The Mullen Motorsports crew celebrates in victory lane after Brendan Mullen claims his first River Cities Speedway win. Photo by Steven Young (Speedway Shots).
By Mike Spieker
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (May 9, 2021) – The Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints kicked off their 27th season on Friday night as River Cities Speedway host race one of what is set to be a grueling 38-race schedule. The three-tenths mile bullring was in prime condition for the 25-lap main event. After the checkers flew and the dust settled, a first-time River Cities Speedway winner emerge in RydellCars.com Victory Lane.
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (May 9, 2021) – The Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints kicked off their 27th season on Friday night as River Cities Speedway host race one of what is set to be a grueling 38-race schedule. The three-tenths mile bullring was in prime condition for the 25-lap main event. After the checkers flew and the dust settled, a first-time River Cities Speedway winner emerge in RydellCars.com Victory Lane.
Brendan Mullen scored his third career Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprint Car feature win and his first at River Cities Speedway.
The 18-year-old Grand Forks driver started on the pole and led the opening lap over 2019 series champion Nick Omdahl. A lap five restart gave Omdahl another shot at Mullen, and he made the most of it. Omdahl drove around Mullen to take the point and Austin Pierce followed him into second.
Another caution on lap 10 for Pierce moved Mullen back up to second for the restart.
Mullen regained the lead with a textbook slider in turns one and two after the race resumed.
Defending series champion Jade Hastings ran into issues on lap 15 after contact with Jack Croaker while battling for third, which broke the steering on the No. 8H. The damage ended Hastings’ night early as he was credited with a 17th place finish.
Once out front, Mullen set sail as he cruised to the win. Omdahl finished second as Pierce rebounded to round out the podium.
Wade Nygaard and Tom Egeland rounded out the top five.
“I’ve been coming here my whole life and I’ve seen a million races here. This feels really awesome to win one,” said Mullen after the race. “About five laps in I knew the car was on rails. Todd Slocum did a masterful job on the set up tonight. When I had Omdahl and Pierce pass me, I was like ‘Oh boy. They are way faster than we are,’ but luckily Pierce made a mistake and I got to reset mentally. Omdahl and I had a couple of really good battles on those restarts and that was a ton of fun. It feels really good to get a win at River Cities.”
This weekend, the NOSA Sprints gear up for a busy three-race stretch. On Friday, the series heads to Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. for its inaugural visit to Tod Quiring's four-tenths mile speed plant as Folkens Brothers Trucking presents the $5,000-to-win Bull Haulers Brawl. On Saturday, the series will head east to I-90 Speedway in Hartford, S.D. in what will again be NOSA's first visit to the speedway.
The weekend will wrap up at Huset's Speedway on Sunday evening with NOSA's first sanctioned race at the speedway since 2011.
RESULTS:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 11M-Brendan Mullen[1]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[3]; 3. 2A-Austin Pierce[6]; 4. 9N-Wade Nygaard[5]; 5. 14-Tom Egeland[10]; 6. 8BALL-Jack Croaker[7]; 7. 99-Jordan Graham[11]; 8. 20A-Jordan Adams[13]; 9. 55-Nick Ranten[2]; 10. 26-Blake Egeland[9]; 11. 10TRB-Bob Martin[17]; 12. 10S-Josh Swangler[15]; 13. 17-Zach Omdahl[4]; 14. 4-Colton Young[14]; 15. 41-Travis Strandell[16]; 16. 47-Sabrina Hockenson[19]; 17. (DNF) 8H-Jade Hastings[8]; 18. (DNF) 2-Tee Young[18]; 19. (DNF) 31-Shane Roemeling[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Zach Omdahl[1]; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard[4]; 3. 8BALL-Jack Croaker[3]; 4. 99-Jordan Graham[2]; 5. 4-Colton Young[5]; 6. 41-Travis Strandell[6]; 7. 47-Sabrina Hockenson[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Nick Ranten[1]; 2. 2A-Austin Pierce[5]; 3. 8H-Jade Hastings[4]; 4. 31-Shane Roemeling[2]; 5. 20A-Jordan Adams[3]; 6. 10TRB-Bob Martin[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11M-Brendan Mullen[2]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[4]; 3. 26-Blake Egeland[1]; 4. 14-Tom Egeland[3]; 5. 10S-Josh Swangler[5]; 6. (DNF) 2-Tee Young[6]
The 18-year-old Grand Forks driver started on the pole and led the opening lap over 2019 series champion Nick Omdahl. A lap five restart gave Omdahl another shot at Mullen, and he made the most of it. Omdahl drove around Mullen to take the point and Austin Pierce followed him into second.
