River Cities Speedway
Red-hot Brady Smith wins Seitz Memorial
By Chris Stepan
DirtonDirt.com correspondentGRAND FORKS, N.D. (Sept. 8) — Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., dominated the majority of Saturday night’s John Seitz Memorial feature at River Cities Speedway to earn a $9,200 victory in the WISSOTA-sanctioned event.
A.J. Diemel of Navarino, Wis., scored the runner-up finish while Pat Doar of New Richmond, Wis., finished third with John Kaanta of Elk Mound, Minn., and Don Shaw of Ham Lake, Minn., rounded out the top five finishers in the 92-lap race.
Diemel and Doar led the field to green on the tight quarter-mile bullring with Diemel eyeing his first Seitz Memorial trophy and Doar looking to become the first repeat winner in the event’s six-year history.
Doar jumped immediately to the lead putting his No. 11 out front of Diemel and fourth-starting Smith. The leaders set a blistering pace, catching the tail of the field after just five laps.
Doar began the daunting task of picking his way by several of the tail-running cars until the first caution flew on lap seven Justin Fegers’ flat tire.
Leading for the restart, Doar took off on another frenzied pace trying to distance himself from the field until another quick caution flew on lap 11 again for Fegers.
Starting from the outside of the second row on the Delaware double-file restart, Smith used a great run to drive by Doar as they entered turn one and stole the lead.
A second-place battle between Diemel and Doar allowed Smith to charge away from the field until he made contact with the lapped car of Aaron Olson, sending Olson off the track and causing a caution.
Another series of cautions and a mandatory fuel stop slowed the pace through the race’s middle portions with Smith pulling to a comfortable advantage following each restart.
Doar was able to close in on Smith when the leader encountered heavy lapped traffic, but the race’s final caution on lap 59 gave Smith a break and set up a 33-lap run to the checkered.
Smith was able to keep his distance throughout the remaining laps en route to the victory while Diemel and Doar picked up their early race battle again late in the event. Diemel won the runner-up duel over Doar while Kaanta held off a hard-charging Shaw for fourth.
Notes: Smith’s Bloomquist Race Car is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and sponsored by Big Red Motorsports, Mid-States Equipment Hydraulics, Michaeltz Trucking and Badger Storage and Excavating. … Smith became the race’s sixth winner in six years. ... Smith has five wins in 2012, all of which have come since Aug. 4th. ... John Kaanta claimed Thursday's NLRA John Seitz Memorial opener. ... Defending race winner Brad Seng finished sixth.
John Seitz Memorial: (1) Brady Smith, (2) A.J. Diemel, (3) Pat Doar, (4) John Kaanta, (5) Don Shaw, (6) Brad Seng, (7) Jake Redetzke, (8) Dustin Strand, (9) Cody Skytland, (10) Lance Matthees, (11) Tommy Waseleski, (12) Matt Aukland, (13) Jeff Wildung, (14) Mike Balcaen, (15) Shaun Peterson, (16) Shane Edginton, (17) Troy Schill, (18) Steve Laursen, (19) Kyle Peterlin, (20) Zach Johnson, (21) Jay Kintner, (22) Bill Mooney, (23) Aaron Olson, (24) Justin Fegers, (25) Joey Pederson, (26) Mike McCaughan. Heat race winners (among 50 cars): Smith, Kaanta, Seng, Diemel, Matthees. Consolation race winners: Shaw, Olson, Balcaen.
