Tucker wins two of three; Runners-up for Joey and Kelsi

(EAST GRAND FORKS, Minn.) June 20, 2023 - With a week of bad luck in the rearview mirror, Tucker Pederson returned to form with a pair of victories last weekend, while Joey and Kelsi Pederson finished second in their features on Friday night at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks.

For the second time this season, all three of the Pederson family of racers were in action on Friday night at River Cities Speedway. Tucker and Kelsi kicked the night off with heat race wins, Tucker from fourth and Kelsi from the pole position. Joey fought from sixth to fourth in his heat.
Up first was Tucker's 20 lap main event, as he was scheduled to start inside row four in his No. 27P Ad Monkeys / R&R Farms WISSOTA Street Stock.

Making a pair of passes before a lap four caution, Tucker capitalized on the restart, using the outside to move to third, then used the bottom to take the lead in just three laps.

Tucker continued to lead on each of three the restarts that slowed action on each side of the midway point. The final green flag flew with eight trips around the 'Bullring' remaining, with Tucker leading all of them, scoring his fifth win of the year, but first at his home track this season.

"Honestly, kind of at a loss for words," Tucker said post race. "Track was racey, and allowed us to get by. It was fast, tacky. As long as there's more than one lane to try and get around, that's all you can ask for. I was surprised by the starting spot with how things have been going, but a win's a win, and it only feels better when you come from the back."

The 20 lap POWRi Minn-Kota Lightning Sprint feature saw Kelsi roll off on the outside of the second row in the No. 93 Amy Dallum Photography / Pro Land/Snow Henchcraft. Kelsi ran around the outside of Jason Berg and Dylan Langevin in the first time around turns one and two to take the second spot.

Following a pair of cautions a quarter of the way through the race, Kelsi continued running in the second spot. Despite running well in traffic late in the race, Kelsi finished the race with a runner-up finish.

The 20 lap Late Model feature closed out the night, with Joey starting deep in the field on the outside of row six. It didn't take him long to move forward, however, as he split Jason Strand and Tyler Pederson, while also passing Mitch Johnson to move up to eighth on the opening lap.

One more lap and two more passes later, Joey was running sixth, gaining six spots in just two laps. With Joey on the outside on a lap six restart, he made his way up to third, and exchanged third and fourth with Lance Schill for a number of laps.

Still running in the top five as leaders Dustin Strand and Tyler Peterson tangled in a battle for the lead, Joey held off Schill and Tom Corcoran in the final three laps to finish second.

The Pederson boys headed to Devils Lake Speedway on Saturday night where Tucker charged from ninth to second in his heat race. Joey finished ninth in his heat, but was able to redraw the third spot for the main event.

Tucker was leading the Street feature when a right front flat sent him to the pits with six laps left. Restarting last, Tucker was already back up to third in just one lap. Despite peeking to the inside of Trey Hess on each of the final two laps, Tucker ended up with a second place finish.

Joey fell back as far as seventh early in the Late Model feature, but worked his way back up to fourth before the race was called after 14 laps due to a rollover by Blake Anderson. All of us at Pederson Racing continue to wish Blake the best and a quick recovery.

Tucker ended the weekend with another Sunday drive down to Buffalo River Speedway in Glyndon, MN. After surviving some early contact with Kasey Ussatis, Tucker turned a second place run in that heat race into a front row starting spot for the main event.

Tucker led all of the 20 laps en route to his second win of the weekend, second at Buffalo River this season, and sixth overall. Tucker is currently fourth in the WISSOTA National Street Stock standings.

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
SouthlineFarms
InVision Ag 
Hilleshog
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: 5
Wins: 0
Top 5’s: 5
Top 10’s: 5

2023 Stats (Kelsi):
Races: 7
Wins: 2
Top 5’s: 5
Top 10’s: 7

2023 Stats (Tucker):
Races: 19
Wins: 6
Top 5’s: 13
Top 10’s: 14