By Mike Spieker
​
GRAND FORKS, ND (September 13) - For the third time in his illustrious career, Brad Seng is an NLRA Late Model series champion. After leading the A-main early on during Thursday night’s Prelude to the Johnny, Seng faded in the late going but still hung on to finish sixth and take the 2016 championship by just eight points over Dustin Strand. 

“It feels great. It takes a lot of consistency,” said Brad after the race. “It’s obvious that Dustin was the dominant car on tour this year, but he had some unfortunate luck. On the other hand we were able to finish a lot of the races and usually ended up finishing right behind him. We have a lot of work to do over the winter before we get after it again next year.”

As luck would have it, both championship contenders lined up in the same heat race to begin the night. After a tight head-to-head battle, Seng bested Strand in the eight lap affair to earn the outside pole for the main event. Two rain delayed halted the action over the course of the evening and made for a very fast and treacherous racing surface. 

As the green flag flew for the 20-lap feature, Seng grabbed the lead over David McDonald to lead the opening circuit. On lap seven, Wisconsin racer Nick Anvelink drove to the inside of Seng to take the point. However on the following circuit, Anvelink’s #15 machine biked up on the right side heading into turn one before it slammed down on the track. Anvelink coasted to the high side of turn two before the caution came out. 

On the ensuing restart, Strand came charging through the field and went door to door with Seng in turn one. Strand flew right on by to take the lead and, ultimately, the win as Don Shaw then set his sights on Seng. 

Knowing he had a fairly comfortable margin, Brad played it safe and crossed the line in sixth to score the championship.

The 10th annual John Seitz Memorial, presented by Simplot, continued Friday and Saturday night with much better track conditions. After racing to his 18th heat win, Brad was given the No. 7 pill during the revenge redraw. The 20-lap Go Hard or Go Home Pole Dash saw Brad come home in seventh, which is where he started the $9,200-to-win Seitz Memorial A-main.

Seng made his way up to third on lap 37 of the big show, but the two-time champion of the event had to settle with a fifth place finish after 92 trips around the high-banked three-tenths mile bullring. 

Season Stats:
Races: 32
Wins: 4
Top Fives: 29
Top Tens: 32
Heat Wins: 18

Upcoming Events:
Sept. 23 & 24: 45th annual Stock Car Stampede - Jamestown Speedway

​Brad Seng Eyes 3rd NLRA Championship This Weekend!
By Mike Spieker
GRAND FORKS, ND (September 6) - After a long, grueling 17-race schedule, the NLRA Late Model season championship comes down to the final race between a pair of two-time champions. Brad Seng holds an 18 point advantage over Dustin Strand heading into Thursday night’s season finale at River Cities Speedway.