Another caution on lap 10 for Pierce moved Mullen back up to second for the restart.
Mullen regained the lead with a textbook slider in turns one and two after the race resumed.
Defending series champion Jade Hastings ran into issues on lap 15 after contact with Jack Croaker while battling for third, which broke the steering on the No. 8H. The damage ended Hastings’ night early as he was credited with a 17th place finish.
Once out front, Mullen set sail as he cruised to the win. Omdahl finished second as Pierce rebounded to round out the podium.
Wade Nygaard and Tom Egeland rounded out the top five.
“I’ve been coming here my whole life and I’ve seen a million races here. This feels really awesome to win one,” said Mullen after the race. “About five laps in I knew the car was on rails. Todd Slocum did a masterful job on the set up tonight. When I had Omdahl and Pierce pass me, I was like ‘Oh boy. They are way faster than we are,’ but luckily Pierce made a mistake and I got to reset mentally. Omdahl and I had a couple of really good battles on those restarts and that was a ton of fun. It feels really good to get a win at River Cities.”
This weekend, the NOSA Sprints gear up for a busy three-race stretch. On Friday, the series heads to Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. for its inaugural visit to Tod Quiring's four-tenths mile speed plant as Folkens Brothers Trucking presents the $5,000-to-win Bull Haulers Brawl. On Saturday, the series will head east to I-90 Speedway in Hartford, S.D. in what will again be NOSA's first visit to the speedway.
The weekend will wrap up at Huset's Speedway on Sunday evening with NOSA's first sanctioned race at the speedway since 2011.
RESULTS:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 11M-Brendan Mullen[1]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[3]; 3. 2A-Austin Pierce[6]; 4. 9N-Wade Nygaard[5]; 5. 14-Tom Egeland[10]; 6. 8BALL-Jack Croaker[7]; 7. 99-Jordan Graham[11]; 8. 20A-Jordan Adams[13]; 9. 55-Nick Ranten[2]; 10. 26-Blake Egeland[9]; 11. 10TRB-Bob Martin[17]; 12. 10S-Josh Swangler[15]; 13. 17-Zach Omdahl[4]; 14. 4-Colton Young[14]; 15. 41-Travis Strandell[16]; 16. 47-Sabrina Hockenson[19]; 17. (DNF) 8H-Jade Hastings[8]; 18. (DNF) 2-Tee Young[18]; 19. (DNF) 31-Shane Roemeling[12]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Zach Omdahl[1]; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard[4]; 3. 8BALL-Jack Croaker[3]; 4. 99-Jordan Graham[2]; 5. 4-Colton Young[5]; 6. 41-Travis Strandell[6]; 7. 47-Sabrina Hockenson[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Nick Ranten[1]; 2. 2A-Austin Pierce[5]; 3. 8H-Jade Hastings[4]; 4. 31-Shane Roemeling[2]; 5. 20A-Jordan Adams[3]; 6. 10TRB-Bob Martin[6]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11M-Brendan Mullen[2]; 2. 0-Nick Omdahl[4]; 3. 26-Blake Egeland[1]; 4. 14-Tom Egeland[3]; 5. 10S-Josh Swangler[5]; 6. (DNF) 2-Tee Young[6]
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