GRAND FORKS, N.D. (June 5, 2020) – The 2020 Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car season finally got underway on Friday night at River Cities Speedway. A strong field of 17 NOSA Sprints, including two rookies, led all classes at River Cities in terms of car count.
Those rookies were Zach Omdahl of East Grand Forks, Minn. and Josh Swangler of Detroit Lakes, Minn. Omdahl got upside down after contact with the turn four water barrels during his heat race, which brought his night to an end early. He was okay. Swangler came home 14th.
A caution on lap four set off a series of yellows that slowed the field throughout the midportion of the 25-lap feature. By lap 10, Martin and Austin Pierce were able to distance themselves from the rest of the field during a green flag stretch. Pierce took the lead from Martin on lap 13 as Chris Ranten moved his way into the third position.
Pierce was strong on each and every restart, including three attempts at a green flag on lap 15.
Pierce, a two-time NOSA champion, cruised to take the first checkered flag of the season, followed by Chris Ranten and Martin.
“The track had two really good lanes in the beginning so I was searching the track, trying to figure out where I could gain some ground on guys,” said an excited Pierce after the race. “We had a long enough green where we got into lapped traffic and I think that helped me get by Martin for the lead. Luckily, we were able to take the lead before those yellows started coming out. After that, it was up to me to pick where we restarted, which is always an advantage.”
Lap Leaders: Bob Martin (1-12), Austin Pierce (13-25)
Hard Charger: Chris Ranten (+5)
River Cities Speedway Quick Qualifier: Chris Ranten - 10.825 seconds at 99.769mph
RESULTS:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2A-Austin Pierce[5]; 2. 27-Chris Ranten[7]; 3. 10TRB-Bob Martin[4]; 4. 9N-Wade Nygaard[3]; 5. 051-Nick Omdahl[6]; 6. 8-Jade Hastings[9]; 7. 11M-Brendan Mullen[10]; 8. 55-Nick Ranten[2]; 9. 8C-Jack Croaker[12]; 10. 20A-Jordan Adams[11]; 11. 26-Blake Egeland[8]; 12. 13-Ty Hanten[13]; 13. 41T-Travis Strandell[15]; 14. 10S-Josh Swangler[16]; 15. (DNF) 31-Shane Roemeling[1]; 16. (DNF) 14-Tom Egeland[14]; 17. (DNS) 17-Zach Omdahl
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 27-Chris Ranten[6]; 2. 2A-Austin Pierce[5]; 3. 55-Nick Ranten[1]; 4. 8-Jade Hastings[4]; 5. 26-Blake Egeland[8]; 6. 14-Tom Egeland[7]; 7. 11M-Brendan Mullen[3]; 8. (DNF) 8C-Jack Croaker[2]; 9. (DNF) 10S-Josh Swangler[9]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 9N-Wade Nygaard[4]; 2. 10TRB-Bob Martin[5]; 3. 31-Shane Roemeling[1]; 4. 051-Nick Omdahl[6]; 5. 13-Ty Hanten[2]; 6. 20A-Jordan Adams[3]; 7. 41T-Travis Strandell[7]; 8. (DNF) 17-Zach Omdahl[8]