TUCKER OFFICIALLY CROWNED NORTH DAKOTA STATE CHAMPION

EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn. (October 3, 2023) - The final two weeks of Tucker's WISSOTA national title hunt are here but this week started with the new of Tucker winning the North Dakota state title following two more races last weekend which saw the Tucker and crew make the trip from Mandan, North Dakota to Madison, Minnesota in an effort to dodge inclement weather throughout the region culminating in a fourth place run at Madison last Sunday night.

Following every event being rained out on Friday, Tucker made the four-hour trip to Dacotah Speedway in Mandan for the track's annual Oktoberfest race.

Tucker's debut at the three-eighths mile oval started with a third-place finish in his heat race which set up a tenth-place start in the main event. Tucker was running ninth with eight laps left when a flat tire ended his night early. 

Tucker made the five-and-a-half-hour trip to Madison Speedway, which lies just east of Watertown, SD for the rescheduled Madtown Showdown, which was plagued by rain the previous two days. This wasn't the first time Tucker has tried to get a night of racing in at Madison, as he was rained out after the heats on June 24th. 

Tucker ran in the third heat against national title leader Justin Vogel and Kolton Brauer who sits fourth in the current standings. Finishing third in his heat race, Tucker rolled off on the outside of the third row behind Braden Brauer, who is second nationally and Vogel who started fourth.

Tucker started the race going nearly three-wide between Zachary Flickinger and Vogel, running sixth at the end of the opening lap. Falling back to seventh briefly in turn one on the second lap, Tucker powered back by a pair of competitors to move into the top five of the completion of the second circuit.

Tucker then reeled in Kolton Brauer to enter into a battle for the fourth spot before the first caution of the race on the fourth lap.

Tucker saw the Brauer duo go three-wide with Vogel for second as he remained a close fifth on the first lap following the caution. Tucker then went three-wide with Braden Brauer and Vogel coming off of turn two and remained within a car length of Braden Brauer for the fourth spot through the second caution on lap seven

Tucker again battled the Brauer’s in a three-way battle for the third spot as the race resumed while Wisconsin runner Andrew Hanson held off Vogel for the lead. Tucker remained in the top five through the midway point of the race as the Brauer’s and Vogel continued to battle as four of the top five WISSOTA national runners ran second through fifth.

The final caution with four to go gave Tucker one last shot at Improving his position, not just in the race, but in the national standings. Tucker roared around the outside of Braden Brauer, taking the fourth spot with two to go. Tucker finished fourth, his 55th top five of the 2023 campaign. None of the national title contenders scored points over the weekend.

On Monday, Tucker was officially crowned the North Dakota state champion through a release made by WISSOTA. 42 of Tucker’s 73 WISSOTA races this season came in the state of North Dakota, with 15 of his 25 wins coming in the Peace Garden State. Tucker also collected 32 top fives and 35 top tens in the state, winning the state title by 138 points.

Tucker remains 17 points back of the national point lead, and six markers back of second with two more weekends scheduled.

Pederson Racing would like to thank all our sponsors:
Shawn Horn - Crary Real Estate 
R&R Farms
Amy Dallum Photography
North Dakota Eye Clinic
Olson Underground, inc.
Ad Monkeys
Dahlstrom Motors Inc.
Markit County Grain LLC
Trilogy Ag Group 
Pro Land/Snow
Bad Boy Mowers
Southline Farms
InVision Ag 
Hilleshog
Northern Valley Fertilizer
Don & Darleen Votava
Phil Thompson & Associates
Turf Pros
Big Jim's Tire
Channel Seed  
B & E Meats
HOPE Church
Applied Hi-Performance Products
Eagles Dakotah Aerie 350
Energy Release Products
Dynamic Welding and Machine LLC. 
Bruce Hart Repair & Fabrication
Roxbury Racing Transmissions
Zeuli Race Engines
SkyVu Drive-In
Mark Sinn “Sinner”

2023 Stats (Joey):
Races: 22
Wins: 2
Top 5’s: 11
Top 10’s: 16

2023 Stats (Kelsi):
Races: 19
Wins: 4
Top 5’s: 12
Top 10’s: 18

2023 Stats (Tucker):
Races: 76
Wins: 26
Top 5’s: 55
Top 10’s: 63