By Mike Spieker
ADA, Minn. (May 30, 2019) – Norman County Raceway opened its doors for its 101st year of racing on Thursday evening. A great crowd that was on hand was complimented by a stout field of drivers in the pit area.
Luke Johnson of Moorhead dominated the first feature of the evening in the Titan Machinery IMCA Sportmods. The defending Red River Valley Speedway track champion started on the pole and led all 15 trips around the high-banked three-eighths-mile oval en route to a dominating win. The race was halted early on after front runner Vince Jegtvig of Dilworth slipped off the edge of the turn two banking and slammed hard into the outside retaining wall. Jegtvig was okay, but his No. 22 machine suffered too much damage to continue.
The NLSA Lightning Sprints made their first of three scheduled appearances on Thursday. Kelsi Pederson, daughter of fan-favorite NLRA Late Model driver Joey Pederson, held the point in the early going of their feature. Murray Temple of Hartney, Manitoba shot into the lead on lap two before quickly checking out from the rest of the pack. 
Temple looked to have the race in hand until the caution was displayed with five laps to go. Alex Truscinski got a great restart and not only challenged Temple for the lead but drove right by him going into turn three with three laps to go. Once out front, Truscinski was the class of the field and picked up the win.
The Christian Brothers Ford IMCA Hobby Stock feature got underway with Sacred Heart, Minnesota’s William Miller taking the lead. At the halfway point, the race was slowed after Brandy Smith of Twin Valley made heavy contact with the outside wall in turn four. Smith was okay but was done for the night.
Defending NCR track champion, Tim Shiek of Fargo, N.D., grabbed the lead from Miller on the ensuing restart and walked away with the feature win.
Reise Stenberg’s hot start to 2019 continued Thursday as the Argusville, N.D. driver wheeled his way to his third win of this young season. Stenberg got the jump as the green flag flew on the Christian Motors WISSOTA Midwest Modified feature. Stenberg quickly distanced himself from a talent-loaded field and cruised, unchallenged, to KRJB/KRJM Victory Lane. The win was Stenberg’s third of the season.
Round one of the Minn-Kota Legends Tour produced what was arguably the race of the night. Tye Wilke of Detroit Lakes battled Alex Braseth of Ulen on lap one of the main event, presented by Seedex. Wilke held the lead until a late caution came out with three laps to go. On the restart, Andrew Jochim of Glyndon came up to place a bid for the lead. Wilke and Jochim were side by side as the white flag flew from the AuctionBlock.com flagstand, but Wilke held the advantage exiting the first set of corners. Wilke went low to take away Jochim’s line in turns three and four and held on to claim his second career victory at NCR.
The Minn-Kota Legends tour will swing through Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo, N.D. on Friday, Buffalo River Race Park in Glyndon, Minn. on Saturday and will wrap up at Sheyenne Speedway in Lisbon, N.D. on Sunday.
Rob VanMil of Barnesville picked up where he left off last year in the Norman County Implement IMCA Stock Cars. The defending NCR track champion dominated the feature and took the win.
Racing continues Thursday, June 6th at NCR, featuring the Northern Renegade Non-Wing Sprint Cars. It’s also Family Fun night, which will offer inflatable games plus a meet-and-greet with the drivers at intermission. Racing begins at 7pm.
