Joey Pederson Races to First Win of 2018 at River Cities

By Spieker Promotions

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (May 30, 2018) – From zero to hero. A week after blowing up a brand new engine on opening night at River Cities Speedway, Joey Pederson came back last Friday and parked his No. 7P Wissota Late Model in victory lane. 

After starting seventh on the grid for the 20-lap feature, Pederson moved his way up to fourth in the first five laps. Following a lap six restart, Pederson caught a stroke of luck as third place runner, Mike Balcaen, spun in turn four while the leader, Travis Robertson, simultaneously suffered a mechanical failure.

The caution flew, triggering another restart where Pederson lined up next to new race leader, Brad Seng.

Seng took the lead as the race resumed, but Pederson was able to reel him in running the bottom groove. Pederson pulled up alongside Seng on lap eight as the two veteran drivers squared off for a thrilling battle for the lead.

Lap after lap, Pederson and Seng raced door to door before Seng pushed high in turn two, which allowed Pederson to clear for the lead in the closing laps.

Once out front, Pederson opened up a comfortable lead and cruised to the win.

“The older you get, those kind of tracks tend to do a little more wear and tear on the driver,” said Pederson of the fast and somewhat choppy track in victory lane. “It was a huge amount of work to get back to the track after the first week. We were running that 525 crate and it only lasted five laps. We were really disappointed in that deal, but we had to regroup and put our backup motor in. That doesn’t sounds like a big deal, but I sold our old car turnkey so I didn’t have any of the parts I needed for this new car. That was the biggest challenge. But in our second night out in a new car we got a win. It feels great.”

Tucker Pederson was also in action Friday night at River Cities Speedway in his Wissota Street Stock. Pederson started seventh and finished sixth in his heat and raced from 17th to 16th in the feature.

At Greenbush Race Park on Saturday, Tucker finished third in his heat before driving from sixth to fifth in the feature.

Kelsi Pederson started fifth and finish third in her NLSA Lightning Sprint heat at Greenbush, but a mechanical failure in the feature forced her to retire from the event early.

2018 Stats:
Joey Pederson:
Races: 2
​Wins: 1
Top Fives: 1
Top Tens: 1
​
Kelsi Pederson:
Races: 3
Wins: 1
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 2

Tucker Pederson
Races: 3
Wins: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 2