GRAND FORKS, N.D. (June 19, 2020) – A season-high 22 Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints were checked in at the Bullring on Friday night. Two-time series champion, Austin Pierce, remained perfect on the season, picking up his third consecutive victory at River Cities Speedway.
No less than 12 NOSA championships made up the front row for the 25-lap Buffalo Wild Wings main event. As the green flag flew, Pierce took the lead over fellow front row starter, Wade Nygaard.
Several cautions plagued the event, including one for Mark Dobmeier on lap five. Dobmeier was riding in the fifth position behind Wade Nygaard when Nygaard had to brake for lapped traffic. That caused Dobmeier to jump the left rear tire of Nygaard and slide off the track in turn three.
Later in the race, Brendan Mullen was running in the fifth position when he spun to a stop in turn two. On the ensuing restart, third-place runner Jade Hastings jumped the right rear tire of Nick Omdahl which sent Hastings end-over-end off the turns one and two embankment to bring out the red. Hastings was okay. Nick Ranten was also involved and could not continue.
Two laps later, Nick Omdahl was battling Nygaard for second when Omdahl clipped an infield tractor tire to bring out the caution and end his night early.
As the race resumed, Dobmeier entered the fray once again and took the second position from Nygaard.
Dobmeier got a run on Pierce on the final lap going down the back straightaway. Dobmeier looked to throw a slider on Pierce in the final set of corners but couldn’t complete it as Pierce’s momentum carried him across the checkers first.
“This is awesome, I can’t believe it,” said an excited Pierce in victory lane. “I’ve never won three races in a row before, let alone start the season off like that. There’s no better feeling than starting a season perfect.”
The win was Pierce’s 30th career feature win. He now sits two wins behind Casey Mack for fourth on the all-time NOSA wins list.
Lap Leaders: Austin Pierce (1-25)
Hard Charger: Mark Dobmeier & Tom Egeland (+7)
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 2A-Austin Pierce[1]; 2. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[9]; 3. 9N-Wade Nygaard[2]; 4. 27-Chris Ranten[10]; 5. 13-Ty Hanten[5]; 6. 11M-Brendan Mullen[12]; 7. 26-Blake Egeland[6]; 8. 99-Jordan Graham[11]; 9. 8C-Jack Croaker[14]; 10. 14-Tom Egeland[17]; 11. 31-Shane Roemeling[16]; 12. 20A-Jordan Adams[15]; 13. 10TRB-Bob Martin[3]; 14. 14T-Tim Estenson[8]; 15. 41T-Travis Strandell[20]; 16. 17-Zach Omdahl[21]; 17. 10S-Josh Swangler[22]; 18. 4-Colton Young[19]; 19. (DNF) 0-Nick Omdahl[4]; 20. (DNF) 55-Nick Ranten[13]; 21. (DNF) 8H-Jade Hastings[7]; 22. (DNF) 2-Tee Young[18]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2A-Austin Pierce[6]; 2. 14T-Tim Estenson[3]; 3. 8H-Jade Hastings[4]; 4. 31-Shane Roemeling[1]; 5. 13JT-Mark Dobmeier[5]; 6. 8C-Jack Croaker[2]; 7. 4-Colton Young[7]; 8. 10S-Josh Swangler[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 0-Nick Omdahl[5]; 2. 9N-Wade Nygaard[6]; 3. 14-Tom Egeland[1]; 4. 20A-Jordan Adams[2]; 5. 11M-Brendan Mullen[3]; 6. 99-Jordan Graham[4]; 7. 41T-Travis Strandell[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 13-Ty Hanten[4]; 2. 26-Blake Egeland[2]; 3. 10TRB-Bob Martin[6]; 4. 27-Chris Ranten[5]; 5. 55-Nick Ranten[3]; 6. 2-Tee Young[1]; 7. 17-Zach Omdahl[7]