SUMMARY
IMCA SportMods:
Feature: 1. 8J-Luke Johnson, [2]; 2. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin, [10]; 3. 12T-Brandon Tendeland, [1]; 4. 9-Torey Fischer, [12]; 5. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [7]; 6. (DNF) 19D-Noah Metzger, [4]; 7. (DNF) 29-Greg Schilling, [6]; 8. (DNF) 2X-Brady Moore, [13]; 9. (DNF) 41-Doug Gardner, [3]; 10. (DNF) 3X-Andy Wagner, [9]; 11. (DNF) 47-Kreig Kasin, [11]; 12. (DNF) 51-Kelly Jacobson, [5]; 13. (DNF) 22-Vince Jegtvig, [8]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 8J-Luke Johnson, [6]; 2. 12T-Brandon Tendeland, [2]; 3. 22-Vince Jegtvig, [3]; 4. 41-Doug Gardner, [4]; 5. 3W-Aaron Wetterlin, [7]; 6. 47-Kreig Kasin, [5]; 7. 2X-Brady Moore, [1]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 219-Brandon Schmidt, [2]; 2. 3X-Andy Wagner, [3]; 3. 19D-Noah Metzger, [1]; 4. 51-Kelly Jacobson, [6]; 5. 29-Greg Schilling, [4]; 6. 9-Torey Fischer, [5]
NLSA Lightning Sprints:
Feature: 1. 10-Alex Truscinski, [1]; 2. 33-Murray Temple, [4]; 3. 93-Kelsi Pederson, [2]; 4. 11-Dexter Dvergsten, [3]; 5. 1-Mark Williams, [6]; 6. 40-Lawrence Veralrud, [5]; 7. 100-Jason Berg, [10]; 8. 17K-Zachary Kwiatkoski, [8]; 9. (DNF) 16-Josh Abrahamson, [7]; 10. (DNF) 13-Alan Truscinski, [9]
Heat 1: 1. 10-Alex Truscinski, [5]; 2. 11-Dexter Dvergsten, [1]; 3. 1-Mark Williams, [2]; 4. (DNF) 17K-Zachary Kwiatkoski, [3]; 5. (DNF) 13-Alan Truscinski, [4]
Heat 2: 1. 93-Kelsi Pederson, [4]; 2. 33-Murray Temple, [1]; 3. 40-Lawrence Veralrud, [3]; 4. 16-Josh Abrahamson, [5]; 5. 100-Jason Berg, [2]
WISSOTA Midwest Modifieds:
Feature: 1. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [2]; 2. 5-Aaron Blacklance,[1]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold,[5]; 4. 33-Jeff Nelson, [4]; 5. 39-Jamie Dietzler, [3]; 6. 15-Eric Platzer, [6]; 7. (DNF) 81-Daniel Pederson, [7]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 33-Jeff Nelson, [2]; 2. 5-Aaron Blacklance, [1]; 3. 2G-Brock Gronwold, [3]; 4. 87S-Reise Stenberg, [5]; 5. 39-Jamie Dietzler, [4]; 6. 15-Eric Platzer, [6]; 7. 81-Daniel Pederson, [7]
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Feature: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, [1]; 2. 22W-Will Miller, [2]; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [4]; 4. 73-Todd Gettel, [3]; 5. 106-Eric Novacek, [5]; 6. (DNF) 21S-Brandy Smith, [8]; (DNS) 14-Alyssa White,; (DNS) 11S-William Smith, 02:07.655
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, [2]; 2. 31X-Tim Shiek, [5]; 3. 106-Eric Novacek, [1]; 4. 22W-Will Miller, [6]; 5. 73-Todd Gettel, [3]; 6. 14-Alyssa White, [7]; 7. 21S-Brandy Smith, [8]; 8. (DNF) 11S-William Smith, [4]
INEX Legends:
Feature: 1. 72-Tye Wilke, [2]; 2. 21-Andrew Jochim, [8]; 3. 20-Alex Braseth, [1]; 4. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [3]; 5. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [6]; 6. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [10]; 7. D11RT-Blaise Deckert, [7]; 8. 5G-Garrison Miller, [5]; 9. (DNF) 29-Ryan Braseth, [4]; 10. (DNF) 2-Ashton Spieker, [11]; (DNS) 38-Andrew Sommerfeld,
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 21-Andrew Jochim, [4]; 2. 72-Tye Wilke, [2]; 3. B1-Brody Carlsrud, [1]; 4. 20-Alex Braseth, [5]; 5. 5G-Garrison Miller, [3]; 6. 2-Ashton Spieker, [6]
Heat 2 (6 Laps): 1. 29-Ryan Braseth, [4]; 2. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, [3]; 3. D11RT-Blaise Deckert, [2]; 4. D1RT-Tony Brockhouse, [5]; 5. (DNF) 38-Andrew Sommerfeld, [1]
IMCA Stock Cars:
Feature: 1. 40-Rob VanMil, [2]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz, [4]; 3. 10-Travis Robertson, [3]; 4. 21-Tim Church, [1]; 5. 86-Thomas Ahrndt, [7]; 6. (DNF) 96-Erv Grossman, [6]; 7. (DNF) 11-Kalvin Kesselberg, [5]
Heat 1 (6 Laps): 1. 40-Rob VanMil, [2]; 2. 4-Rick Schulz, [4]; 3. 10-Travis Robertson, [5]; 4. 11-Kalvin Kesselberg, [1]; 5. 21-Tim Church, [6]; 6. 96-Erv Grossman, [3]; 7. 86-Thomas Ahrndt, [7]