7/3/2018
Buffalo River Speedway
77 Year-old Veralrud collects back-to-back wins at Buffalo River Race Park
By Mike Spieker
GLYNDON, Minn. – Seventy-seven year old Lawrence Veralrud of Olso, Minn. claimed his second consecutive NLSA lightning sprint win at Buffalo River Race Park on Sunday. Veralrud started on the outside of the front row of the 15-lap main event and raced side by side with fellow front row starter, Zak Kwiatkoski into turn one.
Veralrud and Kwiatkoski went wing to wing for two consecutive laps until Veralrud prevailed on lap three to take the point. Kwiatkoski remained within striking distance for the next couple of circuits, but Veralrud eventually pulled away from Kwiatkoski and the rest of the field.
A caution-free race allowed Veralrud to enjoy his comfortable lead out front as he went on to back up his win last Sunday.
The IMCA sportmod feature got off to a rough start with a nine-car incident in turn one on the opening lap. All drivers were ok. When the race resumed, Jacob Jordan of Brainerd, Minn. took the top spot from outside of the front row with Dustin Hartwig in tow.
Another caution on lap five of 20 reset the field. On the ensuing restart, a four wide battle for second broke out between Hartwig, Austin Veralrud, Vince Jegtvig and Scott Jacobson. Jegtvig momentarily took the spot, but was surpassed by Veralrud.
Two laps later, Veralrud dropped his right rear tire off the turn two embankment and fell back to seventh as Hartwig made his way back into second.
Meanwhile, Jordan had a full straightaway lead over second.
Jordan, who has just five career starts at Buffalo River Race Park, went unchallenged as he collected his first career win.
Fargo’s Tim Estenson raced to his sixth win of the season and 13th overall. Estenson started ninth on the grid for the 20-lap INEX legends feature and quickly moved to the front of the field.
Estenson drove to third by lap four, where he encountered Ryan Braseth, who was running in second. While running side by side with Braseth on lap five, the leader Kaitlyn Skalicky suffered a push in turn four, which allowed Estenson to go from third to first in one corner.
Once out front, Estenson looked to distance himself from the field, but a series of cautions kept him at bay to the rest of the field. Tye Wilke challenged Estenson in the final laps, but Estenson held on for the win. Estenson also picked up a $1,000 Dirt Classic win Saturday at Hancock County Speedway in Britt, Iowa.
Tim Shiek of Fargo drove his way to the IMCA hobby stock feature win. Shiek, who started third, made his way into second on the opening lap before challenging Caleb Gardner for the lead on lap 11 of 20. Two laps later, Shiek found himself side by side with Gardner. The two leaders ran door to door for two consecutive laps around the semi-banked quarter-mile. Shiek grabbed the lead with seven to go.
A caution with two laps to go gave Gardner one more shot, but Shiek was too strong as he picked up his second win of the season at Buffalo River Race Park and eighth win overall.
Joe Lewis won the slingshot feature.
A rising star is emerging in the sport compact division. Matt Pederson of Fargo picked up his third win at Buffalo River Race Park in the last four races. The win marked Pederson’s fourth of the season overall.
RESULTS:
IMCA SportMods:
Feature: 1. 28J-Jacob Jordan, Brainder, Minn.; 2. 19C-Dustin Hartwig, Felton, Minn.; 3. 22-Vince Jegtvig, Dilworth, Minn.; 4. 51-Kelly Jacobson, Fargo, N.D.; 5. 5T-Matt Talley, Sabin, Minn
NLSA Lightning Sprints:
Feature: 1. 40-Lawrence Veralrud, Oslo, Minn.; 2. 17K-Zachary Kwiatkoski, Grand Forks, N.D.; 3. 4-Eric Johnson, Grand Forks, N.D.; 4. 16-Josh Abrahamson, Moorhead, Minn.; 5. 100-Jason Berg, Fargo, N.D.
INEX Legends:
Feature: 1. 14T-Tim Estenson, Fargo, N.D.; 2. 72-Tye Wilke, Detroit Lakes, Minn.; 3. 21-Andrew Jochim, Glyndon, Minn.; 4. 8JR-Kaitlyn Skalicky, Fargo, N.D.; 5. 20-Alex Braseth, Ulen, Minn.
IMCA Hobby Stocks:
Feature: 1. 31X-Tim Shiek, Fargo, N.D.; 2. 39-Caleb Gardner, Glyndon, Minn.; 3. 3XL-Brad Orvedal, Fargo, N.D.; 4. 701-Kyle Hallgren, Hankinson, N.D.; 5. 73-Todd Gettel, Mahnomen, Minn.
Sport Compacts:
Feature: 1. 4P-Matt Pederson, Fargo, N.D.; 2. 6T-Randy Thompson, Lake Park, Minn.; 3. 44T-Tanner Engen, Detroit Lakes, Minn.; 4. 24-Chase Golliet, Fargo, N.D.; 5. 65-Delane Christensen, Dilworth, Minn.
Submitted By: Mike Spieker