What won the race: Second-starting Joey Pederson of East Grand Forks, Minn., fended off late challenges from Tyler Peterson to lead all 30 laps and win Saturday's $5,000 fifth annual Golden Hammer Classic at Devils Lake Speedway. Pederson captured his first Northern LateModel Racing Association victory of the season and the 11th of his career.

Quotable: “Lapped traffic, you never know how that goes, sometimes you can gain a little in that and sometimes you get held up and all of a sudden you get passed,” Pederson said. “It is what it is, I guess I’ve raced long enough that I thought I could navigate the lapped traffic, probably you know as good as any, hopefully.”

Key notes: Sixth-starting Peterson, of Hickson, N.D., took the runner-up spot on a lap-17 restart and pressured Pederson for the final eight laps, finishing 0.954 of a second back. ... Fourth-starting Brad Seng ran in second for the majority of the race before being overtaken by Peterson and settling for third. ... Pole-starting Brody Troftgruben slipped as low as sixth on lap 10 before recovering to finish fourth. ... Cole Schill and Shane Edginton each advanced two positions, finishing fifth and seventh. ... Dustin Strand ran as high as fourth in the early laps before fading to finish eighth. ... Two-time reigning series champion Mike Greseth finished 10th after winning Saturday's $2,404 Howie Schill Memorial winner at Red River Valley Speedway. ... After capturing his first career NLRA victory in July at Devils Lake, John Seng pulled off on lap 11. ... Saturday's 21-minute feature was slowed by three cautions with 17 competitors completing 30 laps and 22 running at the finish.

On the move: Bryce Sward of Nelson, Minn., started 13th and finished sixth.

Winner's sponsors: Pederson’s Rocket Chassis carries sponsorship from Olson Underground Inc., Dahlstrom Motors, Amy Dallas Photography, InVision Ag, Shawn Horn Realtor, R&R Farms, Inc., Dynamic Welding & Machine, Trilogy Ag Group, North Dakota Eye Clinic, Mark It County Grain LLC, B&E Meats, Big Jim’s Tire, Channel Seedsmanship Ag Work and Hope Church.

Points chase: After Devils Lake: 1. Brad Seng (3,866); 2. Mike Greseth (3,846); 3. Dustin Strand (3,720); 4. Brody Troftgruben (3,700); 5. Tyler Peterson (3,664).

Current weather: Clear, 68°F

Car count: 25

Polesitter: Brody Troftgruben

Heat race winners: Tyler Peterson, Steve Anderson, Dustin Strand

Next series race: September 2, Greenbush Race Park (Greenbush, MN) $1,250