffman settled into third, Winger and Shirley went at it hard for the lead with them running hard and swapping lanes on the speedy track. .Tyler Peterson slowed with ten laps completed to bunch up the field, after which it was Winger and Shirley again battling with Hoffman lurking just behind them. Dennis Erb was having another of his steady runs while Bobby Pierce finally worked his way into the top five on what would turn out to be a very quiet night by him.
Winger and Shirley continued to go at it for the lead, with one instance when they tried to cross lanes on each other and instead slammed hard into each other down the back chute, tearing loose much of the body panels on Winger's car which then flapped in the breeze.
Mars rolled to a halt with twenty seven laps complete and this turned out to be the turning point of the race. And as we have seen with increasing regularity, just after a yellow flag ends much of the passing these days is accomplished.
And such was the case again on Friday. When the green dropped on the double file restart, Hoffman, who Shirley put on his outside, got a great run and blew past Shirley for second and with a continuing head of steam, he dove low in turn three, beat Winger to that spot and took over the lead with a "two for one" move that had the crowd on their feet.
The last thirteen laps of the race ran off green to checkers and Hoffman pulled away to an unchallenged win. Erb continued his fine run, racing "The Ditch" like he always does and while Winger was thrashing around on the cushion, Erb drove under him to claim second.
It would appear that Winger and Drake Troutman don't always agree on the track and they spent the last few laps beating and banging off each other with both cars looking like they had lost a war as Winger held off Troutman for third while Shirley slipped back to fifth at the end. It was a good race with plenty of action and not a lot of yellow flag slowdowns. Only five cars that started the race weren't around at the checkers.
The support class drivers appeared to want to share the prime time cameras with the Late Models as they showed up in big numbers with over fifty of them between two classes, which even required a B Feature in the MidMods.
Twenty four drivers started the MidMod feature race and it was Canadian driver Austin Hunter that led from start to finish to win that twenty lapper. Grand Forks is only about two hours south of Winnipeg and there are a considerable number of Canadian drivers that race at River Cities weekly, many of them with qualify equipment.
Hunter battled with Jamie Ditzler and Frank Veert for most of the race with Hunter always having just enough to hold off the other two with his Mullins chassis by Strand. Dietzler would settle for second with another Canadian Veert completing the top three.
Over twenty Street Stocks took the green for their main event, a race that was held off until after the Late Model feature, just to make sure the top item on the program was completed. Chris Dudley took the early lead riding the cushion but the inside line still had too much bite and he was passed three laps later by Trey Hess, a hometown driver.
Cole Greseth, a second generation driver who's father races Late Models, was on the move after starting sixth and he quickly drove up into the second spot. One of the best races of the night then took place as Hess raced as hard as he could to hold off Greseth but at the halfway point of the race, Greseth drove around Hess to take over the lead.
Most of the Streets were in "the Ditch" but Greseth found speed higher up on the track and he was able to pull away from the field, stretching his lead. One yellow with six laps to go for debris bunched the field but no matter to Greseth, who pulled away from Hess once again to take the win. Greg Jose made a nice drive up from ninth to move into third in the late going.
With the weather putting a scare into all, track officials and series officials worked hard and fast to make sure that the whole show was completed. The Late Models were done by 10 pm and the last checkers flew somewhere before 10:30 pm. As always, the special shows here at River Cities, whether they are for the Late Models or the Sprints, draw big crowds and such was the case again on Friday.
The WoO Sprints make one more appearance here yet this year and the season ending three night show, the John Seitz Memorial featuring Late Models plus other classes, happens the second week in September.
Thanks go out to all the Outlaws officials and everyone associated with River Cities Speedway.
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