Dustin Strand targeting one feature win that's eluded him -- the John Seitz Memorial
Sep. 6—GRAND FORKS — Dustin Strand's first race car once belonged to John Seitz.
Strand's father, Brian, built cars and worked with Seitz throughout the years. It was one of Seitz's old Super Stocks that Strand got started in.
"I actually knew John pretty good," Strand said.
That's one reason why this weekend's race is personal for Strand.
The John Seitz Memorial — named after the driver of the No. 92 late model — has been running at River Cities Speedway since Seitz died unexpectedly at age 36 in 2007.
Its prize, $9,200 to win, draws late model drivers from around the region.
It's a race Strand has never won — a fact Strand's own website points out.
"This race is my Kryptonite to tell you the truth," Strand said. "Every year, we always get big hopes to run well at it. We usually have pretty decent speed, but luck hasn't been on our side. We're hoping to keep luck on our side. I'd rather be lucky than good any day."
It will be a three-day weekend of racing at River Cities Speedway — and an especially prominent one for the late models.
On Thursday, the NLRA series wraps up in Grand Forks. Mike Greseth is the points leader, followed by Brad Seng, Strand, Tyler Peterson and Brody Troftgruben.
On Friday and Saturday, it's the John Seitz Memorial race.
Streets, Super Stocks, Midwest Modifieds and Modifields will join the late models.
"In our area, with the racing we do, this is a crown jewel event," Strand said. "It's a big pay day, and it's a really prestigious race honoring a great man."
Mitch Johnson of Hickson, N.D., won the inaugural race.
Other winners include Seng, a Grand Forks native, in 2011 and 2013, and Don Shaw, Seitz's brother-in-law, who won in 2017 and 2022.
"I don't know if there is any other race that could really mean as much to me as this one because, you know, John was my best friend and my brother-in-law," Shaw said last year. "It's a tough one. It's tough to swallow and say 'you know, he's gone and he's not here to race with us anymore.'"
Strand hopes he can be added to the list of champions.
"We've been racing for a lot of years, and that's probably the one big one that we race regularly that has eluded us," Strand said. "It would be a huge deal for us to win that."
Strand has won plenty at The Bullring. This summer he eclipsed 100 feature wins at the track on a night where he won both Modified and late model features.
Last weekend, Strand won the late model feature to capture his 10th season points title at River Cities Speedway.
It was his sixth in a late mode. He previously won three in a Midwest Modified and one in a Super Stock.
"It was fun to cap it off with a win on the last night," Strand said. "We've had some good luck and some bad luck throughout the year. Fortunately, we had some pretty good runs, which helped us seal the deal."
Strand isn't the only driver that wrapped up a title last weekend.
In the streets division, Tucker Pederson of East Grand Forks narrowly held off Weston Ramsrud to win the points title. Pederson entered the night 18 points ahead of Ramsrud, who won Friday's feature.
Pederson won the title by 13 points, his first points championship at The Bullring.
Jory Berg wrapped up the points title in the Midwest Modified division, where he held a huge advantage heading into the final night.
Brendan Mullen won the Wayne Anderson Cup sprint feature Friday, but Grand Forks driver Mark Dobmeier earned the overall championship.
